An Encore 35 Years in the Making

[Synthaholic]

An Encore 35 Years in the Making
Kate Bush Fans Travel to See Rare Concerts in London

By MELENA RYZIKAUG. 22, 2014


*snip*

When she made a surprise announcement in March that she would perform onstage after an absence of more than three decades — with 22 shows from Tuesday through Oct. 1 at a 3,600-seat theater in London — all 77,000 tickets sold within 15 minutes. Online sellers had tickets with a face value of 135 pounds (about $224) listed for as much as £1,250 ($2,078).

Ms. Bush’s fans are traversing continents to take part in what they regard as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Her one and only tour, an elaborately choreographed production that veered close to performance art, was in 1979. Few details have emerged about what will happen next week, when Ms. Bush, 56, will again take the stage at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, where she played that last full-length concert 35 years ago. The new show is called “Before the Dawn,” and the anticipation for her return has built in the last few months to something of a fever pitch.

“The fans are beside themselves,” said Sean Twomey, a 41-year-old Dubliner who has run a fan site, KateBushNews.com, since 1998. “It was just one of those things they never, ever thought would happen.”

 

[Synthaholic]

I am so tempted to blow $3,000 and go to one of these!

 

[Pogo]

I am so tempted to blow $3,000 and go to one of these!

As much money as that is it would be SO worth it. One Kate show is worth like 20 normal shows, she puts so much into it.

Hammersmith '79. one of the best shows ever by anybody

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Thanks for posting this.

I recall the first four albums or so, we had to get them as imports from Britain or Canada as EMI thought she was too British to sell here. Come to think of it they said the same thing about another one of their acts. They were called The Beatles.

 

[Pogo]

This is a bit different - Rowan Atkinson and guest

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[Synthaholic]

I discovered her in 1985, with 'Hounds Of Love', which still sounds brilliant today. Some of her previous experimental stuff is an acquired taste ('Sat In Your Lap', the Never For Ever album, etc.), but doesn't sound as radical to me now as it did then. Just shows how far ahead of everyone she was.

She's the first female artist in British history to have a #1 hit with a self-penned song, with 'Wuthering Heights', in the late 1970s.

I'm a huge, huge fan.

 

[Synthaholic]

 

[Synthaholic]

 

[Synthaholic]

 

[Synthaholic]

 

[Synthaholic]

The aforementioned Sat In Your Lap

 

[Pogo]

I discovered her in 1985, with 'Hounds Of Love', which still sounds brilliant today. Some of her previous experimental stuff is an acquired taste ('Sat In Your Lap', the Never For Ever album, etc.), but doesn't sound as radical to me now as it did then. Just shows how far ahead of everyone she was.

She's the first female artist in British history to have a #1 hit with a self-penned song, with 'Wuthering Heights', in the late 1970s.

I'm a huge, huge fan.

The two side-closing tracks on The Dreaming still melt me into a puddle to this day. Absolutely awesome work.

​

 

[Synthaholic]

This is a gorgeous song.

 

[Synthaholic]

The first review is in!

Kate Bush Before the Dawn review a lithe grace and note-perfect vocals Music theguardian.com

 

[Pogo]

Kate does her Irish roots...

in Gaelic...

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This one's always fun too...

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[Pogo]

I discovered her in 1985, with 'Hounds Of Love', which still sounds brilliant today. Some of her previous experimental stuff is an acquired taste ('Sat In Your Lap', the Never For Ever album, etc.), but doesn't sound as radical to me now as it did then. Just shows how far ahead of everyone she was.

She's the first female artist in British history to have a #1 hit with a self-penned song, with 'Wuthering Heights', in the late 1970s.

I'm a huge, huge fan.

I used to have a vinyl record of the demos she cut for David Gilmour when she was 15. Some early versions of tunes that eventually landed on the first couple of albums, some that never got done. Picked it up in Greenwich Village long ago. Not sure what ever happened to that record.

 

[dblack]

Cloudbusting was always my favorite.

 

[Pogo]

I think this is a pretty accurate history of the early days, first couple of albums up to the Fairlight...

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and part 2 here - The Dreaming through Hounds:

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(other parts available at the YouTube links)​

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[Pogo]

The first review is in!

Kate Bush Before the Dawn review a lithe grace and note-perfect vocals Music theguardian.com

"Over the course of nearly three hours, Kate Bush's first gig for 35 years variously features dancers in lifejackets attacking the stage with axes and chainsaws; a giant machine that hovers above the auditorium, belching out dry ice and shining spotlights on the audience; giant paper aeroplanes; a surprisingly lengthy rumination on sausages, vast billowing sheets manipulated to represent waves, Bush's 16-year-old son Bertie - clad as a 19th-century artist – telling a wooden mannequin to "piss off" and the singer herself being borne through the audience by dancers clad in costumes based on fish skeletons."​

Day-yum. Well it's not unexpected; the woman has never done anything halfway.

Nice review. Very nice. I'm about ready to scan flight prices to London...

 

[Synthaholic]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/28/a...d-her-fans-are-there-to-welcome-her.html?_r=0

Kate Bush Returns to the Stage, and Her Fans Are There to Welcome Her

 

[Pogo]

Rolling Stone's take:

>> "It's been a real adventure so far," smiled Kate Bush, after four songs of her first full live show in 35 years, "and it's only just begun."
Bush was talking in general terms about her comeback, with last night's Before the Dawn show at London's Eventim Apollo being the first of 22 she will play at the venue over the coming weeks. But she could also have been referring to the night's set list, which saw her shun many of her biggest hits in an attempt to put on the theatrical show to end all theatrical shows. Before the night was over, the production would feature abduction by fish people, a simulated helicopter air-sea rescue and many other things you wouldn't normally see at a Tuesday night rock gig.​

Still, things began relatively conventionally, with Bush trooping on barefoot at the head of a procession of backing singers, opening with "Lily" from 1993's The Red Shoes. If she was nervous after so long away from the stage, she didn't show it.

"Where have you been?" she enquired politely, in the manner of an eccentric aunt welcoming some long-lost family members in for tea. "It's so good to see you all." <<​

"comeback"?...

Another from The Guardian: Kate Bush Returns: The View from the Front Seats