THE TOUR OF LIFE
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
THE 1979 TOUR – LATER DUBBED THE TOUR OF LIFE – WAS SPECTACULAR AND INTENSIVELY PLANNED. THOUGH TOUCHED BY TRAGEDY, IT WOULD LEAVE AN INDELIBLE IMPRESSION ON THE LUCKY CONCERT-GOERS…
IAN RAVENDALE
Kate takes the applause after the 15th date of the Tour Of Life at the London Palladium
© Getty
Considered by many to be Kate Bush’s pièce de résistance and for 34 years her only series of concerts, the Tour Of Life ran from 2 April to 14 May 1979, playing across the UK and the rest of Europe. With songs drawn from The Kick Inside and Lionheart albums, the 29 concerts employed every technique the artist could muster: mime, dance, magic (from illusionist Simon Drake), poetry (written by John Bush), two dozen costume changes, pyrotechnics, back-projection (an innovation in 1979) and set dance pieces.
Most tours of the time were underwritten by an artist’s record label. EMI were unwilling to fully bankroll such an unusual venture and so Kate partially funded the tour herself, apparently losing money; still, this gave her more control over everything that went on. Included in her seven-piece band were bass player Del Palmer and guitarist Brian Bath, both veterans of the KT Bush Band; Paddy Bush would play a range of traditional instruments, Kevin McAlea and Ben Barson manned the keyboards, Preston Hayman was behind the kit, Alan Murphy played second guitar, and Liz Pearson and Glenys Groves took charge of backing vocals.
MOST TOURS OF THE TIME WERE UNDERWRITTEN BY AN ARTIST’S RECORD LABEL. EMI WERE UNWILLING TO FULLY BANKROLL SUCH AN UNUSUAL VENTURE, SO KATE PARTIALLY FUNDED IT HERSELF, APPARENTLY LOSING MONEY
“We rehearsed at Wood Wharf Studios in Greenwich,” recalls Brian Bath. “Kate was there almost every day but she did have other jobs to do, so I’d generally be the bandleader and we’d do the track, sometimes with me singing. Initially we didn’t have the backing vocalists, just the basic band. There was a lot of changing of instruments. The acoustic guitars might go to Kevin or Ben… both great musicians. Paddy had mandolins and I had a mandolin as well, along with an acoustic, a 12-string and an electric guitar.”