FEATURE:
“Ooh, Yeah, You're Amazing! We Think You're incredible”
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during The Tour of Life in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
Kate Bush and the Rigours, Rush and Realities of The Tour of Life (1979) and Before the Dawn (2014)
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I have written about Kate Bush…
PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
and her two big live shows, The Tour of Life (1979), and Before the Dawn (2014) several times before. In those pieces, the tone is normally celebratory, and I highlight how emphatic and memorable those shows were. That is all true, but I had not really pondered the realities of those big productions and how much it must have taken out of her! I have sort of alluded to it before, and I was reading Graeme Thomson’s biography, Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. I have been thinking about Bush’s stage work and how hard she worked when I had delivered Record Collector’s special about her – and a few features in the coming weeks are inspired by that publication. There was a whole section about The Tour of Life in 1979 and what a feat it was! The photos from the production are wonderful, and we get to see Bush in her element and really owning the stage! I hope that Max Browne – whose photographs were included in the feature – publishes a book of all the images he has from that tour, as I think it would prove very popular among the Kate Bush fanbase. Ian Cawood was writing for Record Collector, and he noted how there was accusation from the press as early as October 1978 that Bush was afraid to play live. Such was the popularity of her single, Wuthering Heights, and the debut album, The Kick Inside, that the demand for her to play live was huge. Before The Tour of Life in 1979, Bush’s live C.V. was a little bare.
She had performed as part of the KT Bush Band in 1977, but that was a series of pub gigs and small venues. To go from there to a huge stage in a year or so would be a pretty big ask. Also, right through 1978, she was either promoting her debut album or working on the follow-up, Lionheart – which was released in November 1978. Even before she had set foot on stage for The Tour of Life, there was this sort of whirlwind and constant workload that prevented her from undertaking anything else. It was a need to establish some form of control over her career – Bush felt she was not as involved in the first two albums as she would have liked – that gave birth to The Tour of Life and its scale. Also, she could not deny that fans as well as press sources were wondering when she might perform – though the fans were far more fair-minded and did not bait her! EMI put no pressure on Bush to perform, and there was dubiousness from the press that Bush’s unique and unusual songs would translate to the stage easily. Until that point, there had not really been any artist like her on the stage. Many might say David Bowie had the same sort of invention and quirkiness, but I think Bush was even less conventional. Bush said after the tour that she proved people wrong (regarding her lack of performance) and delivered something enormous!
PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
I will come to the harder sides of that that first but, prior to the first show, Bush recruited the three surviving members of the KT Bush band – Del Palmer, Brian Bath, and Paddy Bush –, who were musicians that were not featured heavily on her first two albums – producer Andrew Powell favoured more experienced musicians. Bush wanted The Tour of Life to be on her own terms and, as she felt an emotional connection to her fans and wanted to repay their support, everything had to be done right. The video I have included above gives you an idea as to the extent of Bush’s involvement before she even started to perform. From choosing designs and choreography through to costumes, Bush had her finger in ever pie going! She had a great team around her and she was very encouraging and keen to learn from them but, at the same time, ensure that other people were not directing the feel and tone of the tour. In terms of realities and rigours, the financial sting was there from the start. EMI had not put aside money for a tour, so Bush’s music company (controlled by her father), Novercia, and had takings from merchandise and ticket sales had to fund it. For someone as ambitious and creative as Bush, the idea of maybe scaling back as to avoid fiduciary trouble must have been a source of anxiety!
As it is, The Tour of Life was a massive success and I can’t imagine that too much was left out. When you hear from people who saw her at one of the dates across the U.K. and Europe and see videos of the show, you can definitely see a lot of the bigger ideas and concepts coming to life! Costume designer Lisa Hayes had hoped to have a new costume for each song of the show but, as that would cost more, create pressure on stage and, perhaps, cause issues with a fast change, things were scaled down. The work she did with choreographer Anthony Van Laast was amazing! I have seen clips of her rehearsing, and I don’t think people realise the hours she committed to the routines - and, when that translated to the stage, just what a physical undertaking it was! A new song was being choreographed every day, so the sense of exhaustion was very real! Not only was there the financial and physical drain but, in a warm-up show in Poole on 2nd April, 1979, lighting assistant Bill Duffield was killed in a freak accident. He was drafted to help with the complex lighting and to find ways of transporting kit between venues. His death caused shockwaves through the crew and musicians. Bush was especially affected, as she knew everyone personally and it was like losing a friend.
I will allude to this when I discuss Before the Dawn, but I think her desire to perform at the same venue each night in 2014 might have been impacted by the fact Duffield was hired because they would be travelling and they needed an extra pair of hands. Simon Drake – a magician/illusionist who was to perform a floating cane trick during an instrumental break – was injured during one rehearsal for The Tour of Life, narrowly escaping serious injury. This reduced Bush to tears and, thinking about the injuries and losses (few as they were), I sort of think about the people who built the pyramids and how many lives were lost. That is an exaggeration, but the size and complexities of setting up stages and working out the logistics was having an impact! When it came to the shows themselves, Bush was exhilarating and a sensation! Her shows were praised by critics and fans alike and, whilst there was this adulation and rapture from audiences, I think about the energy expended during those shows. During some shows, Bush was being carried off stage at the end, completely drained from such a taxing performance! Most nights she would not stay up late and socialise; needing the rest before travelling to the next venue, with days off usually dedicated to much-needed kip. I guess this reality is true of every major artist but, as she was barely in her twenties and her professional career was very new, this sort of hit and realisation must have come as quite a shock!
PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
Bush had created a show with mime, magic and music. This was like nothing anyone had witnessed! It is no exaggeration to say she transformed the perception of a Pop/Rock show. Bush hated it when bands went out and played the songs in a very ordinary and unimaginative way so, for that reason, The Tour of Life was a world of its own! Looking at the article from Record Collector, and it is clear that this incredible live spectacle was impacting Bush as they rolled onto Europe. She grew to hate flying and travel as it did wear her out and eat up a lot of her time. The physical demand of travelling and doing shows was starting to tell. Her voice was also straining, and a show in Stockholm on 24th April (1979) was especially challenging. It was feared she had an infection or would lose her voice as the convoy moved to Copenhagen for a show on 26th April. Bush likened The Tour of Life to a circus troupe travelling around, and it was fortunate she had a day off between Sweden and Denmark so that she could try and regain some strength. There was pressure from the money men and management to let the show continue, rather than dates being cancelled. One can only imagine the sort of stress that caused for Bush, as she wanted to perform for the fans but she knew that her voice was fragile and could break.
PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
As a compromise, the setlist was shortened for the 26th, and any songs that put too much pressure on the voice were nixed. There were worries the European leg could be cancelled as Bush was suffering but, as she was treated by antibiotics and a set in Hamburg on 28th April was also shortened, it provided her with some respite. It was, during a show in Amsterdam on 29th, that her voice came back to full strength – it must have caught her and the audience by surprise! Photographer Max Browne has said how the tour was like Heaven for him and a bit of a daze – and how he hopes to put out a book in the not-too-distant future. After The Tour of Life had wrapped in May 1979, there were possible plans to tour in the U.S. and support Fleetwood Mac on their Rumours tour. Aside from the glitz and carnival of the show, Bush herself had given so much. She did not go to the U.S. – partly because of the energy needed, and she did not want to perform a short support slot which was very restrictive -, and Bush said in interviews through the years how she felt less confident as a performer after The Tour of Life; explaining why she became an albums artists for so many years. Many speculate why Bush did not perform in such a big way for so many years. She felt that her sexuality was too much of a focus, and she herself had not had time to explore who she was. The Tour of Life allowed her to do that in a sense, and have the focus shift to her performances and the show, rather than her looks and body. Also, the cost of mounting and executing such an ambitious tour was not something she could afford to repeat. The physical and emotional cost was also clear; losing Bill Duffield was a huge blow. Her albums became more complex and layered, so putting them onto the stage was less practical and possible – whether Bush, subconsciously, was making her songs like that so she could not tour them. Fortunately, in 2014, she was able to come back to the stage to deliver her second live extravaganza!
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during her Before the Dawn residency in 2014/PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex Features
It must have been like a nice homecoming performing a twenty-two-date residency at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith (or, as she knew it in 1979, the Hammersmith Odeon) – the final venue she performed at during the scheduled run of The Tour of Life. Whereas Bush performed around about thirty different sets for The Tour of Life – with travel included -, Before the Dawn was less demanding in that sense. Running between 26th August and 1st October, 2014, there was the same balance of triumphs and tribulations when putting together such a phenomenal show. After all these years away, Bush wanted to do something different to The Tour of Life, and there was months of planning, discussions and rehearsals. Although Before the Dawn was less demanding in terms of dance and travel, I think the concept was bigger and the whole show, perhaps, a little more ambitious than The Tour of Life. Performing with her KT Bush Fellowship in Hammersmith to an ecstatic crowd each night would have been a wonderful rush! Bush said in interviews how the audiences each night were stunning and they gave her so much energy and life. I will get to the good aspects of Before the Dawn but, whilst Bush did not have to commute far to get to Hammersmith every night, the preparations were pretty intense. As I have mentioned before, there was a part of the show where Bush is filmed adrift at sea in a life raft.
She shot that in a studio in a water tank, but the time in took to complete the short piece left her with a mild case of hypothermia and a lot of stressful and unhappy hours. The interview above talks of the show and how, before each night, she was very nervous. That sense of anxiety and nerves was something that has afflicted her throughout her career and, even as a decades-seasoned professional, performing such a big show after all these years was always going to be daunting. The pleasures and highlights from Before the Dawn are obvious. The fans received a rare gift. In Record Collector, Pete Paphides documented his experiences of seeing Bush perform. We get to meet (in the piece) various excited fans who, each, were overwhelmed by the emotion and importance of what they were seeing. Paphides notes that the love in the room he saw and heard was like nothing else! It must have been strange for Bush to do such a grand show again so many years down the line. Some who saw her in 2014 were also there in 1979. Bush would have wrestled with doubts beforehand – remembering the realities of The Tour of Life and the downsides – and she battled the nerves one would expect for such a big occasion. It was her then-teenage son Bertie who persuaded her to get back on the stage; he was part of the cast, and having that familial support must have made the whole thing a little less terrifying.
I guess you had to be there to get a true sense of what Before the Dawn evoked and represented but, in terms of its scale and impact, one can say it rivalled The Tour of Life. Hounds of Love’s song-suite, The Ninth Wave, was brought to the stage; we got filmed sections and on-stage performances that brought this much-loved set of songs to life! Dancers dressed in costumes gave physicality to figures and sights sung on The Ninth Wave; a rare chance for fans to see a long-held dream of visualising these songs in a dramatic, theatrical way. Across twenty-five songs and two ambitious acts, thousands of fans got to witness something that took months of hard work and drilling to get right. For Bush, the same sort of responsibility and hard work she experienced in 1979 was here again and, if the rewards were big back then, they might have been even larger playing in London for twenty-two dates. Paphides observed that, when he saw her, he got the feeling that Bush, unlike anyone else, gave her everything to inspire her fans and ensure they were left enraptured. He noted that, if she left it another thirty-five years to perform, she would be ninety-one when she got back on the stage – which is why he (and everyone else) did not want to let her go and see the show end! Although there were horrors and incredibly tough experiences on both The Tour of Life, and Before the Dawn, the resultant brilliance from Bush and the reaction from the adoring crowds will be etched into music history forever. Reading and learning about the experiences of those who got to saw Bush at those shows makes me a little jealous! Whilst it is unlikely, I do wonder whether Kate Bush will give everyone an unexpected announcement and come to the stage once more…
PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex Features
WITH a new production.