Kate Bush – the Musical

Many people have asked me what I thought of Kate Bush’s show “Before the dawn”, which I saw in London on August 27th this year.

At my harshest and most succinct: Kate Bush the Musical as produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, performed by the Hammersmith Elementary 6th formers, with musical arrangements by Sting.

“Before the Dawn” seemed more a showcase for her 16-year-old than a celebration of her own accomplishments. And I wasn’t there for Bertie’s audition, I was there for his mother. So I was disappointed. Not by the lack of ‘hits’, I don’t care about that. I think singers should sing what they feel like singing and if that’s a choice of their more obscure titles, that’s fine by me.

I was disappointed with the show and the band (very Peter Gabriel/Manu Katché-esque) which all screamed very 80s MTV production to me. It makes sense, if you imagine Kate Bush’s involvement and experience in stage productions effectively came to a halt 35 years ago. Projecting images of water on a bunch of sheets… it just felt very school play.

The sound was terrible where we stood. Our tickets were the cheapest and it turned out all they’d done was sell the space of the back aisle and the side stairs, rather than create a proper standing area.

I have liked Kate Bush’s work for decades, but this comeback has made me wonder whether the careers of 1000s of Bush-inspired artists were maybe launched off the back of a myth. The myth that this 17-year-old girl warbling Wuthering Heights who surprised us all by featuring dance and mime on her first tour was and would remain a visionary genius. That perhaps we were blinded by her lithe beauty. That perhaps it was all a fluke? I do not want to think this. But I did.

Bookmarks for May 10th through May 11th

These are my links for May 10th through May 11th as bookmarked on delicious.com:

Bookmarks for May 3rd through May 5th

These are my links for May 3rd through May 5th as bookmarked on delicious.com:

Watching Whedon’s Dollhouse

One of the many perks of running Whedonesque.com, is…

Hang on. There aren’t a lot of perks, really, other than the pleasure of being boss of a site that’s well respected and much quoted. Yeah, we got invited to the Serenity premiere in Los Angeles. But I live in Amsterdam. Which means I never get to go to premieres, conventions, screenings or other meetings. When the Paley Center in New York invited us for a panel discussion on television and online fandom, one of the USA based mods got to go, but I could not. And unlike many of our members, I’ve never met any of the actors, or Joss.

All of this is perfectly fine with me. Yeah, I run the site, but I also run U2log.com and a couple of other sites. I’m not the biggest fan, I don’t keep up with all the news, I don’t know episode titles by heart, I couldn’t tell you which of the writers wrote what. I like communities, but I don’t get too involved. (My pet theory is that people who like to run online communities are actually all mysanthropists deep down.) I consider this a good thing. A little distance from the subject matter is essential. It helps keep me objective. And possibly sane.

I do receive a fuckload of annoying PR in the Whedonesque inbox, all about stuff that means nothing to me, not being American, not living in America. And probably wouldn’t mean anything to me if I were American, living in America. But I digress.

Perks. I has one. A kind soul gave me access to the Dollhouse screener, which contained an unfinished version of ‘Ghost’, the first episode. In case you’ve been living in cave, Dollhouse is Joss Whedon’s new television series for Fox, starring Eliza Dushku and Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett. You can read a synopsis of the show on Wikipedia. It is set to premier on February 13.

I remember catching my first glimpse of Buffy on TV (it was the sixth episode of the series’ first season: ‘The Pack’) and feeling compelled to keep watching it, unable to flip to another channel. Like being drawn in by Bob Ross’s hypnotic voice.

Continued after the jump, contains spoilers

Holy cow I’ve seen the light

Guy Garvey’s a perfectionist. One of those type of singers whose entire experience of a show can be ruined by missing one single note. When he does that at the end of a particularly taxing and otherwise perfectly angelic song, the disappointment is clear on his face. ‘No worries, mate,’ someone shouts.

There’s bands that make you want to dance, and bands that make you want to shoe gaze, bands that make you angry and bands that make you want to take to the barricades. Elbow’s a band that makes me think of everybody and everything I’ve ever loved in my entire life, family, friends, lovers, entire cities, and make me love them even more.

Throw those curtains wide!