FEATURE:
For One Night Only…
Imagining a Kate Bush Q&A at the Eventim Apollo
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THERE are a number of Kate Bush features…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during 2014’s Before the Dawn residency at the Eventim Apollo/PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/REX
where I imagine events and documentaries. Things that I would love to see, as would the wider fan community. One such possibility is a Q&A. There is not much chance Bush will perform live again, especially not on a big stage. I have suggested an idea that she do a stripped-back set from Abbey Road Studios, but she might find that even more nerve-wracking than a bigger gig. Someone always driven by concepts and big productions when it comes to her live music, I feel something more similar to Before the Dawn would be in her mind if she performed live. Giving the audience some theatre and spectacle. Bringing her music to life through great sets, dancing, and tremendous scenes! Maybe going to a low-key and intimate set at Abbey Road Studios would be like her returning to the very early days where she was playing her songs to record company people. Days where she would play her songs to band members but be quite nervous at the same time. I think that fans would welcome something that featured Bush playing live but was not a massive show. Perhaps we will never see it happen. It is a shame, because there is a great outpouring of love and affection for Kate Bush right now. There always has been but, given the 2022 she has had, a live event would definitely be met with ecstasy! That got me thinking about an idea. Maybe a compromise that was not live performance, but it gets Kate Bush back on stage.
The Eventim Apollo (Hammersmith Apollo (formerly the Hammersmith Odeon) is somewhere that Bush has a special connection to. She performed her Before the Dawn residency there back in 2014. Her final night of The Tour of Life in 1979 was performed here. It is a great venue with a proscenium arch that allows for something on the scale of these mighty live events. I have never been to the venue myself but, as it is somewhere Bush feels comfortable at, I have been thinking about her and Paul McCartney. Forgive a bit of a tangent. Bush has always loved The Beatles. but I think she has a particular fascination with Paul McCartney. Having performed Paul McCartney-led/penned Beatles songs before (including She’s Leaving Home, Let It Be (more than once) and The Long and Winding Road), she also once claimed her favourite album from The Beatles was Magical Mystery Tour. At least she name-checked it as one that was very important to her. I always associate that with being McCartney-led. The two have met, and I feel like it is a tragedy that they have not recorded together on a studio album. One great McCartney event that happened recently was his Q&A at the Southbank Centre. With Paul Muldoon and chair Samira Ahmed, it was a night to promote The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. That event took place last November. It was a world-exclusive Q&A that I would have loved to have been at. There is something fascinating having Q&As and getting to know more about an artist.
IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney/PHOTO CREDIT: Mary McCartney
Kate Bush does not have a book to promote, nor is there an album coming out. There is nothing she is selling but, as she has been touched by the reaction to Stranger Things using her track, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and its subsequent success, you know she appreciates all the fans’ support and love. There are a couple of anniversaries next year. For one, and although it is a way away, Bush is sixty-five in July. I think that it would be wonderful if, for one night, there was a Q&A at the Eventim Apollo. Maybe hosted by a famous fan or author – Graeme Thomson wrote the biography, Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush; David Mitchell wrote the foreword/introduction to the 2018 lyrics book, How to Be Invisible -, you would have Kate Bush discussing her career, recent focus, and the future. Maybe it would be quite nerve-wracking, but it would be less daunting than a run of live dates! A chance for fans to see Bush in the flesh, this is exclusive access to her. A look back at her career and maybe a chance to receive questions from fans, this would be a wonderful event! This is me thinking about Bush and what she has given the world through the year. Whilst she may do another album, it is unlikely that there will be opportunity to see her on the screen or stage. A one-time Q&A, similar to the one with Paul McCartney from last year, would definitely prove popular. Showing love for an artist who has changed lives and inspired so many people around the world, the Eventim Apollo would be a perfect location. Next year sees The Kick Inside (her debut album) turns forty-five. Bush is sixty-five on 30th July. So what better excuses than to have this fan-filled event where she answers questions about her career. Giving direct thanks to those who have supported her! Maybe it is just a dream, but there are thousands of people who would flock to see a Q&A with the…
ICONIC Kate Bush.