An Evening Without Kate Bush

(Adelaide Fringe, Garden of Unearthly Delights, 13 March 2025)

Kate Bush, is, like one of her influencers Emily Bronte, both genius and mystic. Her look, her voice, her entire unique and brilliant oeuvre, have entranced us ever since her debut in 1978, aged 19.

Sarah-Louise Young is clearly a Kate obsessive, and her show, a dizzy mash-note, is clearly for fans (we mean that in a good way), the Fish People, but it is witty and vibrant enough to please those ignorant of Kate-World.

Whilst the music is pre-recorded, Young is not: her voice is strong and she inhabits the Bush persona brilliantly, engaging and interacting with an appreciative crowd and sharing personal anecdotes regarding her Kate fetish. Effects are minimal but effective, as are her frequent costume changes (we reserve judgment on the rather alarming red leotard) and her array of comic props.

Highlights were And Dream of Sheep, shrouded and in darkness but for a winking red light; James and the Cold Gun in said leotard; Babooshka (sung beautifully, in Russian!); Running Up That Hill ; Army Dreamers replete with a pair of over-sized, luminous eyes; Wow; Hounds of Love, accompanied by yelps and squeals, with audience participation; Don’t Give Up (cf. Keep Trying by Brian Pern and co.), assisted by a couple plucked from the front row to slow-dance à la Kate and Peter Gabriel; Cloudbusting; Sat in Your Lap, with 3 ladies from the audience, complete with Dunce Caps; and a lovely version of The Man With the Child in His Eyes.

The closer, of course, was Wuthering heights, which was imagined more than performed, but who could outdo Kate’s original, either on vinyl or film? At a little over an hour, this is a worthy tribute act, and more.