Hear, hear.

Besides there are some lovely official photos that are far better than anything the vast majority of the audience could snap on their phones.

Isn't it sad how an entire generation have been conditioned to think you have to document every single moment of your life on film or there is no "proof" that it happened? I am so glad I grew up just before social media took control of our lives.

I agree. The DVD of the show will be out and the quality of that will be far superior to anything people film.

I do agree with you but I suspect a large percentage of the people there who were recording are old enough to remember a time before mobile phones and social media.

Or 'a friend', as the Mail described her...

You make a good point. I guess being conditioned by the media can happen to anyone, because that's what it all boils down to in my honest opinion.

Well I guess Id be the same. It would have been an experience simply to be there but (with apologies to the true fans), id have felt like asking for my money back because she didn't do Wuthering Heights. Its such a uniquely atmospheric sound.

Do you know anything about Kate Bush at all?

On the (continuing) subject of this recording topic, I think the artist's wishes should be respected on a gig-by-gig basis. Some artists don't mind it, others, like Kate, want to interact with their audience rather than playing for the benefit of a load of recording devices.

Think of the artist on the stage. What is he or she performing for... Some are putting their heart and soul into their performance and what happens when a song ends...? The audience is looking down at their mobile to see what they've just recorded. The artist feels that there is no connection between them.

Kate is not just a musician. She's not just a dummy up on the stage churning out hits by rote in an "OK, let's get this done and over with" sort of way. She's an artist who has come out of a very long touring hiatus. Why has she done that..? I think it's because she believes she still has something to offer, and perhaps even that she feels she owes something to the fans who have "kept the faith" for all these years.

She wants us to ENJOY what she's doing, and that's only possible if there is a connection between her and the people in the audience.

Also, she's a very sensitive, artistic woman and wants to be judged on her performance, not just be a performing monkey for YouTube addicts. How can anybody objectively judge a performance..... especially one as complex and detailed as hers..... when they're not really watching it, but putting their focus into capturing snippets for social media...?

And hell.... what is all this social media claptrap all about, really..? Is it a sort of "One Upmanship"..? A sort of "Hey, everybody, look at me. I was there, you know. Aintcha just soooooooooooo jealous..?"

I'm off to work this morning and I'll be taking my programme in for anybody who's interested to have a look. If anybody asks what it was like, I'll tell them. Most likely though, the only comments I'll get will be along the lines of "Oh, so you've decided to grace us with your presence today, then?" In a jokey sort of way, of course.

I went on Tuesday because I wanted to see Kate in all her wonderful glory, perform her songs FOR ME. In that I was greatly rewarded. The memories I have of it are special and will be stored along with the other great performers in my life. I saw Queen at the same theatre in 1977 and you don't forget a showman like Freddie Mercury. The memories are as fresh and strong now as they were back then.

That's what artists want. They want to be remembered by people, not reduced to grainy, shaky clips on a website in amongst the jumble of umpteen million other such clips.

I'll remember you, Kate. I'll remember the moment of pleasure you gave me on Tuesday night. Always.

And you know what, people...... I think she'd be happy with that.

The setlist is a disgrace for someone who hasn't played live for decades.
Do the greatest hits thing first,then do the arty farty non selling stuff on a 2nd more intimate tour.

[quote=Gigi4;74479934]I totally agree with you as a casual fan about her playing more of her better known songs. But I guess since she hasn't performed in 35 years, she naturally figures that most of the people going to the shows are her most loyal, hard core dedicated fans who know and love every song, even the more obscure stuff. More casual fans are more likely to have lost interest after so many years of not touring and would be less likely to go.
[quote]

who knows what she thinks really, but i don't think because someone is a casual fan it would put them off. in fact the announcement of shows will bring more interest from casual fans


i'd say she was more known for not doing shows than having her live shows set on 6 weeks of shows 35 years ago. we are in a very different age now, so what someone did then may be very different to what they do now. her bigger fans may have rightly expected theatrics, but many of her fans weren't even born when she last played live


i doubt very much if she just sat and played piano and played her most well known tracks that many people would be dissapointed. i think it's the other way round really, more will be dissapointed by the lack of hits


i don't bother with photos as so many other people do it. i'm used to shows where i'm not allowed to take photos and i'm front row so can't sneak one in


for a lot of artists it's live recordings/bootlegs that keeps interest, especially if they take a while between releases. but a live audio recording doesn't annoy anyone else whilst being made

on that note, it's quite noticeable that her voice is qutie different to on the record. it's perhaps why she isn't doing the first 4 albums

also, someone else mentioned the x factor clapping. i have to say it's incredibly annoying. it's basically a bunch of middle aged folk who can't clap in time and are clapping to something that shouldn't be clapped to, like pensioners clapping to a cliff richard concert. some folk are waaaay out of time too. hopefully they put an end to that and at least don't include that in the mix of a live dvd/album

i would have thought that would be the better way to do things

Do you know what i follow Heavy Rock and if a band i liked only come on to do greatest hits only i would have thought they had given up as a recording entity.!!!

Kate Bush is doing the right thing by her hard core of fans not playing to the "greatest hits" crowd.

They like with most artist's are not the ones keeping her output alive.

The Hounds of Love is her best selling most critically acclaimed album so it really isn't 'non selling stuff' and as for the 'arty farty' comment, it is the people who are interested in the so called 'arty farty stuff are the one who are supporting her (admittedly rather sporadic) career, and therefore who she is doing the shows for.

Has anyone been without photo id, my dad is going next month but doesn't have photo id , but has bank cards etc, will these suffice?
Tried to get through to ticketmaster but this is nigh on impossible.

A disgrace? The Ninth wave is fantastic and so is the second half of Aerial.

Why on earth would she rehash songs she did live 35 years ago? She has 10 albums worth of material to work from. From the get go this wasn't just going to be an ordinary concert, nor was it as "greatest hits" concert. She has wanted to do something for The Ninth Wave since 1985.

The set list tells a story and from all the people I know who have been so far, they have said how amazing it is.

I for one am excited to see her Saturday. There is more to Kate than Wuthering Heights. Some people need to see past that song, as great as it is. She has plenty of beautiful work that has NEVER been performed live.

I also think the people going to see her are just so damn excited they are actually going. She could play the bloody spoons and I would still enjoy it. It's Kate Bush! She's amazing

I remember Bowie getting loads of grief for one of his tours when he didn't play his "greatest hits"

I wasn't really expecting there to be anything pre-Hounds of Love, though I would love to hear Wuthering Heights live.

Only minor complaint I would have is there are better songs on Aerial than Joanni and I would have liked to have seen a song or two from The Sensual World, like This Woman's Work rather than Lily or Top of the City.

Have always loved the second half of the Aerial album though so very much looking forward to seeing that.

I won't be taking a lot of photos. But i take photos because i am interested in the stage design, the ever changing costumes, the props and so I can share photos with people who did not have the chance to get tickets. Especially my grandparents who do not live in the UK and were unable to make it to the UK to see her in concert. I won't be one of those people who takes photos all the way through.

Enjoy the show.

you definately wont be doing it for long, i was there on Tuesday, you wont be allowed

Yes i believe he did but as Robert Plant once said" It's todays plans and tomorrows dreams that give us a reason for being,then having been" After doing absolutely no Led Zeppelin songs whatsoever on his 1983 "Principle of moments tour"

He actually told the crowd who were making a fuss "a very small part i might add* to go to the back and get their money refunded.

Aritists themselves do not always want to keep churning the same stuff out night after night.

I know for sure as i have met Micheal Schenker Heavy rock guitarist loves doing new stuff,and Black Star Riders whilst still doing some Thin Lizzy stuff love new material also.

All credit to Kate Bush doing what in effect is an artist led series of shows not a greatest hits one.

how many of those bands have only done one tour for a period of about 6 weeks in one single country, and never toured again?

no-one seems to be suggesting she only plays hits, but that she plays a few more hits, considering most people seeing her have probably never seen her live before, as the last time she toured was before some of them were even born


I don't know what that last bit means, but the hardcore fans are generally a minority and it's the popularity amongst fairweather fans that generally accounts for most sales that keep an artists output alive


rehash? people are just asking that she plays some of her older and most well known tracks


so from the 10 albums, she doesn't play anything from the first 4. she's playing material that's decades old, so what's the difference between material from the first 4 and the 5th to 8th albums?


I've heard both sides of the story, you could perhaps call it the whole story, and the hardcore fans love it, but others have hated it as they didn't get to hear the songs they were looking forward to hearing after buying her music for decades.

whilst kate may have had plans of what to play and what not to play, this wasn't communicated to anyone before the tickets went onsale. and as the first tour in 35 years there would be a reasonable expectation from fans to hear her play her most well known material


she played that song in the rehearsal, so I would imagine she will play it. there are a number of other songs she didn't play that I would have preferred over WH, such as the man with the child in his eyes and this womans work


that's common for many hardcore fans of artists, but those type of people usually only account for a small percentage of punters at a gig


but plant had toured considerably with led zep across the world, giving most of his biggest fans an opportunity to see zep live playing those songs within the previous decade. however with kate a large percentage of her fanbase has never seen her, and she's omitting a number of popular songs she's never played live as she hadn't toured since 79


true. but the reason so many people pay to see them live in concert is because they want to hear the most well known songs. it's part of their job to play live. they get good and bad bits like most jobs, but their good bits are generally much better than most people, as is the pay. and even the bad bits are usually better than anyones good bits, if the bad bits are playing hit singles to people who love them. it's hard to sympathise with someone making money from playing songs they don't like to people who love them


it's fine to play lots of new music if you play live regularly, but if it's your first time in decades then it's to be expected that fans will want to hear the hits they've never heard live before. after giving people that, then go on and do something different instead. she surely can't be sick of playing babushka live, as when was the last time she played it to an audience?

Yes Robert Plant did tour extensively with Zep in the previous decade for sure,but was brave enough to go in a new direction of course most people that wanted to go to see Zep live did apart from of course younger fans.

What i meant about its a hard core of fans keeping her going is this,if she is not touring the casual fan base will float away and only the real keen fans of Kate Bush will keep her going in the sense of keeping on buying her new music, not the usual casual fan base.

I take your point and yes maybe she could have played Baboshka but obviously took the decision not to,and Wuthering Heights would possibly now be out of her vocal range.

True she has not toured in years but Kate Bush has always been something of an enigma and obviously still is, and one determined to do things her way.

I am a regular concert goer Heavy Rock though and most of those bands do tour regularly true,but on a few occasions have surprised fans with completely different set lists.

No it's not - if an artist decides not to perform live that's down to them, Bowie hasn't toured since 2003 released his first album for a decade in March which went straight to No 1. Although I would love to see him tour again I'm happy as long as he keeps on releasing music. Same with Kate, I didn't try to tickets for these gigs as I had seen her live in 79 but since then I've bought her albums and listened to her music on a regular basis as long as she keeps on making great music the touring doesn't matter

Peter Gabriel has steadfastly kept away from his Genesis back catalogue, except for a few early solo gigs, and even then it was only one or two tracks.