Reaching new heights with the songs of Kate Bush
Image: Sarah-Louise Young in AN EVENING WITHOUT KATE BUSH. Photo: Steve Ullathorne
Kate Bush stepped into the muted grey light of the misty moors in 1978 with a song that defied every criteria of a mainstream pop hit. “Wuthering Heights” went on to become a phenomenal hit around the world, and established Bush as one of the most enigmatic, unique and creative artists in pop history.
“It’s easy to forget how game-changing [Wuthering Heights] was, I mean, she’s coming off the back of people like David Bowie…” says Sarah-Louise Young, a British performance artist and self-confessed Kate Bush devotee. Young has channeled that admiration into a cabaret show, An Evening Without Kate Bush, which she co-created with Russell Lucas, an in which she performs solo.
“It’s full of love, it’s made with absolute respect, I’m a massive, massive super fan. But it’s also funny. It’s funny and it makes people cry, and I think a lot of people think I’m just going to take the mick, but it has humour in it because she is a funny person,” says Young, describing the show and allaying any fan fears that she is poking fun at Bush.
Young and Lucas first wrote the show and had it ready to stage around 10 years ago. At that time the notoriously reclusive Bush had been out of the public eye for quite a while; An Evening Without Kate Bush had been intended to fill the empty space for fans.
Then, in 2014, Kate Bush suddenly announced she’d be performing live again with a series of concerts. Fearing the integrity and genuineness of their show would now be questioned, Young and Lucas decided to shelve it. When they finally did stage it some three years later it was an immediate success and has remained in demand at fringe festivals ever since — including Adelaide.
The show in Sydney will be the first time she has performed it here and it will be followed by multi-city dates around the country.
In terms of production, it’s bare-bones and sweat.
“Everything that’s in the show fits into a suitcase,” says Young. “We wanted to create something that looked like you could make it in your living room.”
Young performs as Bush, copying movements, vocal style and costumes, but she does it as homage rather than trying to be a convincing imitation, and definitely not parody. She and Lucas refer it as “essence of Kate.”
“It’s very playful…lots of crazy costume changes, lots of dancing, lots of singing, clowning and just sort of really a kind of love-in…it’s really a celebration of the fans.”
There are plenty of easter eggs for Kate Bush aficionados, but the show is also very accessible to people who aren’t familiar with her music or don’t consider themselves fans. Young speaks to audience members about their connection with to Kate Bush and her music, and she then weaves these stories into the show.
“The beautiful thing is where you get people for whom a song or an album is a touchstone in something huge that’s happened in their life,” says Young.
In the time that she has been performing An Evening Without Kate Bush, Young has found that there is no typical fan. Her audience consists of multiple generations, all genders, backgrounds and personalities. And there are frequently those who are newly converted by the end of the show.
An Evening Without Kate Bush has been endorsed by the official Kate Bush fan club, Home Ground and Young suspects Kate Bush herself knows about the show and is happy with it.
“People always ask me how I would feel if she came to see the show. I would be in heaven.”
