I was online at one second past nine to get tickets to see this icon from my youth. I was chuffed to bits to get four top price tickets in the stalls on my actual birthday. Who to invite? Well it had to be Mary and my brother and sister.
I respected Kate's request not to takes photos during the performance but did allow myself one before and one during the interval.
When she walked on stage the welcome was astounding. I have been to a number of gigs where the audience cheered enthusiastically at the entrance of the band but this reception was qualitatively different in timbre - it was real love and devotion from her fans.
Before the Dawn
This was not a concert - it was musical theatre with two complete song cycles. Before the interval it was The Ninth Wave, the second side of Hounds of Love, and after it was A Sky of Honey, the second CD of Aerial; the whole lot topped and tailed with a number of other songs [Set List on Wikipedia].
Her voice is no longer the little girl warbling of her early years; her range seemed deeper and richer.
She talked very little as befits theatre rather than concert. Mostly she said "Thank you, thank you" after every song and seemed genuinely moved and grateful by her reception. The only other thing she said, and it seemed incongruous, was to thank her "shit hot band" and her "shit hot singers".
Ian, Mark (me), Jane
I had not realised that The Ninth Wave was a coherent collection because I don't really pay enough attention to lyrics. Seeing it acted out was a real a-ha! moment. So, not only did I get the music I gained insight and understanding which added to the enjoyment.
Poetic confetti fired at the audience
This is not a review, there are plenty of extensive reviews out there from the broadsheets - Google for Kate Bush Review. What I can say is it was a rare treat, a once in a lifetime event, which I am very happy to be able to say "I was there".
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