9 Sad Symphonies Tour


The 9 Sad Symphonies Tour was mounted to promote Kate Nash's fifth album 9 Sad Symphonies. Running from 10 October to 18 December 2024 and then in April 2025, she was supported by Shamir, Joh Chase, Revenge Wife, Skating Polly, and Connie Constance. Her tour attracted press coverage between the North American and European legs due to the way it was funded, and one gig was preceded by a protest by Nash. Reviewers from The Scotsman, Narc, Louder Than War, When the Horn Blows, God Is in the TV, Brighton and Hove News, Belfast Telegraph, and The Times praised gigs in Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, London, Brighton, and Belfast.

Background and history

Kate Nash, who released the single "Foundations" in 2007 and then the albums Made of Bricks, My Best Friend Is You, Girl Talk, and Yesterday Was Forever, recorded her fifth album, 9 Sad Symphonies, in 2020 and 2021. At the time, she did not have a label or a manager, but acquired both after touring in 2022 and going viral on TikTok for a video summarising her career. She released her fifth album in June 2024, which contained several singles including "Millions of Heartbeats" and "My Bile". The release of the latter was announced alongside the album's tour's Koko date in May 2024, while the rest of the European dates were announced that June and the North American dates were announced in September. The tour was her third tour in a row. Shamir, Joh Chase, Revenge Wife, and Skating Polly supported Nash at various dates of the latter, while her band for her Los Angeles date comprised Boom Buratto on guitar, Emma Brooks on bass, and Chrissy Lopez on drums. Nash had previously directed the music video for Skating Polly's "Tiger at the Drugstore". The tour's North American dates were her first on the continent for six years.
Between her North American tour and her European tour, Nash realised that she was in debt. Just before the latter, she set up an account on OnlyFans, which paid her bills. She stated on a subsequent Instagram post that she had opened the account in order to maintain the standard of her live show and on an episode of BBC Radio 4's Today programme that her account had paid for her to bring a crew member from the UK to continental Europe. Just before her Koko gig, and in conjunction with Save Our Scene, Nash dressed in a pink thong and travelled around London on a fire engine, visiting the London offices of Live Nation and Spotify and the House of Commons. At that day's gig, her lineup comprised a bassist, a guitarist, a drummer, a pianist/conductor, and several violinists, and featured tracks released throughout her career including "Foundations", which Nash teased throughout the set and ended the concert with. Brighton and Hove News reported that at her Brighton gig the day after, she had walked in to a version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory "Pure Imagination", the introduction to her own track "Play", and a string version of "Foundations", and then played the following :
  • "Millions of Heartbeats"
  • "Vampyre"
  • "Mouthwash"
  • "Misery"
  • "Cherry Pickin'"/"Death Proof"/"All Talk"
  • "Part Heart"
  • "I Hate Seagulls"
  • "Nicest Thing"
  • "Ray"
  • "Wasteman"
  • "My Little Alien"
  • "Kiss That Grrl"/"Shit Song"/"Later On"/"Mariella"
  • "Foundations"
  • "Space Odyssey 2001"
  • "Birds"
Other songs Nash played during the tour included "Christmas Eve", an unreleased track from her sixth album, and her earlier tracks "Action", "Dickhead", an orchestral reprieve of "Mouthwash", "Vampyre", "Mariella", "My Bile", "Skeleton Song", and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life". Fiona Shepherd of The Scotsman praised what she saw at her Glasgow gig, while Natalie Greener of Narc wrote that her Newcastle upon Tyne gig " once again why she remains a beloved icon in the indie pop world". Laura Dean of God Is in the TV wrote of her Manchester gig that Nash "delivered a joyful, heartfelt performance to a Manchester crowd overflowing with love and energy", while MK Bennett of Louder Than War also reviewed the gig positively and described her opening act, Connie Constance, as "a ball of energy to get the crowd moving and involved". Reviewing her Koko gig, Adam Mir wrote that the ease with which she moved from earlier tracks to newer ones "proved she's just as much a pop star now as she was 20 years ago", while Jess Kemp reviewed what she saw in Brighton positively and Gareth Hanna of Belfast Telegraph wrote that her Belfast gig showed an artist "very much at the top of her game". Mark Beaumont of The Times described the what he saw at O2 Forum Kentish Town as "a consummate lesson in why theatre rock shows are so essential".