FEATURE:
Live and Let Live
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing Under Ice (from Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave) during the 2014 residency, Before the Dawn/PHOTO CREDIT: Gavin Bush
Could Kate Bush Ever Step Back on the Stage?
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THIS is a question I have asked…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush on stage for 1979’s The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel/Redferns
a few times before. There was a time, fairly recently in fact, that this possibility seemed remote to impossible. I can’t remember the last time is that I wrote about it. What it would be like if Kate Bush returned to the stage. Rather than speculate as to what a live set now would look like and how it would be constructed, I am asking whether the possibility is more alive now than recent years. Back in October, there was reaction to an interview that The Guardian conducted with David Gilmour. One question asked was whether Kate Bush would perform live again:
“I’ve tried persuading her recently. Gently.” Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour has been trying to encourage his friend and former protégé Kate Bush to play live shows again
David Gilmour wants to see Kate Bush back onstage, won't be sharing a stage with former bandmate Roger Waters again, ever
David Gilmour says that he's been “gently” encouraging his friend and former protégé Kate Bush to play live shows again.
Gilmour 'discovered' Bush, the sister of a friend of a friend, when she was just 15, and paid for her to professionally record three songs at Air studios in London with producer/arranger Andrew Powell, and engineer Geoff Emerick, who worked with The Beatles at Abbey Road. Gilmour selected which three songs - among them The Man with the Child in His Eyes - the teenage singer should record from “40 or 50” Bush compositions he had heard and helped broker a record deal for her with EMI.
“I was convinced from the beginning that this girl had remarkable talent,” Pink Floyd's vocalist/guitarist told The New Statesman in 2005.
The two musicians have remained friends ever since, memorably appearing onstage together in 1987 to perform Running Up That Hill at the Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Third Ball at the London Palladium”.
Emma Barnett raised the subject of live performance and name-checked that interview from The Gurdian. The two spoke late last year when Bush released the Little Shrew (Snowflake) video and announced she was open to working on a new album. Rather than shoot down the possibility of live music, Bush said that she was not there yet. A bit of a wink or laugh in her voice. That does not mean Kate Bush is planning something. Think about how intense her two live productions have been. 1979’s The Tour of Life saw her perform around the U.K. and Europe. Huge shows that were intense and energetic. Some nights she was almost lifted off stage and could not stand up. It is understandable she would not want to repeat that experience in a hurry – even if she did actually enjoy the tour. In 2014, Before the Dawn was mounted. I will talk about it for another feature shortly. This was a residency at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith. A nerve-wracking proposition where Bush and her team were pretty much on edge until the shows finished, it did take a lot out of her. Not only in terms of the twenty-two performances. Just conceptualising the show. Figuring out how it was all going to come together. Perhaps a more rigorous and labour-intensive proposition in 2014 compared to 1979! Nearly eleven years after she announced her residency, one asks what circumstances have to change for Bush to consider more live work. Touring would definitely be out of the question.
IN THIS PHOTO: Albert (Bertie) McIntosh during 2014’s Before the Dawn/PHOTO CREDIT: Gavin Bush
She is now sixty-six and is definitely not going to travel far to perform. If she did do something then one would imagine it would be at a London location. There would be multiple considerations. What albums would she play songs from? Would she need to realise another album first to have that impetus? Could she do another big live prediction without repeating herself? Does she have that desire anymore? Kate Bush knows that she has a new generation of fans. Those who have never seen or live or never got the chance. Even if she has not confirmed any plans to perform again, I was intrigued by her response to Emma Barnett last year. An answer that was open-minded and not definitive. The music industry is still ageist. When an older artist like Madonna goes on tour, there are articles that ask if she is too old. Criticising her and thinking she is embarrassing herself. It affects women more than men. There was some ageism and misogyny towards Kate Bush when she announced Before the Dawn. The reason for The Tour of Life was expectation. After releasing two studio albums in 1978, there was demand. Bush was definitely keen to perform live. There were various rumours and plans before 2014. Bush wanting to perform live and tour in the 1990s. It was her young son Albert that persuaded her to perform live for Before the Dawn. Encouragement to his mother at the time. He is in his twenties now, so there would not be that same impetus. Bush wanting to do something for her fans but also knowing her son thought it was a good idea. I guess new popularity and love of her music could see her given that push. You know that, if she did do more live work, it would be the final time. I don’t think Bush would want to do any live performance after a hypothetical next residency.
Would it be a residency? Bush said how nervous she was during the shows. She loved the audiences and they were a dream. However, it was a massive undertaking and I think, after releasing two albums in 2011 (Director’s Cut and 50 Words for Snow), doing something new was very much in her mind. That was a big motivation. After releasing two albums, that desire to do something different and fresh. A project that would not tie her to the studio. Wanting to connect to an audience. If anything was going to get Kate Bush back on stage, then it would be her fans. The love and admiration they expressed every night in 2014. Bush could release two more albums and then decide. However, things are different now to 2014. In terms of how there has been this resurgence. From the success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) in 2022 and the whole Stranger Things success. This younger generation now discovering the music. Bush also did not perform songs from 50 Words for Snow and Director’s Cut (technically Bush reworking songs from The Sensual World and The Red Shoes). Well, she did perform Among Angels (50 Words for Snow). However, new albums would not necessarily be the ammunition for live work. More than it being about new material to showcase on the stage, it is the need to connect with her fans. The pandemic has happened since 2014. Her music has been shared on social media and her career has enjoyed this new phase. One where she is tempting us with possible new music. Maybe after that is complete she would be in the headspace to think about live work.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush captured during 1979’s The Tour of Life/PHOTO CREDIT: Jorgen Angel/Redferns
I realise that circumstances are different now to how they were in 1979 and 2014. The motivations different today. Bush has spent a long time working on the Little Shrew (Snowflake) video. She directed and wrote it. If she is working on new material, when might an album materialise? This year or next one would imagine. Would live work be a possibility before, say, 2027? Bush knows that artists in their sixties and seventies can perform live. Many of her musical idols have. People like Elton John and Paul McCartney show that there is still desire from fans. She might cast her mind back to 2014 and how she felt before each show. The sheet effort of bringing Before the Dawn to life. I don’t think there is any question as to whether she could go back on stage. Physically and emotionally she would be more than capable of delivery something spellbinding. I guess it is the question of whether she would. I don’t think she has closed the door on that possibility. However, now is a time when she is more in album mode. Maybe once that has been completed then she will be more open-minded to live work. I have never seen Kate Bush perform live, so obviously there is that selfish desire. Perhaps we would need to wait until albums were out. Bush keener to be in the studio for the time being. I don’t think we can rule out Bush returning to the stage. Though it would be impossible to give a date or say when. David Gilmour has gently tried to persuade her, so she knows that people want to see it happen. As she is not there at the moment, perhaps other factors needs to change. A new reason to embark on another huge live project. Maybe the swell of new fans and people picking up her music. Bush coming up with a new concept or wanting to do one final residency or even a single show. Perhaps a small run of dates. Kate Bush being Kate Bush, it may never happen or it could be announced at any moment! She does keep us all on our toes that is for sure. That image of Kate Bush once more being on the stage as the audience before her goes wild and shows her such love. We would all dearly love to…
SEE the day.