Kate Bush, Hammersmith Odeon, 1979

Having seen The Beatles in 1965 and the Bonzos in 2014 and much in between, I can say that I have never seen a more enchanting concert or multi-talented performer than Kate Bush in 1979. Every show at the Hammersmith Odeon notched up thousands of admirers and suitors that will never forget the magic. Many will have again attended the more recent shows staged in 2014. Here are some sample shots which are mostly of 'Wuthering Heights' since it was the finale to the show and it was Emily Bronte's bicentenary in 2018 - with a birthday that Kate shares on 30th July! Fittingly she has provided a eulogy for Emily carved on a memorial stone on the Moors.

In March 2021 250 of these shots were edited together at last and self-published as a large format illustrated tribute to Kate and her company's incredible shows (see the cover and access link below) with all profits bound for endangered animal charities:-

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A positive aspect of the Covid 19 lockdown has meant more time for working on these images and, as a result some pleasant surprises have turned up. This shot of Peter Gabriel duetting with Kate appeared as an over-exposed white blob on the original contact sheets, but with a digital scan and enhancement it appears more like a classic still from a Wuthering Heights production:-

Thanks again to Sean Twomey for publishing this photo discovery on his Kate Bush News website and for his notifications about the first group of these shots to be published in print at last - in the Record Collector - Kate Bush Special Edition, December 2020.

And with the snowball continuing to gather pace, Sean has again risen to the occasion brilliantly, by effectively launching the 'self-published lockdown special' '79 Tour memento put together for fans, history and animal charity (click on it to get to Blurb books, the distributor):-

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PS. [. . . Elemental Spirits - as a Romantic Art specialist I can confidently offer the opinion that the vivid poetic outpourings of youth Kate performed, at the highest visual and musical levels, were delivered like an embodiment of sylphs, nymphs and muses, first categorised in classical Greece . . . and unsurpassed in Western art and culture. Of course she has moved on to more mature and reflective art since then with, perhaps, something of William Blake's contrast of Innocence & Experience along the way . . . and there are images of Kate dancing that would not look out of place among Blake's designs . . . I am sure he would have been a fan too. MBx]

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