Kate Bush, Hammersmith Apollo

Kate Bush is something of a recluse. The singer-songwriter hates interviews and she’s only had one public appearance since the release of 2005’s Aerial. Bush hasn’t gone on tour since 1979; it is said she suffers from stage fright. It was assumed she would never perform again.

So when Bush revealed in March that she is putting on a series of late-summer concerts, it came as something of a surprise, to put it mildly. With no advance warning, she announced a 22-night residency at the Hammersmith Apollo. Tickets went on sale on March 28 and sold-out in 15 minutes (all 100, 000 of them). Keep your eyes peeled for more dates on Kate's website, as it's likely more will be announced. 

It fits that she chose the Apollo, the venue where she abruptly concluded her six-week  Tour of Life , as it became known, 35 years ago. The show  was a lavish affair; there were 13 performers, 17 costume changes and 24 songs. Her 1979 tour was ground-breaking: she sang while being tossed about by male dancers (a real innovation at the time) and acted out sketch after sketch with clowns and illusionists on an elaborate set, singing all the while. She performed from a giant, animatronic satin egg, designed to represent the womb. It was a technical marvel, a true extravaganza and a damned hard act to follow.

For whatever reason, Bush is finally now attempting it. So what will her return to the stage entail? She’s known for the lush epics she wrote in the ‘70s and ‘80s - like Running Up That Hill and the song that launched her career, the warbling Wuthering Heights. (Incidentally, it was with that song that Bush became the first British woman to score a self-penned No. 1 hit). 

Since then, her music has downsized. Now it is often spare and restrained. Her focus has narrowed: in Aerial she wrote about her love for her son, the digits in pi, and laundry. 50 Words for Snow (2011) was an album dedicated to the white stuff.

35 years is a long time, but some things stay the same. Bush may be shy, but 1979’s Tour of Life showed what an ambitious and impressive performer she can be. And, evidently, as her late-eighties song put it, This Woman’s Work isn’t over.