Before the Dawn (Kate Bush concert series)
| Before the Dawn | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residency show by Kate Bush | ||||
| Location | London, England | |||
| Venue | Hammersmith Apollo | |||
| Start date | 26 August 2014 | |||
| End date | 1 October 2014 | |||
| Legs | 1 | |||
| Shows | 22 | |||
| Kate Bush concert chronology | ||||
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Before the Dawn is the title of a set of concerts, performed by British singer Kate Bush in 2014. The residency in the Hammersmith Apollo consisted of 22 dates, and was her first series of live shows since her first tour in 1979. The show was filmed on 16–17 September 2014 presumably for DVD release, though this has not been officially confirmed.
On Friday 21 March 2014, Bush announced via her website her plans to perform live. A further seven dates were added to the original fifteen due to the high demand following the pre-sale ticket allocation, which went on sale Wednesday 26 March to fans who had signed up to her website. Tickets went on sale to the general public at 09:30 on Friday 28 March and were sold out within 15 minutes;[1] some reports say 14, some 10, some as little as 7 minutes.
Kate Bush was subsequently nominated for two Q Awards in 2014: Best Act in the World Today[2] and Best Live Act but did not win either award.[3] She did win the Editor's Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for taking musical performance to new heights.[4]
Overview
Before the Dawn is presented as a multi-media performance involving standard rock music performance, dancers, puppets, shadows, maskwork, conceptual staging, 3D animation and an illusionist. Bush spent three days in a flotation tank for filmed scenes that were played during the performance and featured dialogue written by novelist David Mitchell. Also involved with the production were Adrian Noble, former artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company, lighting designer Mark Henderson and Italian Shadows Theatre company Controluce Teatro d'Ombre. The illusionist was Paul Kieve, the puppeteer Basil Twist, the movement director Sian Williams and the designer Dick Bird. The video and projection design was by Jon Driscoll.
The performance is centred on a band featuring the following musicians:[5]
- Kate Bush - vocals (plus occasional piano/keyboards)
- David Rhodes - guitar
- Friðrik Karlsson – guitar, bouzouki, charango
- John Giblin – bass guitar, double bass
- Jon Carin - keyboards, guitar, vocals, programming
- Kevin McAlea (who was the keyboard player on the 1979 tour) – keyboards, accordion, uilleann pipes
- Omar Hakim – drums
- Mino Cinélu – percussion
and the following actors:
- Albert McIntosh - chorus, Son, Painter
- Jo Servi - chorus, Witchfinder
- Bob Harms - chorus, Dad
- Sandra Marvin - chorus
- Jacqui DuBois - chorus
- Ben Thompson - Lord of the Waves, Tesoro
- Stuart Angell - Lord of the Waves, Painter's Apprentice
- Christian Jenner - Blackbird Spirit
- Sean Myatt, Richard Booth, Emily Cooper, Lane Paul Stewart, Charlotte Williams - Supporting Actors
Bush's son, Albert McIntosh, who performs in the show as a backing vocalist and actor, is also credited as creative advisor.[6]
Parts of the show tell stories based on two Bush song-suites - "The Ninth Wave" from Hounds of Love and "A Sky of Honey" from Aerial.
During "The Ninth Wave", Bush's character is lost at sea after her ship, the Celtic Deep, sinks. She fades in and out of consciousness, sometimes underwater and sometimes above, hoping to be rescued with only a flickering red light to make her seen in the darkness. She has an almost out-of-body experience, observing herself as though under ice, seeing her family without her, and imagining entering earth's atmosphere until she is found; survival has given her a new appreciation of love and life. Then, in "A Sky of Honey", Bush portrays a bird-like woman observing the actions of a 19th-century painter and a wooden puppet.[6][7]
Reception
The news of the residency prompted a surge of interest in Bush, with a number of music websites, radio stations and newspapers running the story, as well as causing Bush's own website to crash due to the high web traffic. Bush was said to be 'completely overwhelmed by the response to the shows', adding she was 'looking forward to seeing you all later this year'.[8] In the week before the show's debut, the New York Times ran an article documenting Kate Bush fans who were traveling from around the world to attend the show.[9]
The show received widespread critical acclaim. The Evening Standard gave the opening show five stars out of five, commenting: "[an] extraordinary mix of magical ideas, stunning visuals, attention to detail and remarkable music..she was so obviously, so unambiguously brilliant, made last night something to tell the grandchildren about. "[10] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the show five stars out of five, calling the show "another remarkable achievement."[11] Following the first week of performances, eight of Bush's albums charted within the UK Top 40, making her the first female artist in history to ever achieve this, with The Whole Story at No.6 and Hounds of Love at No.9 being the highest charting.
Production Credits
Before the Dawn - written by Kate Bush
Directed by - Kate Bush, Adrian Noble
Creative Advisor - Albert McIntosh
Lighting Designer - Mark Henderson Set Designer - Dick Bird Projection Designer - Jon Driscoll for Cinelumina Creative Consultant - Robert Allsopp Costume Designer - Brigitta Reiggenstuel Movement Direction - Sian Williams Oceanic Wave Design - Basil Twist Illusionist - Paul Kieve Shadow Theatre Scenes - Cora de Maria, Alberto Jona, Jenaro Meléndez for Controluce
Sound Credits
Sound Designer/FOH Engineer - Greg Walsh Monitor Engineer - Ian Newton Kate Vocal Navigator - Stephen W Tayler FOH Systems Engineer - David Lombardi Stage Tech - Bazz Tymms Surround Systems Engineer - Davey Williamson Sounds FX Consultant - James Drew Record Archive - Ian Sylvester Record Supervisor - Jim Jones
Backline Credits
Guitar and Bass Technician - Chris Lawson Keyboard Technician - Norton "Turbo" Thobro Drums and Percussion Technician - Steve Grey
Set list
The set list[12] comprised most of Hounds of Love featuring the entire Ninth Wave suite, most of Aerial including the entire second disc, two songs from The Red Shoes, and one song from 50 Words for Snow. Bush's first four albums and The Sensual World were noticeably excluded from the set list.[13]
Introduction
- "Lily"
- "Hounds of Love"
- "Joanni"
- "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)
- "Top of the City"
- "King of the Mountain"
The Ninth Wave
- Video Interlude - And Dream of Sheep
- "Under Ice"
- "Waking the Witch"
- "Watching You Without Me"
- Little Light (Performed by backing vocalists)
- Jig of Life
- Hello Earth
- The Morning Fog
A Sky of Honey
- Prelude
- Prologue
- An Architect's Dream
- The Painter's Link
- Sunset
- Aerial Tal
- Somewhere in Between
- Tawny Moon (performed by Albert McIntosh)
- Nocturn
- Aerial
Encore
- Among Angels
- Cloudbusting
Show dates
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | ||||
| 26 August 2014 | London | England | Hammersmith Apollo | 79,904 / 79,904 |
| 27 August 2014 | ||||
| 29 August 2014 | ||||
| 30 August 2014 | ||||
| 2 September 2014 | ||||
| 3 September 2014 | ||||
| 5 September 2014 | ||||
| 6 September 2014 | ||||
| 9 September 2014 | ||||
| 10 September 2014 | ||||
| 12 September 2014 | ||||
| 13 September 2014 | ||||
| 16 September 2014 | ||||
| 17 September 2014 | ||||
| 19 September 2014 | ||||
| 20 September 2014 | ||||
| 23 September 2014 | ||||
| 24 September 2014 | ||||
| 26 September 2014 | ||||
| 27 September 2014 | ||||
| 30 September 2014 | ||||
| 1 October 2014 | ||||
References
- ↑ Keith Perry. "Stampede as Kate Bush tickets sell out in 15 minutes". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
- ↑ http://www.qthemusic.com/5030/q-best-act-in-the-world-today-14/
- ↑ http://www.qthemusic.com/5026/q-best-live-act/
- ↑ Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2014/dec/01/60th-london-evening-standard-theatre-awards-in-pictures. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Bush, Kate (2014). The K Fellowship Presents Before the Dawn (official concert programme).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ben Ratliff. "Kate Bush Returns to the Stage, and Her Fans Are There to Welcome Her". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ Dan Stubbs. "Kate Bush hails return to stage 'a great adventure' as ultra-theatrical show launches in London". NME. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ Guardian Music. "Kate Bush tickets sell out in under fifteen minutes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
- ↑ Melena Ryzik. "An Encore 35 Years in the Making". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
- ↑ JOHN AIZLEWOOD. "Kate Bush: Before the Dawn, Hammersmith Apollo - review: Kate Bush was so obviously, so unambiguously brilliant". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
- ↑ Alex Petridis. "Kate Bush: Before the Dawn review – a lithe grace and note-perfect vocals". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ Alex Young. "Kate Bush’s first concert in 35 years: setlist + photos". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ Tim Masters. "Kate Bush comeback greeted with huge cheers". BBC. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
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