The Tour of Life

1979 concert tour by Kate Bush

The Tour of Life (or Kate Bush Tour) was the only concert tour by English singer Kate Bush. The tour was made for her first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart. It happened in April and May 1979. It was the first concert ever to use a wireless headset microphone. The device was invented by Gordon Paterson so Bush could dance on stage. The tour's lighting worker, Bill Duffield, died after the first concert because he fell from a stage and seating structure.

The Tour of Life
Tour by Kate Bush
LocationEurope
Associated albumThe Kick Inside and Lionheart
Start date2 April 1979 (warm up concert)
End date13 May 1979
No. of shows28
Kate Bush concert chronology

Set list change

  1. "Moving"
  2. "The Saxophone Song"
  3. "Room for the Life"
  4. "Them Heavy People"
  5. "The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
  6. "Egypt"
  7. "L'Amour Looks Something Like You"
  8. "Violin"
  9. "The Kick Inside"
Interlude
John Carder Bush poetry reading
  1. "In the Warm Room"
  2. "Fullhouse" (not sang during the concerts at Hammersmith Odeon)
  3. "Strange Phenomena"
  4. "Hammer Horror" (not live)
  5. "Kashka From Baghdad"
Interlude
Chanting
  1. "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake"
  2. "Wow"
  3. "Coffee Homeground" (with extended instrumental introduction)
  4. "In Search of Peter Pan"
Interlude
John Carder Bush poetry reading
  1. "Symphony in Blue" (including "Gymnopédie 1" by Erik Satie)
  2. "Feel It" (with instrumental introduction)
  3. "Kite"
  4. "James and the Cold Gun"
Encore 1
  1. "Oh England My Lionheart"
Encore 2
  1. "Wuthering Heights"

Credits change

These are the people listed in the Kate Bush Tour programme sold at the concerts.[1][2]

Performers

Production

  • Conception, producer, director – Kate Bush
  • Production design, stage direction – Dave Jackson
  • Stage management – Nick Levitt
  • Stage crew – Cliff Carter, Martin Prior, Gerry Raymond Barker, Andrew Bryant
  • Costuming – Lisa Hayes
  • Costuming assistance – Hermione Brakspear
  • Choreography – Anthony Van Laast

Audiovisuals

  • Sound engineering – Gordon Patterson
  • Projections – Ken Sutherland
  • Lighting consulting – James Dann
  • Spoken word and poetry – John Carder Bush
  • Photography – Gered Mankowitz, Terry Walker, Hirchono

Tour management

  • Promotion – Lindsay Brown
  • Tour management – Richard Ames
  • Programmes – Kate Bush, Nicholas Wade, Nick Price
  • Tour graphics and merchandise – Paul Maxwell Ltd.
  • Tour co-ordination – Hilary Walker, John Carder Bush

Shows change

Date (1979)[4][5][6] City Country Venue
2 April[a] Poole   England Poole Arts Centre
3 April Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre
4 April Birmingham Birmingham Hippodrome
5 April
6 April Oxford New Theatre Oxford
7 April Southampton Gaumont Theatre
9 April Bristol Bristol Hippodrome
10 April Manchester Manchester Apollo
11 April
12 April Sunderland Sunderland Empire Theatre
13 April Edinburgh   Scotland Usher Hall
16 April London   England Palladium
17 April
18 April
19 April
20 April
24 April Stockholm   Sweden Stockholm Konserthuset
26 April Copenhagen   Denmark Falkoner Theatre
28 April Hamburg   West Germany Congress Center Hamburg
29 April Amsterdam   Netherlands Carré Theatre
2 May Stuttgart   West Germany Kongresszentrum Liederhalle
3 May Munich Circus Krone
4 May Cologne Köln Gürzenich
6 May Paris   France Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
8 May Mannheim   West Germany Mannheimer Rosengarten
10 May Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle
12 May[b] London   England Hammersmith Odeon
13 May
14 May

Notes change

  1. This show was called a "warm up".
  2. This concert was dedicated to Bill Duffield. It was called Kate Bush In Aid of Bill Duffield. Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley sang as guests.

References change

  1. Heawood, Sophie (31 August 2014). "Leaf through history with the programme from Kate Bush's 1979 tour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  2. Bush, Kate; Wade, Nicholas; Price, Nick (1979). "Kate Bush Tour" programme.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Kate Bush announces first live shows since 1979". The Guardian. 31 March 2014. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  4. McHale, Kirsty (26 August 2014). "Flashback: Kate Bush at the Liverpool Empire, April 1979". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  5. Thomson, Graeme (9 February 2015). "Chapter 6: The Tour of Life". Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-78323-392-2.
  6. Thomson, Graeme (13 May 2010). "Kate Bush's only tour: pop concert or disappearing act?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 October 2023.