The Kate Bush Story - Night Owl Shows, Edinburgh Fringe Show

This year’s selection includes Fleetwood Mac, Blondie and Elton John, but the one that caught my eyes and ears this time was a brand-new production; ‘The Kate Bush Story’. I think this show grabbed my attention as I’ve seen the original artists of all the other shows performing live but not many folks have had the privilege to see Ms Bush herself and, well, it’s a challenging role and I was keen to see if it could be done well. Spoiler alert: it was!

Hannah Richards, who is a regular with Night Owl, was the lady brave enough to step into the role and she freely confessed that she was particularly nervous, especially as I was witnessing the show’s premiere performance. With the four-piece band already on stage, Hannah made her entrance in Bush-like attire of floaty top over dance-wear and bare feet to perform ‘Hounds of Love’ and she nailed the vocals and physical performance aspects from the start. It is a delicate and haunting number and Hannah’s performance on opening night channelled some of the song’s fragility, but it was a triumph.

Thereafter, the show followed more of a chronological order, with Hannah telling some of Kate’s story in her introductions and setting up each of the songs individually. ‘Wuthering Heights’ was second on the list and not many singers will be able to pull that off like Hannah did. The same goes for Ian Bairnson’s now-classic and widely appreciated guitar solo on the original song. Performing in the city where Bairnson grew up before joining Pilot, the chap on guitar dutifully nailed the guitar part. The original engineer, Jon Kelly, has apparently stated that he regretted not placing the solo louder in the mix on the original single. That was also my thought with this performance but I’m not sure if that was because of a particularly authentic homage or just a first night / second song thing, but the guitar came through loud and clear for the rest of the show.

The 50-minute show mostly covered the well-known songs with the odd deep-cut thrown in. ‘The Man with the Child in His Eyes’ really captured the audience’s attention and appreciation, while Hannah’s performances of ‘Babooshka’ and an unbelievably good ‘Wow’ did indeed have the “wow” factor, with athletic dance moves and physical performance enhancing the show. Hannah struck up a good connection with the audience and maintained a fine narrative with reverential commentary and some complementary screen images. When she referenced the young Kate “knowing that something good was going to happen” you just knew that ‘Cloudbusting’ was on the way. Sadly, that was the last song I was able to see as I had to bolt for another show entitled ‘Family Fortunes (but for bad people)’, which was something else entirely different but that’s The Fringe for you. I believe the last number was, of course, ‘Running Up That Hill’ and you can be sure that Hannah also smashed that, with “no problems”.

Some, but not many, tickets remain for the remainder of this run in Edinburgh until the end of August and the Night Owl page will have details of other shows and venues. If this show comes back next year, I will be intending to see it again, but all the way through this time.

Just don’t get me started on the whole “Is Kate Bush prog?” debate.