Kate Bush, who currently has a Top 10 hit in the US and the UK with 1985 single “Running Up That Hill” thanks to the new season of Stranger Things, last performed live in 2014, a 22-night run at London’s Eventim Apollo dubbed “Before the Dawn.” This was not Kate’s first time at the venue, having played there when it was called the Hammersmith Odeon as part of 1979’s “The Tour of Life” which is the only tour she’s ever done, and it’s the Hammersmith stop where this was filmed for a BBC special.
Hot off of her first two albums (The Kick Inside and Lionheart, both out in 1987), Kate pulled out all the stops for “The Tour of Life,” incorporating theater, mime, magic, myriad costume changes, and then-brand-new wireless microphone technology (she was the first pop artist to use one on stage). It was a literal tour-de-force and Kate said though it was “enormously enjoyable,” she also found it “absolutely exhausting”…and never did it again. Thankfully this exists. Watch that, as well as a documentary about “The Tour of Life,” below.
While she never toured again, Kate did continue to make live appearances on television, including BBC’s Top of the Pops and more, and she always made them special. You can watch a compilation of her many BBC appearances, including “Running Up That Hill” on both TOTP and The Wogan Show, below.
