Melbourne Reviews

Sarah-Louise Young performs the one-person show (co-created with Russell Lucas) An Evening Without Kate Bush. More casual Bush fans might also feel the absence of meaty insights into the star.

Hailing from Kent, England, Bush first crashed into the UK pop charts in 1978, with Wuthering Heights briskly rising to #1. That hit, alongside more radio-friendly tracks like Babooshka (1980) have ensured that the singer/songwriter’s influence, or at least style, continues to echo in pop culture. The use of 1985’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) in a 2022 episode of Stranger Things introduced Bush to a new generation of fans.

But suppose you hadn’t caught one of these waves of Bush’s prominence. Even then, a casual enthusiast will remember Bush’s distinctive sound. That voice, high and penetrating, telling us of howling wolves, or tempestuous local landscapes, is one we could imagine as rooted in druidic wisdom. Bush also comes across as an especially innovative pop artist. A musical browser could have read about Bush’s unusual folk-pop songs, say relating to an embryo’s point of view (Breathing, 1980), or intuited her literary slant on lyrics. Such breadcrumbs conspire to make Kate Bush a subject we’d like to learn about. An Evening Without Kate Bush – which has toured widely, including seasons in Melbourne and at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival – seemed to be an ideal way to achieve that.

The show’s blurb for the show is slight, but it does say that “Kate Bush has always surprised and confounded her critics.” Other promo materials tell us that the show is “… based on years of Bush-related research ...”. These snippets, combined with the “cabaret” description, created an expectation that Bush’s notable attributes would be explored through the show.

As per the show’s promotional image, Young first appears to us in a headdress that looks like it has bat wings but is made of black feathers. I think (from post-show research) that this is referencing Violin, a song (and look) unfamiliar to me. That aside, we would quickly be struck by Young’s ability to emulate Bush’s voice.

Early on, Young described the “Fish People” – Bush fans taking their name from the singer’s record label. We were told that this show wasn’t just for those long-time obsessive fans, but was also for us “new to the shoal”. It’s a nice sentiment that doesn’t convincingly match with what the show is doing – celebrating the genius of Kate Bush rather than convincing us of it.

A possible symptom of that stance is that the show expects a high level of goodwill from the audience. Those of a modest degree of fandom might wonder why we were being asked to howl along to a song we didn’t know particularly well.

There would be various opportunities for audience participation. This could be through sharing a story about your special Bush moment. Alternatively a group could be plucked out of the audience to provide backing harmonies for Young that didn’t particularly add to proceedings.

Young gave us a quick demonstration of some of Bush’s signature dance moves, assigned names ranging from the purely descriptive through to something more whimsical. This was followed by the energetic use of the moves whilst Young sang one of Bush’s songs. We could infer that the segment was attempting to give fans an accurate recreation of a beloved video clip. Anyone else may appreciate seeing the moves in action initially, but could quickly feel that the comedic value of the affectionate ribbing had already peaked.

We did get some snippets, at the level of trivia, on Bush’s chart success and technical achievements, such as her invention of the headset microphone. (So it shouldn’t be called a “Madonna Mic”!) Yet, those hoping to gain an insider’s perspective of what made Kate Bush an important artistic figure might find enthusiasm ebbing away as the show pursued its fan service.

Given that this is a cabaret, it was especially odd that we didn’t even get much understanding of why Bush was important to Young. To take one example, in one scene Young recreated a performance of a Bush song from high school where the student Young (briefly) advocated for Bush against a teacher’s scepticism. But this didn’t illuminate even a quite basic question — why did Young choose that particular song by this artist? The absence of such insights could cause us to feel that whilst this show is more than a tribute concert, it isn’t quite a cabaret. One story on a Bush comeback concert did connect (in a slight way) to Young’s childhood mimicry of the star. It doesn’t feel enough for those of us outside of the shoal.

The show referenced “Wuthering Day”, an annual event when fans dress in red and gather en masse in public places to recreate Bush’s appearance and choreography in Wuthering Heights. I suspect that the closer you are to this level of fandom, the more you’ll get out of the show. Those of us hearing some more obscure tracks for the first time might struggle to appreciate their significance, furthering the sense that this is a show for real fans.

For the rest of us, the lack of any real interrogation of the mystique around Kate Bush and her actual contribution to music might make this feel like a missed opportunity. It’s unfortunate to think that an evening with YouTube and Wikipedia beforehand might have provided a more useful foundation for appreciating artistic choices and the personality behind them. If we really stretch ourselves and imagine that the show might actually try to be a comment on fandom, we won’t find the critical turn needed to support this reading.

However, the show is slickly performed. Young efficiently managed various costume changes to transport us to different eras of the Bush legacy. The vocals, from hits mentioned above to deeper cuts, are consistently of a high-quality, even through the demands of some very physical dancing to a backing track. Even though the singalongs could have modest audience input at times, the audience showed their ultimate approval with a solid round of applause.

You’re unlikely to get an evening with Kate Bush anytime soon as she doesn’t tour much. Devotees looking for homage, a community event, and a credible recreation of the singer’s sound will likely find this a satisfying alternative.