Huddled together, fans chatting, milling about waiting for the show. A giddy, tense feeling in the air. I walked in to retrieve my ticket from the Box Office; a chance last minute purchase on the official website. A man cried out, asking if anyone had a spare as I trundled past. "The man with no ticket in his eyes" scrawled plaintively on a sandwich board draped around his neck. I mouthed a "sorry" in return. I hope he got to go in.
I went inside, where the anticipation was sky-high. When I reached my seat, I realised how much this meant to other people. The woman sat immediately behind me was a super fan; she went to original "Kate Bush Tour of Life" at the same venue, back in 1979. What makes it even more remarkable, is that she now lives in Melbourne, Australia; and travelled over with her friend especially for this show. Their friendship was built on a mutual appreciation of Kate Bush; and as she said yesterday: "the one thing which I've always had over my friend is that I've seen Kate Bush, and she hasn't; until tonight!"
I heard some voices adjacent to me whispering about possible songs she might play in a foreign language. It is always interesting to hear words not in mother tongue, interspersed with song titles you know and love so dearly. Whilst eavesdropping on these words I was trying to piece together, I smiled at a girl sat in the seat to the left of me. It took me a good while before I realised that girl was Lily Allen. The surreal factor intensified.
Picture the scene when Lily; the track from her 1993 album The Red Shoes begins the show. Cue Kate, all in black, marching barefoot in time with the hammering opening bars of the number; leading her five backing singers (including her son, 'lovely lovely lovely lovely Bertie') out onto the stage. We are all in raptures. You can't hear Kate sing her opening line for the hooting and howling raining down from the crowd.
She belts out Hounds of Love, and moves onto Joanni, Top of the City and a brilliant, haunting version of King of the Mountain. These are stunning renditions, tweaked ever so slightly to fit by the seven piece band. At one point she amusingly cries above the roar: "These guys behind me really are shit-hot!"
We're then thrown completely by the action on stage. The audience is akin to Robbie Coltrane being mesmerised by his computer screen in the video for the remake of Bush's Deeper Understanding. The show from here on in is utterly compelling. Her percussionist Mino Cinelu walks out into the middle of the stage and starts whirling what appears to be a bullroarer around his head, accompanied by frantic lighting. Paper confetti is shot out from two cannons; written on it is Tennyson's poetry; The Coming of Arthur, featuring The Ninth Wave.
Arguably, The Ninth Wave is her magnum opus. Written in 1985, it has taken twenty nine years for it to be played live. Here, it rises and falls, theatrically and dramatically. It is both a scary and thrilling piece of music; and live it is superb. The highlight of this section is Watching You Without Me; with both Kate's husband Dan McIntosh and son Bertie all in the same specially built room, with Kate's creepy refrain: "I'm not here". It is a family affair, a privilege to watch.
An Endless Sky of Honey starts the second chapter; cue a small wooden puppet, a large door and a huge painting of a sky on stage. It is pure escapism and totally dream-like. Bertie has his own solo track in this section; called Tawny Moon. He is only sixteen. He is going to be a superstar. I glance around to see faces all the way back to the rafters smiling and cherishing every moment. The applause for the encore is deafening. Among Angels; the penultimate song of the evening is just Kate performing solely with a piano. This drew our hearts to Kate in the first place. The performance is worth the entry fee alone. A moment of pleasure; leaving the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end.
The band return and conclude with the glorious Cloudbusting; and before you know it, the show is over! What? How? So quick! A wonderful evening, a wonderful return to the live stage, echoed by everyone who witnessed it. It felt emotional. I didn't want to leave at the end. I wanted to stay in that world Kate created on stage. As I walk away from the bustling venue back towards reality and the Piccadilly Line, I'm left pinching myself and staring at my ticket. Did that really happen?
