Kate Bush Live Shows 2014 *Spoiler* Thread

Thanks for your informative updates everyone. (From a guy on the other side of the world.)

 

Someone I know who is a LOT more plugged into the Kate Bush thing than I am tells me there's a decent quality video of the entire show (not sure if #1 or #2) quietly making the rounds amongst those who care. I haven't seen it and my friend doesn't have it...(So don't ask where to get it, because I don't know...)

 

iTunes UK top 100

#01 The Whole Story
#05 Hounds Of Love
#14 Aerial
#15 The Sensual World
#16 The Kick Inside
#18 The Red Shoes
#19 50 Words For Snow
#24 The Dreaming
#33 Never For Ever
#35 Lionheart
#46 Director's Cut

Amazon UK best sellers in music:

#02 Hounds Of Love
#03 The Whole Story
#04 50 Words For Snow
#09 The Kick Inside
#12 The Sensual World
#13 Never For Ever
#14 Aerial
#16 Lionheart
#18 The Red Shoes
#20 The Dreaming
#35 Director's Cut
#86 Director's Cut (3 disc set)

 

Aerial would be #1 if they reissued the vinyl.

 

Apologies for drifting off topic but the BBC have put together a great show of Kate's appearances on the BBC, there's some pretty obscure stuff there that'll only be recognized by the most die hard of fans.
BBC Iplayer is here. There's a good chance it'll be blocked outside of the UK which might be by-passable if you have a VPN service. Failing that somebody has ripped it and uploaded it on Usenet (Newsgroups) as "BBC Kate Bush At The BBC 2014". Just found it on Youtube.

 

That doesn't make any financial sense.

 

A bluray of the 1979 odeon show / the new live show and her music videos / performances - can you imagine how much this would sell??!!!

 

In this day and age? Probably not all that much...

 

The Cinema showing of "Monty Python Live" grossed £1.2 million just for one screening on one night over here...

 

What is needed is Steven Wilson to be cloned so that he can do for Kate's catalog what he is currently doing for Yes - blu-rays with flat transfer of the original master in hi-rez, plus a new 5.1 mix in hi-rez (and new stereo mix).

That would get me to buy everything again and be very happy doing so.

 

I don't think even Steven Wilson could make some of the albums sound good. Poor engineering from the Dreaming to The Red Shoes... but I'd like to hear him try. If anthing, better mixes of Aerial and 50 Words for Snow would be much appreciated.

 

Lily from the concert on the 26th. Not much of a visual at all but the music is there.:

 

Hounds of Love and more from the concert(Joanni and Top Of The City.) Not much of a visual again but just a bit of one:

 

thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much butch.

 

OK, so... just got back from the Big Smoke after a little Kate-centric holiday

The first order of business is to confirm the set list from the 27th was as per the (real) one from the opening night:

So, what did I make of it all? Well, firstly, Kate looked as if she was genuinely enjoying herself on stage, right from the off. She walked on absolutely beaming. No sign of nerves at all. All through the night, she looked happy and relaxed.

The show started off with a mini set, in which Kate took centre stage with the band arranged behind her. No mike stand, just our Kate. The band were superb throughout. Kate was in fine voice throughout, although she noticeably struggled a little on all three Hounds of Love (side one) tracks, most noticeably on RUTH. Interestingly, she stuck to the recorded arrangements pretty tightly, the band only really wigging out on King of the Mountain.

Then there was a (rather implausible) little video of a man (with a telescope trained at the night sky) phoning the coastguard to report that he'd received a faint mayday call from a ship. Quite how he'd received this call wasn't explained. It was all a little contrived. Anyhow, that - rather unsurprisingly - led us into The Ninth Wave.

Which was a shame, because it was the highlight of the show.

Now, I have to say that I like the fact that, after so many years away, Kate still wanted to put on her show, something that remained true to her own current musical direction, and I admire her bravery in doing so. It's nothing less than I expect from her. She clearly doesn't feel comfortably using stage time as vehicle for nostalgia trips: she wants it to remain as useful an artistic tool as the album format.

But - and I think it's a big but - when you're asking fans to pay upwards of £100 a ticket there's a real responsibility to entertain. This topic has been given a lot of air on this board in the Paul McCartney thread, as many fans have complained about his lowest-common-denominator hit-packed shows that leave out pretty much most of his recent output.

I don't profess to know the answer to this but I have to be honest and say that the real driving force behind my love of her as an artist and the reason I bought tickets so readily was because of those old songs. Not necessarily just the hits, but certainly not just her post 1985 work.

So here's the dilemma: while I admired her decision to put on the show she wanted, I also came away over £300 poorer and still lamenting that I never got to see the vast majority of such a much-loved catalogue played live.

It may have been an artistically bankrupt way of doing things (although I'd argue not actually) I would have far more enjoyed the night had we been treated to an evening of wallowing in nostalgia. Maybe next time... (!)

But having lamented what wasn't played (and there was nothing at all from The Sensual World, surprisingly), what of the show itself?

Well, I have to say from the start that I'm not the greatest fan of A Sky Of Honey. I don't hate it but I also don't think it's deserving of the amount of stage time it was given. That said, Kate and band played it wonderfully and I enjoyed it far more in a live context than I do on record.

The problem was simply that it had to follow The Ninth Wave. And there's very little that can follow that.

Had Kate opened the show with A Sky Of Honey (it did, after all, feature some perfectly adequate stage production), taken a break and then come back for The Ninth Wave before finishing with a mini-set of straightforward performances, I don't think I'd have been so critical.

As it was, the show just ran out of steam at the interval and never really got it back.

That said, there were plenty in the audience who applauded every song as if it was the greatest piece of work ever committed to tape/hard drive, and for some it possibly is - I don't mean to dismiss the suite because I know some genuinely do think it's wonderful. But it truly did feel that the setlist didn't do itself any favours.

More to the point, Kate had clearly put so much effort into the presentation of The Ninth Wave (after all, it has much more of a plot than A Sky of Honey) that she seemed to be somewhat bereft of ideas. Honey is a conceptual piece based on the sounds of a pleasant summer's day. Perhaps Kate was asking too much of herself in trying to turn it into a visual piece. But fair play to her for trying.

So - for this fan at least - there was the double whammy of the wonderful marriage of great music set to very very good visuals (Ninth Wave) compared to a much weaker song suite set to much much weaker visuals. In short, part two dragged for this fan. It wasn't helped when, as first encore, Kate played a song from 50 Words For Snow, a record I just cannot get into. The second half was utterly redeemed at the close, though, when Kate finished off with a rather understated run-through of Cloudbusting.

I was quite surprised at how understated it was, as well. The song has the real potential for a crowd singalong a la Hey Jude and, while I know that many would cringe at the thought of the song being reduced to that level, I was still surprised that Kate showed no intention of milking it at all. More to the point, the song has real potential to be extended to really allow fans to bask in its glory and enjoy the moment but, no: it was played, it ended, Kate said goodnight one more time and walked off. The end. "Perfunctory" might be a bit harsh but, again, one sensed that Kate had put all her energy into re-imaging Ninth Wave for stage. Which is why it was such a pity that it came in the first half.

So, finally, what of the audience? Well, I have to say that I've never experienced an atmosphere like it. Sure, the intimate venue helped (and not a sole dared take a picture as far as I could see - something Kate thanked us for at the end) but, really, everyone in the room just seemed so genuinely happy to see her and the reaction to each and every song was something I don't think I've ever witnessed, nor am likely to again.

In summary, it was a night I'll never forget. Just being there to experience it made it worthwhile and I don't regret going at all. I also don't resent the price I paid. But I'm not enough of a Kate apologist to disguise my genuine disappointment at the set list, not so much it's content (I think we all knew it would focus on the song suites) but the running order.

I want to end on some positives: the show is just over THREE HOURS long. Amazing for someone with so little stage time under her belt. All the songs were wonderfully played: she has put together an excellent band. And the Ninth Wave was worth the admission. Not just for the music: the stage show is very well done.

(And I have a question: does our heroine die at the end? I'd always assumed (probably from the biography that came out in the late '80s) that she was rescued and that The Morning Fog was a celebration of that. However, judging by the show, she most certainly doesn't and The Morning Fog acts more as a celebration of life and love, a reminder in the face of such a sad tale, to love those around you. I'd be interested in thoughts around this.)

Finally: my own personal weep count: 5 times. Running Up That Hill (the whole thing just caught me up: Kate f-ing Bush is singing RUTH right in front of me!), And Dream Of Sheep, Watching You Without Me, Hello Earth and Cloudbusting.

 

Thanks for the detailed and excellent review Paul, most reviews I've read so far rate the 9th Wave as the highlight and by the descriptions I've heard of the theatrical production it must indeed be a tough act to follow. Personally I just love A Sky of Honey and I'm really looking forward to this part of the show. I love your descriptions of the atmosphere at the concert and how you realised what a rare treat it was just to hear Kate sing live; first full live gigs in 35 years, that's genuine rarity, not media created hype!

 

GREAT review. I, perhaps like you, feel that the Ninth Wave is most likely the pinnacle of Kate's career. Nothing she has recorded since has matched it. So, I think I agree with you that it would've made sense to switch it with A Sky of Honey and save it for after the intermission. I have played Aerial 3 times in its entirety this week to reintroduce myself to the album in advance of my show, and while it has its moments I still find it largely inaccessible. Sensual World was a bit of a letdown after Hounds so am not that broken up that there will not be anything from that album. I also agree about missing tracks from before 1985, as I think there is a wealth of quality early material, especially when compared to the material post-1985. That said, I am of the camp that doesn't think Kate owes us anything as far as playing the hits, particularly when you consider she hasn't performed in 30+ years. This is on her terms, and if the "fans" don't like it, there are plenty of folks who would like to go to this show. Kate should allow tickets to be returnable, however, for those few disgruntled types, given the limitations on resale imposed by requiring the lead booker attend.

 

My pleasure.

I will say, if you're a fan of A Sky Of Honey, you will love it. Brilliantly well played. I'd be interested to read how much you enjoy it in regards to it following The Ninth Wave.

I've deliberately avoided a detailed description of The Ninth Wave. Partly because I don't want to spoil everything and partly because I'm crap at describing stuff and have the memory of a fish

 

A quick comment about tickets: I arrived at the venue at 6.10pm and joined the queue. There are barriers out front to organise the single line queue and two people check for ID of the person who's name is on the ticket. So my girlfriend had no need of ID but I did.

Touts were around making no effort to disguise their purpose. I don't know how they intended to get around the ID issue - it WAS enforced - but I suspect they don't give a fig once you've parted with your money. I saw one lady in the queue sell a spare to a tout.

 

Great, honest and not flattering-at-all-costs review. Thanks Paul H

 

As someone who's 2 favourite Kate pieces are A Sky Of Honey and The Ninth Wave, you can imagine my delight at the set list! If I was being picky I'd probably change 2 or 3 of the "hits" section to something else but that would be expecting too much!

I do agree though (although I've not seen the show yet, 9 days to go!), that it seems like swapping the 2 centrepieces of the show around may have seemed more logical, but when did Kate ever do logic!

One thing I'm yet to figure out - apart from the first song of the encore, do we see Kate sat at the piano much? I had expected that the whole show would be her at the piano but that's clearly not the case!

 

Kate sits at the piano for the opening of Sky of Honey and Among Angels. The rest of the time she is on her feet

 

Very honest review, nice to see. I would have been disappointed had I got tickets to this show. Would have been nice to see her live but the set list is not too my liking, and not for that amount of money.

 

Paul H, did "Running Up That Hill" have the original synth stabs playing the riff or the Dave Gilmour type guitar vibrato effect (that he played on the SPB show with her)?

 

Paul H, pretty much what I would have written myself (except for the "Among Angels" diss ) if I was a bit more eloquent. Thanks!

I'm not a big fan of "A Sky Of Honey" either (it's just too insubstantial and drawn out for me), though I quite enjoyed its performance (the slowed-down "Sunset" excepted) thanks to the more elaborate arrangements and wonderful playing.