FEATURE:
Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn at Ten
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during her Before the Dawn residency in 2014/PHOTO CREDIT: Gavin Bush/Rex
What Do We Take From the Acclaimed and Beloved Residency?
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THIS Monday (26th)…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush shooting the video for And Dream of Sheep (a song that is part of her suite, The Ninth Wave)/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton
it will be ten years since Kate Bush stepped on stage to deliver the first of twenty-two dates at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. I have already talked about the build-up and the preparation. For the final anniversary feature of Before the Dawn, I want to think about what we can take from the residency. I will drop in a couple of the reviews once more. Even though no high-profile name who attended one of the Before the Dawn dates took my up on an invitation to speak about their experiences and recollections of that wonderful experience, I did get a few interactions and replies on Twitter. A few of the people who were there:
“@sproutsfan
“I was lucky enough to get tickets after being a long time mailing list member so my brother and I flew from the USA and joined another friend from London and his wife. 3 of us had been at the Sunderland empire show in 1979 so a Kate “reunion”. So many memories from the night”.
@timmonsdan
Another fan from the US. When the email came announcing the tour I was shocked. What was great was I had some issues with the ticket purchase for the second show I was buying. I sent an email providing feedback not expecting anything but I got access to tix again.
So I did see two night. One with my wife and the second to a guy I sold the tix to on EBay it helped pay for the trip.. amazing experience and we had Jimmy Page sitting in front of my wife and I.
I also am a taper and recorded both shows I’ve only shared a copy with the guy who bought the ticket from me. I know I will never experience anything like that anticipation again for the first night.
Sir: I read James Walton’s review of Kate Bush (Arts, 30 August) on the train home from London. As a hardcore fan, I can assure him it really was well worth the £150 ticket price, return trip from Glasgow, and overnight stay. My only regret was that I was looking down from the circle. I now wish I had shelled out the money for the stalls. They seemed to be having much more fun than my cohorts, who were comparatively restrained. Indeed, I only managed one ‘We love you Kate!’ before bowing to social pressure. A Glasgow audience would have raised the roof, circle or not. But this is to gripe. It was a thoroughly splendid evening, made all the better by the discovery that Kate is a devotee of Tennyson. I don’t think it too fanciful to suggest that in her own way she is every bit as accomplished an artist as the great man himself.
John-Paul Marney - Glasgow”.
Even though Before the Dawn ended on 1st October, 2014, its reverberations and impressions are still being felt ten years down the line. The combination of the anticipation and excitement, together with the explosive love and enormous buzz from the opening night, together with the wonderful reaction to all of the dates has made Before the Dawn one of the most acclaimed and important concert series ever. That is not an overstatement! We talk about modern-day concert phenomenon from the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Those tours are incredible and inspiring. Modern-day spectacles. Whilst there is no denying their implant and brilliance, one has to think about Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn back in 2014. There are a few reasons why it was so talked about at the time and remains seismic. Consider the fact that her first and only big live commitment to that point was back in 1979. The Tour of Life was an exhausting yet groundbreaking tour. In some ways, I don’t think Bush could equal or top what she did thirty-five years previously. It is clear it was a really demanding and intensive tour. There were plans to your down the road. As early as The Dreaming (1982) she would have thought about it. I think it was in 1991 at a fan convention when she gave a big hint that she would do tour dates. In fact, when she saw Prince play at Wembley back in 1990, Bush was scoping out the venue. Attending that concert with her Del Palmer, Prince revealed her was a massive fan of hers. That would have ignited something in Kate Bush. The fact other things soon got in her way – the death of her mother in 1992; the release of an album and short film in 1993; the need to step away and start a family – meant touring and any major live work would have to wait.
The fact Bush was almost seen as reclusive or retired in the 1990s and many thought a stage return was impossible added to the surprise and wonder of Before the Dawn. Also, it was another ambitious and wonderfully immersive live experience. She could have sold out her dates doing a simpler set. Kate Bush really threw everything into it! Perhaps even eclipsing what she pulled off in 1979, Before the Dawn could have been a let-down. In the sense so many people built up what it would be. Kate Bush exceeded everyone’s wildest dreams! No hyperbole in the reviews and reaction, few tours have met the magic and wonder many saw in 2014. Also, the consistency and brilliance of Kate Bush. In her fifties and having not performed on a stage for some time, you can tell how much preparation and rehearsal she put in. Note perfect and up to her very best every date, I think that many modern-day artists looked at Before the Dawn for inspiration. There is no denying how influential and impactful that residency was. I think that it is one of the most important live tours/residencies of the past twenty-five years. The acclaim and words written about it is set in stone. I will round up with some takeaway and what we can learn from Before the Dawn. Before that, here is a review from Pop Matters. They were reviewing the 2016 live album, but they looked back at a sense of community togetherness in 2014:
“Bush’s brothers, Paddy and John Carder, are very much present in the live performance of an album on which they played an integral part. John Carder Bush reprises his riveting narration on a thunderous presentation of the Celtic flavored “Jig of Life”. Bush’s character, still lost at sea and spiraling further into delirium, imagines herself as an old woman who beseeches her younger self to stay alive so that the elder’s part of the lifeline is not cut from the future. The suite’s epic climax, “Hello Earth”, is majestic and thrilling. It’s masterfully arranged and performed, arguably the album’s highest point in an ocean of highs. The finale, “The Morning Fog”, which enacts Bush’s character awakening after being rescued, is as exuberant as one would expect. It concludes The Ninth Wave with a sense of joyous triumph and a deep appreciation for life.
The Ninth Wave alone is worth putting down the money for this collection, but Bush is far from finished. She tackles an even more elaborate piece with A Sky of Honey, a lengthy suite originally released as the entire second half of Aerial. This section may try the patience of some listeners who aren’t necessary die-hard Kate Bush fans. The third act has moments of spellbinding beauty, but also at times, there are lulls that were more effective for audience members who were able to experience the visuals on stage. Some of the interludes and longer pieces don’t translate particularly well to an audio-only presentation. Put more bluntly, portions of the hour-long suite are simply a bit dull.
That said, one cannot help but be impressed by the scope of the production and the power with which it is brought to fruition. Bush’s son, Albert McIntosh, who was an integral part of the show’s creative team, delivers a winsome vocal on “Tawny Moon”, a piece newly written for the show that is sequenced between the suite’s two highlights, “Somewhere in Between”, and the dazzling “Nocturne”. The nearly 10-minute “Aerial” closes the suite with a massive explosion of sound, drama and presumably, for the audience fortunate enough to have the chance to see her, enormous spectacle. It’s an ending worthy of a long and winding journey that is ultimately worth taking despite the occasional drifts into tedium.
Bush wraps up the show and album with a two-song encore: “Among Angels”, the only track present from her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, and a dynamic performance of the majestic “Cloudbusting”. The audience reaction is ecstatic, and Bush’s gracious appreciation is touching and obviously heartfelt.
Before the Dawn is a bit of an enigma. Yes, it’s magical to hear the reclusive Kate Bush live on stage performing these songs, a musical event that few thought would ever happen. There are genuine moments of grandeur on this album, as befitting a project so elaborate and historic. While the album’s highs are very lofty indeed and The Ninth Wave works beautifully, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the entire experience would have been more profoundly entertaining had Bush refrained from performing the entire Sky of Honey set and instead focused on a couple key tracks as part of a sequence comprising a more varied selection from her catalog. It’s easy to imagine songs like “And So Is Love”, “Pull Out the Pin”, “Under the Ivy”, “This Woman’s Work”, “Love and Anger”, “How to Be Invisible” and “Wild Man” among many other Kate Bush gems performed on stage. The notion of a live performance of her duet “Don’t Give Up” (could she have snagged Peter Gabriel for some of the shows?) is spine-tingling to even contemplate.
Still, given the circumstances, it seems churlish to suggest that Bush should have structured her return after a 35-year absence from the stage in any way other than exactly how she wanted. She does it her way, as she always has, and while one may quibble with a few aspects of the album it’s still a remarkable listen. Perhaps now that Kate Bush has completed work on Before the Dawn — the residency and the deluxe live album — she will move on to new projects. It’s clear that nearly 40 years since her debut single, the creative prowess of one of popular music’s most valuable treasures is undiminished”.
In 2014, The Guardian revealed their passion and admiration for Kate Bush. Back on the stage after so long, they highlighted the note-perfect vocals and the thoroughly engaging performance from Bush. Someone showing no weakness or any sense of nerves – even though she was very nervous -, you can only imagine the pressure she would have felt! None of that seems to bleed into her performance. What people saw in London in 2014 will stay with them fore the rest of their lives:
“Backed by a band of musicians capable of navigating the endless twists and turns of her songwriting – from funk to folk to pastoral prog rock - the performances of Running Up That Hill and King of the Mountain sound almost identical to their recorded versions - but letting rip during a version of Top of the City, she sounds flatly incredible.
You suspect that even if she hadn't, the audience would have lapped it up. Audibly delighted to be in the same room as her, they spend the first part of the show clapping everything she does: no gesture is too insignificant to warrant a round of applause. It would be cloying, but for the fact that Bush genuinely gives them something to cheer about.
For someone who's spent the vast majority of her career shunning the stage, she's a hugely engaging live performer, confident enough to shun the hits that made her famous in the first place: she plays nothing from her first four albums.
The staging might look excessive on paper, but onstage it works to astonishing effect, bolstering rather than overwhelming the emotional impact of the songs. The Ninth Wave is disturbing, funny and so immersive that the crowd temporarily forget to applaud everything Bush does. As each scene bleeds into another, they seem genuinely rapt: at the show's interval, people look a little stunned. A Sky of Honey is less obviously dramatic – nothing much happens over the course of its nine tracks – but the live performance underlines how beautiful the actual music is.
Already widely acclaimed as the most influential and respected British female artist of the past 40 years, shrouded in the kind of endlessly intriguing mystique that is almost impossible to conjure in an internet age, Bush theoretically had a lot to lose by returning to the stage. Clearly, given how tightly she has controlled her own career since the early 80s, she would only have bothered because she felt she had something spectacular to offer. She was right: Before The Dawn is another remarkable achievement”.
What can we learn from the residency?! Before the Dawn showed we can never predict Kate Bush. When she announced her residency in March 2014, it blew people away! There were no quivers or rumours. It shows that actually not building things up and teasing endlessly actually creates a bigger surprise and bang. Actually, I guess the absence did do a lot of that work. Even if the set and whole production was large and hugely imaginative, the way in which the residency was announced should serve as a guide to a lot of modern artists who can take something out of the excitement with a lot of the traditional promotion. Also, whilst we can’t predict Kate Bush, we can’t write her off or be doubtful! Some might have been nervous Before the Dawn could fail or at least it might not be as good as we’d hoped. The effort and planning that went into Before the Dawn showed that Bush was still a master and groundbreaking live artist in her fifties. The famous faces and breadth of the fans there also proved how she is not only for the older generations. It doesn’t matter she released an album three years before. People were happy to wait. Bush also was in no mood to let anyone down or do anything less than world-class. Proof that an artist in her fifties could match the very best and most popular younger artists. The mix of the crowd also showed how her fanbase is among the most ardent, passionate and loving in the world! One of the broadest in terms of age and walks of life. The lack of phones and filming meant people were engaged and committed.
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing Somewhere in Between with her son Bertie during Before the Dawn/PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex Features
There was no sense of people holding phones up and distracted. Kate Bush wanted people to respect that rule. After all the work and effort, it would have tainted the performance if she stared out at a wall of phones and no eyes! I think that has inspired a lot of artists since. How their fans engage with them in the modern age. Bush helped design and popularise the wireless head microphone in 1979. She was still innovating in 2014! At a high-tech time, she wanted fans to return to basics. As such, people’s experience was so much more involved and direct. More moving, physical and together. Fans engaging and being in the moment! That sense of not being able to predict Bush. We can never say never and say she is retired. However, Before the Dawn felt like a final chapter…of sorts. In terms of live work, this seemed like a magnificent and unforgettable swansong. The result of years of what-ifs and half-abandoned tour plans and live work. I don’t think we will see her back on stage. Some feel Before the Dawn is the last project from her. No albums or anything else. Maybe Before the Dawn is the perfect way to say goodbye and thanks to her fans! The residency also showed how Bush could bring so many people together. So many people discuss being there. I opened with some reactions and testimony. Everyone who discusses Before the Dawn almost does it in religious and spiritual terms. How it transformed their lives. It was more than a live show. No regular gig. Instead, it was a dream come true and this almost transcendent experience! On 26th August, it is ten years since the first date of Before the Dawn. What everyone can agree on is that this truly spectacular and unforgettable residency was life-changing…
FOR everyone who was there.