Re: another nearly interminable posting by IED about his idol

[ganzer%trout@nosc.mil (Mark T. Ganzer)]

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>From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu

>>Me:
>>And KBVI will elevate us all to another plane, replace "The Dreaming"
>>as the "greatest entity in all of space and time", but have only
>>mediocre commercial success. Then we will be back to square one.:-)
>>Actually, I'm not optimistic about the possibility of a world tour.

>But you are optimistic about the importance of KBVI! Personally,
>IED expects it to be about as good as HoL, but not necessarily
>something on the order of The Dreaming (see, IED has been brainwashed
>by |>oug and the rest of you guys! Happy?). That is, it's not at
>all clear that Kate will swing back in the direction of inaccessibility.

I was being facetious! I do agree that she probably won't make the mistake
again of not having at least one or two "commercial" tracks. On the other
hand, I don't expect to see another HoL either. When I have a chance, I
like to listen to the albums in chronological order, and I am always 
impressed with the changes and growth in her music. Frankly, I would be
disappointed if KBVI is not at least as different from "The Nineth Wave"
side of HoL as TNW was from "The Dreaming". And with the confidence
(and bank account) restored by the success of HoL and TWS, I am hoping
it will be a bold step forward. But of course, this is all just idle
speculation...

>>Because her music has become so much more complex since the last tour,
>>I think it would be extremely difficult to put together a stage performance
>>that would be up to her standards...

>It's true that it would be extremely difficult, but Kate's last tour
>introduced a number of technological and theatrical precedents, and
>it's not unreasonable to expect that the next one will introduce still
>more. Anyway, Kate has said herself that the live musical performance
>cannot be as detailed or complete as the recorded one, so presumably
>she'll work out ways of reproducing the kernel of each piece without
>trying to include every subtlety, while amplifying the music in new
>and exclusively theatrical ways.

After making my comment, I spent the better part of two days travelling
with Kate playing on the Walkman almost constantly, thinking about this
question, and pretty much came to the same conclusion. In listening to
"The Kick Inside" and "Lionheart" after listening to the Hammersmith
concert soundtrack, the vocals seem flat. There is much more color and 
emotional expression in the live performance. This, plus the added
theatrical expression would more than compensate for the musical
compromises. Much of subtlety could be retained through judicious use
of pre-recorded passages (something she did do in the last tour).
One thing I would love to see would be Paddy Bush playing the musical
saw!

>                                                  ... But with Kate
>Bush, the tour will definitely represent a major new work of art, not
>just performances of old songs; so the concerts (and the live records
>and films that will undoubtedly follow) should themselves contain
>a great many fascinating new ideas.

Theatrically, I'm sure it would. Unfortunately, because most people go to
concerts to hear performances of old songs, most of the time will be spent
in choreographing and arranging the old works. I doubt much new music would
find its way into the show. Of course, if a concert film were made, I would 
it would show the entire show. I despise the editing in the Hammersmith
concert tape! I would kill to see the unedited tapes of that show. 

>>Right now, I'd be happy to get my
>>hands on more video...

>What sort of video? Old stuff, or new?

The only video I have is the Hammersmith concert. Being a relative
newcomer to this group, I missed all the updates of when her videos
were on the air. Of course, besides what is normally available (The
Single File, the Hair of the Hound lazer-disk), I'd be interested in
other performances and interviews. 

Enough of this, I have to head off to the Pacific Northwest for the next
week or so...

Mark T. Ganzer                    Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego
Internet: ganzer@trout.nosc.mil   UUCP: {ucbvax,hplabs}!sdcsvax!nosc!ganzer
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