MOMENTS OF PLEASURE - KATE BUSH TRIBUTE Saturday 21st October 2023 THE BOOKING HALL, DOVER

And thank goodness I took a chance. Kate Bush herself summed it up best when she sang the words, “wow, wow, unbelievable!” Moments of Pleasure certainly put on a show and, given that Kate hasn’t graced a stage since her Hammersmith residency nine years ago (and has still toured only once in her career), should be the tribute of choice for any discerning fan. The band pride themselves on their lack of gimmicks, and it is truly their strength. There’s no dodgy costumes, no elaborate stage sets, just five people playing these songs to absolute perfection. It can’t be an easy task, but the eccentricities of the source material are all in place.

Vocalist Lisa-Marie Walters is something of a revelation, a mesmerising presence who renders the audience almost unable to look anywhere else. It’s as if she has absorbed something of Kate’s energy, and the startling similarity in her vocals is apparent from the moment Moving breaks the still of the Booking Hall. Symphony in Blue and Kashka from Baghdad are new ones on me (clearly I need to revisit Lionheart) but I found myself utterly captivated. It’s refreshing to see a tribute take on so many deep cuts, the achingly sad Never Be Mine (one of my personal favourites) and three numbers from The 9th Wave in the first half alone. 

This Woman’s Work is performed so beautifully that it should render the crowd silent, but there’s always a few people who seem incapable of shutting up for longer than about ten seconds. Accompanied only by Mark Feven’s keyboard, Walters does a wonderful job, marred only by some irritating murmurers and doors banging at the back of the hall. It’s a minor annoyance that persists through many of the gentler songs, including the band’s namesake and The Man with the Child in His Eyes. Hooray then, for the likes of James and the Cold Gun that allow these talented musicians to really cut loose and successfully drown out the background noise. 

The hits are, of course, all present and correct, each as spectacularly idiosyncratic as the last. Whether it’s the story of an unborn baby during a nuclear holocaust (Breathing), the “utterly bonkers in the best way” Sat in your Lap or the instantly recognisable Wuthering Heights (complete with a spot-on guitar solo courtesy of Rob Miles), all sound fantastic and leave me reflecting on Kate Bush’s genius. Nobody has ever sounded the same, before or since. All the more impressive then, that with your eyes closed, you could be in the presence of the originator. 

Predictably, Running Up That Hill is saved for an encore, a song that has become so ubiquitous since being used in Netflix drama Stranger Things that it’s hard to imagine there’s anyone alive who hasn’t heard it. And, just as I’m thinking they’ve forgotten to play Cloudbusting, I’m proved gleefully wrong. It’s the perfect closing number, getting everyone clapping and dancing. If you need to hear these songs live, this is the way to do it. You’ll find more than a few Moments of Pleasure in these two hours of blissful, startling music