‘Kate Bush is that old-fashioned
thing: an artist’ – Mark Radcliffe, BBC broadcaster
Kate Bush’s return
to the stage with her Before the Dawn
concerts in London feels like the second coming. Not surprising, considering that
her first and last performance was in 1979. Apart from brief spikes in
commercial success over three decades, Kate has avoided the entertainment
industry machine.
She is an anathema in the music business because a) she is serious
about her craft, b) she loathes celebrity culture, and c) she plays by her rules.
You don’t get a lot of a), b) or c) in these market-driven times.
I remember seeing
Kate’s celebrated video for Wuthering
Heights on the Saturday morning music show Sounds, in 1979. I was mesmerised by its entirety - her impressive
vocal range, her beauty, her gypsy-inspired outfit, those witchy dance moves, Dave
Gilmour’s whiny guitar riff …
Since that encounter, she remained in my consciousness despite her obvious media absence. Kate's comeback is timely, thanks to the current Jupiter
transit which touched her natal Leo Sun-Uranus conjunction in mid-August, prior
to her concert series.
Jupiter entered Leo on 16 July
2014 for a thirteen-month residency. The giant planet rules personal experiences, optimism, joy and abundance. In Leo, we are given opportunities to blossom through creative self-expression. Kate said that her decision to
return to live performance was based on a ‘real desire to have contact with the
audience that still like my work’. Radio2 broadcaster Michael Ball attended the final concert in early October. He described it as ‘sublime towering
artistry’.
Jupiter in Leo tends to focus on image. The subject of Kate’s physical beauty as a young woman is unavoidable (natal Jupiter in Libra conjunct her North Node). Fortunately, her Aquarius Moon accentuates originality (and possibly eccentricity) and counterbalances any egocentricity her Leo Sun might hold. Her Sun, Uranus and Moon combine with Mars in Taurus and Neptune in Scorpio to form a Grand Cross in Fixed signs. The Sun-Uranus link is indicative of ingenuity. Uranus in Leo on the point of a T-square makes Kate a trailblazer with a tendency for obstinacy - she split from her first record company, EMI, because she wanted more control. She needs to work toward her Libra Jupiter-North Node conjunction and learn to compromise a little. Mental intensity comes courtesy of a Virgo Mercury-Pluto conjunction. Taboo subjects are explored with intelligence and weaved through ephemeral vocal and instrumental arrangements that draw on folklore, esotericism and sensuality (Mars-Neptune opposition). Her 1982 song The Dreaming is a good example.
Due to an overwhelming response to her long-awaited comeback, she has been nominated for two Q Awards - Best
Act in the World Today and Best Live
Act. She became the first female artist to have eight albums in the UK
charts at the same time. Her songs have been covered by a diverse range of musicians,
from Futureheads and Placebo to Coldplay and Tina Arena.
