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Kate Bush - Live At The Hammersmith Odeon (Video) CD (album) cover

LIVE AT THE HAMMERSMITH ODEON (VIDEO)

Kate Bush

 

Crossover Prog

4.23 | 24 ratings

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Matti
Prog Reviewer
3 stars There are two preceding reviews, both with full rating, and also the majority of ratings without reviews are 5/5. This concert film definitely is unique and of big historical importance (since Kate Bush stopped touring after The Tour of Life '79), but I'd be lying if I said I was deeply thrilled by it. And before you ask, yes, Kate Bush was one of my earliest favourites in popular music and she's still very dear to me. This music theatre just doesn't represent what's so great about Kate Bush musically. First off, the visual quality of this DVD is rather blurry but we can ignore that; if one is to feel "the magic", the blurriness won't prevent that. In fact it sort of suits the whole thing. The show opens with 'Moving', the lovely opening track of The Kick Inside, and the green curtain evokes an oceanic atmosphere. In my opinion, the set list is mostly downhill from there, with a couple of further highlights. Even at this point of her discography (two albums only, plus some glimpses into the third one) there would have been many, many better songs.

Silly 'Them Heavy People', awful 'Violin' (definitely the worst track of the then-coming album Never For Ever, and among the worst ones of Kate's songs altogether)... 'Strange Phenomena' is good. 'Hammer Horror' is done as a playback dance number. Actually the interaction between the performers and the audience is pretty much lacking on the whole show. Not even a 'Thank you' between the songs, not to speak of any further talking from Kate. 'Wow' and 'Feel It' are good. Then, another throwaway song in 'Kite'. The extended end doesn't improve it. 'James and the Cold Gun' is the rockiest song here, and the band really comes into life on it. Kate's acting with the shotgun and her shaking victims (rifle being used as a machine gun, accompanied by drum riffs) gets perhaps a bit over the top. Beautiful ballad 'Oh England, My Lionheart' is a great way to cool things down, and the final number is naturally her greatest hit 'Wuthering Heights'. Even though I do feel the magic here and there, three factors make me rate this with three stars only: the set list is all too uneven, the lack of a real live gig feel, and the concentration on dance coreographies that I don't find that fancy. I borrowed the DVD from library and one viewing was enough, but probably I'd buy it if I found it at a reasonable prize from a second hand shop.

Matti | 3/5 |

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