This is the Kit at Turf Club, St Paul (21 Oct 2023)

Paris-based This is the Kit (aka Kate Stables) headlined the Turf Club, in St Paul, on Oct 21.



BBC Radio loves This is the Kit, playing and promoting their music. Thanks their breakout third album Bashed Out, it landed a record deal with Rough Trade (the label famous for signing The Smiths), who released their album Moonshine Freeze in 2017, and their latest Careful of Your Keepers in 2023. In fact, with the new album, it was produced by Gruff Rhys… which is why Stables asked him to join her on this tour.



Of course, we’re big fans Rhys, the Welsh musician who was in Super Furry Animals (famous for “Something 4 the Weekend”)… but also part of Neon Neon. Rhys is part of the “Cool Cymru” Welsh music movement, led by Stereophonics, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia and Super Furry Animals… so if you know, you know.



Although Rhys spoke English, his Welsh accent was hard to understand. You don’t need to understand him, as he would sometime hold up signs to give directions to the audience… which was pretty fun. For “Pang”, he asks the audience to help say back “Pang” whenever he sings the chorus.



At the end of the set, he would hold up “Audience Reaction”. Then “Claps”, “Louder!”, then “Ape Sh**!” The claps became louder and louder and some whistles and some foot-stomping. If you heard this out of context, you would get the impression that this Gruff Rhys concert was the most amazing show that the audience has ever seen. Perhaps it was, as it’s nothing you’ve heard in a long time.



It was somewhat of a bittersweet ending, as Rhys mentioned that this was his last American show, and that tomorrow, he has to fly back home.



Gruff Rhys’ forthcoming album Sadness Sets Me Free will be out January 26, 2024, on Rough Trade Records.



This is the Kit came on stage, and, of course, Kate Staples, forgot she needed to tune her guitar. If you’ve ever seen This is the Kit, the guitar tuning thing probably makes up half her show.

This is the Kit (19 Oct 2017)

As noted in Oct 2017 we commented, “Stables often tuned between songs, making for awkward unfinished stories and comments. She played acoustic guitar, but it seemed like she’s most comfortable when she’s plucking on her banjo.”

After playing “Slider”, and then re-tuning her guitar, she said that ‘slider’, to her, means a slide. But then she found out that it meant “tiny hamburgers” (specifically White Castle’s sliders), which she had no idea that is what a ‘slider’ is. Then she found out that people call a person sliding down the slide, as a ‘slider’. She ended her story with, “A slider, going down the slider, eating a slider. Music video, done!”

At this point, you know that fans didn’t go out to see This is the Kit play music from their albums… but it’s more of being fans of Kate Staples and her personality. Oh, I guess the music is pretty cool too.



Highlight of the show was Gruff Rhys came on stage to help sing on “More Change” and “This Is When the Sky Gets Big.”



This is the Kit’s Careful of Your Keepers is out now on Rough Trade Records.