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The Tour of Life (originally known as the "Lionheart Tour", and also officially referred to as the Kate Bush Tour and by outside sources as the "Kate Bush Show" and "Kate Bush: On Tour") was the first and only concert tour by English singer-songwriter and musician
Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
. Starting in April 1979, the tour lasted just over one month. Consisting of 24 performances from Bush's first two studio albums ''
The Kick Inside
''The Kick Inside'' is the debut studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush. Released on 17 February 1978 by EMI Records, it includes her UK No. 1 hit, "Wuthering Heights". The album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and has been ...
'' and ''
Lionheart'' (both 1978), it was acclaimed for its incorporation of mime, magic, and readings during costume changes. Bush also performed two new songs ''Violin'' and ''Egypt'' from her next album ''
Never For Ever
''Never for Ever'' is the third studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush, released on 7 September 1980 by EMI Records, it was Bush's first No. 1 album and was also the first album by a British female solo artist to top the UK Albums Ch ...
'', released in 1980. The tour is also renowned for its use of new technology; because of Bush's determination to dance as she sang, her stage sound engineer Martin Fisher developed the
wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
headset microphone using a wire clothes hanger, making her the first singer to use such a device on stage. The simple staging also involved rear-screen projection and the accompaniment of two male dancers. The tour was notable for the death of Bush's lighting engineer, Bill Duffield, to whom one of the London shows was dedicated.
The tour was a critical and commercial success, with most dates selling out and additional shows being added due to high demand. Members of the Kate Bush Club were provided with a guaranteed ticket. The
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filmed a special of the Kate Bush Show entitled ''Kate Bush: On Tour''. The documentary featured the production and staging of the set, and revealed the extent to which Bush was involved. Broadcast in 1979, it did not show any of the full performances. The concert also spawned two physical releases, the EP ''
On Stage'' (1979) as well as the home video ''
Live at Hammersmith Odeon'' (1981). ''Live at the Hammersmith Odeon'' was later re-issued in 1994 as a boxed set including an audio CD of the broadcast as well as the video. The name, "Tour of Life", was not coined until after its completion, with all promotional material referring to it simply as the Kate Bush Tour. Neither the EP nor the home video makes any reference to the name.
Background and production
After Bush turned down an opportunity to perform as a
supporting act for
Fleetwood Mac,
production for the tour began in December 1978.
Bush was said to be involved in almost every aspect of the show's design, rehearsals, and performances.
The show was choreographed by Bush and
Anthony Van Laast, in collaboration with dancers Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst.
Dance rehearsals took place at
The Place during mornings leading up to the tour, before afternoon vocal and band rehearsals in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
.
Production rehearsals featuring all personnel and audiovisual technology took place at
Rainbow Theatre in London. Beginning on 26 March and finishing on 29 March 1978.
The tour was known for its innovative use of visual projections, audio and microphone technology, and narrative storyline.
Bush aimed for the tour to offer a theatrical experience to contrast the performances of other contemporary
rock musicians,
and sought to combine "music, dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre."
The performance was divided into four sections, concluding with two encores, and incorporated seventeen costume changes and involved thirteen on-stage personnel.
Magician
Simon Drake performed throughout the show.
The stage itself was constructed with a retractable ramp at its centre,
with a "large ribbed screen – intended to represent an egg – on to which slides and film footage could be projected".
Eight "follow spot" moving lights tracked the musicians and performers on stage.
Since the tour, Bush has become known as the first artist to use a cordless microphone headset, which allowed her to move and dance freely while singing live.
The headset prototype was constructed using a
coathanger and radio microphone.
Ultimately, each night of the tour sold out.
The tour opened on 3 April 1979 in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
at the
Liverpool Empire, following a warm-up gig in
Poole on 2 April 1979.
Following the Poole show, the tour's lighting engineer Bill Duffield was killed after falling from a stage and seating structure at the concert venue.
The first of the final three London dates on 12 May 1979 was performed as a
benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
for the family of Duffield, and featured an altered setlist and performances by
Peter Gabriel and
Steve Harley.
Bush released the song "Blow Away (For Bill)", dedicated to Duffield, on her third studio album ''
Never for Ever
''Never for Ever'' is the third studio album by English art rock singer Kate Bush, released on 7 September 1980 by EMI Records, it was Bush's first No. 1 album and was also the first album by a British female solo artist to top the UK Albums Ch ...
'' (1980).
In 1994, Bush described the physical exhaustion she experienced as a result of touring,
a comment which she echoed in 2011.
Bush did not tour again until 2014's
Before the Dawn, a
concert residency
A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location. ''Pollstar'' Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single ven ...
at London's
Hammersmith Apollo.
Concert synopsis
The show opened with playback of
whale song
Whales use a variety of sounds for communication and sensation. The mechanisms used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. Marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are much more dependent on sound than ...
, with Bush's shadow projected as she began to dance while the curtain parted to reveal the stage.
Bush, wearing a blue leotard, sang the first song "
Moving." A shadow projection of the band's saxophone player was used next, during "The Saxophone Song". The theatre was then filled with the sound of a heartbeat as red lights flickered while the onstage piano was removed. A large oval upholstered with red satin, designed to look like an egg or womb,
was rolled onto the stage, from within which Bush sang "Room for the Life" as it was rolled around the stage. Dressed in a long coat and trilby hat,
Bush was joined by two male dancers to perform "
Them Heavy People". She then moved to the piano to play "
The Man with the Child in His Eyes
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album ''The Kick Inside'' and was released as her fourth single, on the EMI label, in 1978.
Overview
Bush wrote the song when she was 13 and record ...
". The band then played the as yet unreleased "Egypt", while Bush emerged from the back of the stage wearing an Egyptian costume. An extended introduction to "L'Amour Looks Something Like You" was then played in darkness, while Bush changed into a black leotard and red skirt. While at centre-stage by a tall mirror, a magician emerged to perform with a flying cane. Bush performed "Violin", wearing bat wings and taunted by her two dancers dressed as giant violins. As the stage darkened, Bush's brother, John Carder Bush, recited a poem, which culminated in a spoken duet with Bush herself. She was then illuminated by a spotlight for the performance "The Kick Inside" at the piano. A black veil was placed over her and the curtains closed.
The second section began with the curtains parting to reveal Bush wearing a long black dress, sitting on top of a piano to perform "In the Warm Room". She then played the piano while singing "Fullhouse", after which the band played an extended introduction to "
Strange Phenomena" as Bush changed into a magician's top hat and tails,
while her dancers, now dressed as space men, performed with her. The magician then reappeared with his cane; he walked to the back of the stage holding a black cloth, which then dropped to reveal Bush, now wearing a veil, behind it. She danced with a male dancer to a live rehearsal
playback recording of "
Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...
",
recreating the routine from its music video,
after which a chant commenced, leading into "Kashka from Baghdad", performed at the piano. Traffic noise was played to the audience while the stage was fitted with a street theme, including fences which the dancers illuminated with torches. A spotlight was switched on and Bush sang and danced to "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake", bringing the second section to a close.
The third section began with the curtain opening on Bush, now wearing a purple dress, at the edge of the ramp which had been lifted to replicate a pier, to perform "
Wow." "Coffee Homeground" began as a prisoner cell set was assembled; Bush sang on a centre-stage chair, as corpse props fell out of the walls. Another spoken word poem was recited by Bush's brother as "
Symphony in Blue" (incorporating elements of "
Gymnopédie 1" by
Erik Satie) began to be played. Bush, now dressed in a blue leotard covered by a leather jacket, performed while waving to the audience as images of a cloudy sky were projected. Bush, now covered in party streamers refused a floating glass of champagne from the magician and performed "Feel It" at the piano.
As the song came to an end, thunder was heard while Bush changed; she emerged with her leotard now fitted with wings, to perform "Kite", being lifted off the stage at the end of the song.
Bush then appeared in Wild West attire whilst brandishing a shotgun,
dancing and singing to "James and the Cold Gun". Her dancers, emerging from the wings, were shot by Bush using red ribbons acting as gunfire
as the song ended and the curtain closed.
For the show's first encore, Bush and her dancers emerged wearing World War II
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
attire
as a parachute was spread across the stage. She sat to sing "Oh England My Lionheart", and the curtain closed again. There was a short interval before the curtains re-opened upon the stage covered in dry ice fog and illuminated in red with a forest backdrop. As the music to "
Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...
" began, Bush sprang up through the fog, costumed as the ghost of
Catherine Earnshaw
Catherine Earnshaw is a fictional character and the female protagonist of the 1847 novel ''Wuthering Heights'' written by Emily Brontë. Catherine is one of two children to Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw, the original tenants of the Wuthering Heights est ...
from
Emily Brontë's
novel of the same name. She performed the dance routine from the song's music video, before retreating to the top of the ramp, waving to the audience, and exiting the stage as the curtain closed.
Critical reception
Reaction to the tour performances was overwhelmingly positive.
In 2010, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' noted that British reviews of the tour were almost universally "euphoric".
Describing the show as "exceptional", Robin Denselow of ''The Guardian'' praised the show's "innovation in rock choreography and microphone design".
However, Denselow was critical of Bush's vocals, describing Bush as possessing a "shrill acrobatic voice".
A review in ''
Melody Maker'' disagreed, praising both Bush's lower and higher-pitched vocal registers, whilst noting that Bush had created "a series of tableaux vivants of peerless visual and aural dazzle that added immeasurably to the complexity and variable excellence of her songs." Another reviewer for ''Melody Maker'' described the tour's performance in Birmingham as "the most magnificent spectacle ever encountered in the world of rock".
''
The Telegraph'' described Bush as a "stunningly original stage performer", praising the setlist of the show as "dazzling testimony to a remarkable talent, evidently intense rehearsal and technological know-how".
Broadcasts and recordings
The
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filmed a documentary following the tour as part of the news and current affairs television programme ''