FEATURE:
A Nostalgic Treasure
Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon
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I completely forgot to mention …
PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne
this release when I wrote about The Tour of Life recently. I am still correct in what I said regarding the tour and the fact one cannot hear a full set on vinyl. I did neglect to mention a release that slipped my mind. I am thinking about The Tour of Life again, as I have been spending time with Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn residency and how it compared to the 1979 tour. In the previous feature, I asked whether we would get a full set from The Tour of Life on physical formats. Like Before the Dawn, one cannot find streaming/digital recordings. One has to buy the vinyl. As far as I know, Before the Dawn is not going to be available on Spotify at all. I am fascinated by The Tour of Life, as it is a hugely important stage of Bush’s life. I do feel that there would be demand to have a full set available on vinyl, together with with an accompanying book and/or DVD. I shall end with that. The release I was referring to (that eluded me the other week) is Kate Bush – Live at Hammersmith Odeon. Released in 1994, it was released, I assume, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of The Tour of Life. Bush started The Tour of Life in the U.K. (the warm-up gig was in Poole on 2nd April). She did her first European date in Stockholm on 24th April.
The first date at the Hammersmith Odeon was on 12th May. This concert was a tribute to the lightning assistant, Bill Duffield. He died in a freak accident after the warm-up gig in Poole. That Hammersmith benefit has an altered set-list. Bush performed two further dates at the Hammersmith Odeon: 13th and 14th May. It must have been strange ending in London. One would think that she would start her tour close to home. I guess she had a home/local crowd at the end of an exhausting (if exciting) tour. Bush got to finish in London and see out her only tour at the wonderful venue. It was the one she returned to in 2014 for Before the Dawn. If my recent piece on The Tour of Life was about a missing vinyl release of the show, today I wanted to highlight something that is already out there. One can get a C.D. and VHS package for not a lot. It is a very reasonable price! I guess it is relevant looking at her Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon release, as it came out in 1981 on home video – so this is the fortieth anniversary year! The Kate Bush Encyclopaedia gives more details:
“Live at Hammersmith Odeon is a recording of a live performance by Kate Bush on 13 May 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. It was originally released on home video in 1981. The video shows only twelve songs from the performance which on most nights consisted of 23 songs. Also, the song L'amour Looks Something Like You, which was included on the On Stage EP was cut from this video.
Formats
The original release in 1981 was available on VHS and Betamax video, the two leading video formats at the time. There was also a release on Laserdisc. The video was re-released in 1994 as a boxed set that included a CD version of the performance.
Track listing
Moving
Them Heavy People
Violin
Strange Phenomena
Hammer Horror
Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake
Wow
Feel It
Kite
James And The Cold Gun
Oh England My Lionheart
Wuthering Heights”.
Recorded during the penultimate date on The Tour of Life, Bush would have been extremely well-rehearsed and free from nerves (one suspects). Whilst a normal set was comprised of twenty-three/twenty-four songs, we sort of get half of a set (this website suggests that twenty-one numbers were performed on 13th May, 1979). I love the fact that one can get Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon in this box-set. In 1994, VHS was a hugely popular format. C.D.s were relatively new to some people. Most artists were recording to the technology. Now, as vinyl has overtaken C.D.s and people are not watching VHS anymore, Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon is more of a nostalgic item. Something for collectors and fans. That is why I headlined this feature as ‘a nostalgic treat’. I will buy the box-set and enjoy the C.D. and keep the VHS. Many artists are releasing on vinyl or going discless - due to the environmental aspects of C.D.s.
Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon is an essential purchase for many Kate Bush fans. We get more than on the Kate Bush - On Stage E.P. that was released in 1979. One can get that on vinyl. It renews my calls for new consideration regarding The Tour of Life and the Hammersmith Odeon set. EMI control the publishing rights, so there is nothing preventing them from transferring it to streaming. I do feel there is a genuine gulf not having Bush live recordings digitally. As I said before, she might want to keep them to physical formats. Given the fact there are a dozen tracks on Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon, there would be the remaining songs from a set. Putting it out as a double vinyl would combine Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon and allow the missing songs to be heard. There are terrific photos taken during that Hammersmith set. Max Browne has published a book of those images. A nice new boxset with a double vinyl, multi-page booklet with photos, notes, setlists and details would go great alongside a DVD (with the 1979 Nationwide documentary, which followed Bush as she prepared for The Tour of Life). There are clips from The Tour of Life on YouTube – though the quality is not great. Also, as it is YouTube, a video can be removed with little reason or notice. The VHS provides a clearer and better experience - though most people have done away with their video players! Transferring the set to DVD or Blu-Ray and putting it in this boxset would be a good idea.
I am not sure how many people have Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon and whether it is the way to connect fans to Bush’s performances during The Tour of Life. Kate Bush - On Stage provides a small window into what it was like…though updating the Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon release for the modern market would be sage. Maybe it could be tied to an anniversary and released in 2024 – a long way off, though it would mark forty-five years of the epic and groundbreaking tour. Not to keep banging on about The Tour of Life but, having jogged my mind to Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon, I have a hankering to immerse myself in that set. To have it on both DVD and vinyl would be such a treat. I feel a lot of people overlook The Tour of Life and shows like the one at the Hammersmith Odeon on 13th May, 1979. Most people know about the studio albums. Many do not realise how powerful the live recordings are. Not many of us were around or would have been at one of the sets on The Tour of Life. Bringing it to life now, to me, is more important than it has ever been. It showcases what a phenomenal live performer Bush is! Go and get Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon and the Kate Bush - On Stage E.P. I hope that EMI, one day, brings Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon up-to-date and releases it on…
DVD and vinyl.