Having a Hand in Kate Bush’s Return

Kate Bush triumphantly returned to the stage this week after 35 years, with intimate sold-out shows at London’s Eventim Apollo. Editor Amanda James and Final Cut were honoured to be a part of the momentous event, collaborating with Kate on various films for the show.

In one segment, Kate performs ‘The Ninth Wave,’ the second, and much acclaimed, half of the ‘Hounds of Love’ album. For this, Amanda edited a concept films about a woman lost at sea, played by Kate, floating alone in a life jacket, while performing the songs. Kate was shot live at Pinewood Studios in a huge water tank, and it was the audio from the film that audience members heard as the ‘performance’.

Amanda worked on various other films for the production including ones projected into an oval shaped screen, and some live with lighting and staging shifting focus between the film and the actual performance on hand.

It’s a ground breaking, incredibly complex, theatrical show. As Rolling Stone notes, “part West End show and part performance art, by turns bewitching and bewildering, but never once boring, the new adventures of Kate Bush promise to be every bit as enthralling as the old ones.” We couldn’t agree more.