Review - Cloudbusting - 22/06/19

I loved the atmosphere that was created right from the get-go with the use of the ‘Night Scented Stock’ recording; a very mysterious and dark piece of music made up entirely out of Bush’s voice. For me, it certainly built up an exciting sense of anticipation in the room. The band then began with ‘Running Up that Hill’, a classic favourite of mine and a great starter for the gig. What I was most impressed with was the singers voice as it scarily sounded exactly like Kate Bush. It was as if someone had transplanted Kate Bush’s voice into the singer’s body – my jaw dropped when I first heard it. I admired not only the sound of her voice but the quality of her singing, skilfully taking on the challenging acrobatics of Bush’s vocal melodies. The energy on the stage was just phenomenal; it was obvious to see the love that these musicians have for Kate Bush as, not only have they mastered the difficult instrumental parts, but they play with smiles on their faces and a mutual feeling of enjoyment. It was warming to see a band communicating with each other during the songs rather than seeing musicians individually sticking to themselves. In songs such as ‘Aerial’, for example, that closed the first half of the concert, the band were in full swing for the full 8 minutes of the song which is what made it one of the highlights of the show for me. My other highlights mostly came from the songs on my favourite Bush record Hounds of Lovesuch as ‘Hounds of Love’, ‘The Big Sky’ and the final encore ‘Cloudbusting’ which was just sensational to hear live. What I was most grateful for was the inclusion of songs on their setlist that I had not previously explored such as ‘The Wedding List’ and ‘Lily’ which I have recently become hooked to. 

However, there were two stand out moments which were the most special for me. The first was the performance of ‘Don’t Give Up’ that Bush sang with Peter Gabriel. The bassist bravely sang Peter Gabriel’s part and sang it with passion and clarity – a real treat for the audience. But the most magical moment of the whole gig was the first encore – ‘This Woman’s Work’. It is such a daring thing to do to sing a song like this as it is stripped down to just piano and vocals and so the voice is more exposed. She sang it beautifully, so much so that it sent shivers up and down my spine throughout its performance – truly magical. The performance felt even more distinct when the singer began to cry after the last chorus of the song. For those people that complain about tribute bands being fake, this was a moment to prove them all wrong as you cannot get any more genuine than crying tears of joy over the music you’re choosing to love and perform. I truly pity those that might refuse to watch a tribute band as it was a moment of enlightenment. The whole experience was breath-taking to the point that I don’t really have anything to criticise. If I was going to be picky, the only thing I would mention is the sound levels of each instrument. The vocals, drums and synth/keyboards all came through nicely, but I sometimes yearned for more sound from the bass and the guitar as there was some lovely playing from both the musicians that could have been communicated more clearly through a louder sound. However, that is me having to really think hard as other than that I have nothing else to say other than it was a great experience that I hopefully cannot wait to be part of again. This truly is the closest anyone will ever come to hearing Kate Bush’s music live and therefore I would encourage any Kate Bush fans to come and be a part of it.