London shows the most wanted of 2014
Michael Baggs

15:06 25th March 2014

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Tickets for Kate Bush's 2014 London live shows go on sale on Friday of this week - but it's not going to be an easy feat to get tickets for the shows, unfortunately.

Bush hasn't toured in 35 years, meaning that tickets to her 22 Hammersmith gigs in August and September of this year are in demand from fans across the planet. Indeed, even soul superstar Solange Knowles has tweeted about how much she hopes to get tickets to one of the shows. But unless she is one of the first online at 9.30am on Friday, 28 March 2014, she might end up empty handed too.

Already, online ticket sales sites have revealed that demand for the tickets has been even bigger than for Beyonce's recent Mrs Carter UK dates, which were the most-wanted tickets in 2013. The Mirror newspaper has also published some worrying statistics about the volume of interest for the tickets, estimating that the 54,000 tickets could be snapped up very quickly by fans making the most of the four-tickets-per-person rule of the sale. Fans have even compared this week's on-sale to the rush last year to buy tickets for Glastonbury - but in reality, it is likely to be even more frantic.

Tickets for Kate Bush's 15 London gigs at Hammersmith Apollo go on sale on Frdiay, 2014 at 9am. See what worried fans are saying online below, and check out your competition if you are planning on trying to buy tickets for yourself...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tickets go on sale at 9.30am today. For more information visit Gigwise gig tickets.

Full dates are as follows:
26th August
27th August
29th August
30th August
2nd September
3rd September
5th September
6th September
9th September
10th September
12th September
13th September
16th September
17th September
19th September
20th September
23rd September
24th September
26th September
27th September
30th September
1st October

Below: 15 brilliant modern artists that wouldn't exist without Kate Bush

  • Niki & the Dove: Kate Bush is all over these guys, from the dark and mysterious take on pop to the narrative infused lyrics and titles. Singer Malin Dahlstrom said: "I realise now that I have great respect for the music I listened to when I was a teenager. If you say names, it is so easy for people to put you in some kind of cage, but if I had to be honest, I listened a lot to the album Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush."

  • Bjork: There are many parallels to be found here (in particular the penchant for the bizarre and operatic). Bjork is quoted saying: "It's fantastic that she's not been driven by outside forces, she's just driven by herself. So I've got a lot of respect for her in that way. She's very respected as a singer and a songwriter, but I think she's very underestimated as a producer. She built a whole universe that was her own instead of just following a male...something. I don't know, I'm not anti-male or anything."

  • Goldfrapp: A huge debt is owed to Kate Bush in that both focus on the spectacular, the melodramatic, all leading back to communicating closely with nature. When Alison was asked if Bush helped her connect to a certain Englishness in an interview, she responded: "Good old Kate. Yeah, I think we're very fond of a certain kind of Englishness, without getting too into it."

  • Bat for Lashes: Frequently hailed as the modern equivalent to Bush, she had this to say about the comparisons when speaking to Out: "I think she is an amazing artist and her body of work is so incredible and she's had such a long career and has taken so many risks. I think as someone to kind of look up to, she's a real inspiration."

  • Bright Light Bright Light: No stranger to the world of epic piano pop, Bright Light counts the Sensual World among his favourites with 'Love and Anger' picked as a personal stand out from the star's sixth album: "Kate Bush is one of my favourite writers, singers, performers, producers ever and the Sensual World album is my joint favourite album ever", he told Gigwise.

  • Ladyhawke: The darker side of the Kiwi singer-songwriter reflects the more introspective side of Bush's work. Anxiety, for example, introspectively explores Ladyhawke's confidence issues, at its deepest corners reflecting Bush's more introspective moments.

  • Madonna: If Bush first opened the floodgates for female artists to explore broad literary themes and symbolism in pop music, Madonna exploited the aftermath. Videos and songs including 'Like a Virgin' are very similar to Bush, yet different in that they aim to shock instead of challenge.

  • PJ Harvey: While there are huge differences between Harvey's guitar-led art-rock and Bush's pop sensibilities, there is a common thread in the exploration of the female psyche. The autobiographical terms of the songs parallel each other at times, despite Harvey citing more male influences.

  • Placebo: The band chose to cover 'Running Up That Hill' on their covers album, describing it as a 'slowed down version of Kate Bush's unbelievably beautiful classic - taking an already gorgeous song and covering it in a way that makes you fall in love with it again'. Apparently, Brian Molko met Kate at a party and got her approval for their version of the track.

  • St Vincent: The huge theatrical element to her sets owes a debt to Bush, with gigs that put a strong emphasis on narrative and experience, becoming an audio-visual piece of living art. She told Denver Westword blogs: "That song 'Wuthering Heights' is so weird. Harmonically, you sound like you're a musician, it's so bizarre. There's a bar of fifths in the chorus, and then she sings, and it's so high in the chord progression. It's angular and it's out and it totally works and it's such a cool song."

  • Tricky: A rather unusual one, Tricky states that the influence Bush has had on him is larger than that of the Beatles. He wrote in MOJO magazine: "Some of the greatest singers in the world, you can spot their influences. But Kate Bush has no mother or father. I'd be an average musician, like everyone else, if it wasn't for her."

  • Lady Gaga: Seems like Lady Gaga gets compared to everyone these days (just don't mention Madonna). Gaga's penchant for combining art and pop sure owes its biggest debt to Bush. Gaga once covered 'Don't Give Up' so 'that young people would hear and learn something about Kate Bush'.

  • Wild Beasts: The themes at the heart of Hayden's lyrics and sounds are hugely influenced by Bush's. It's all about the ethereal, the countryside and the soul. Singer Hayden told Entertainment.ie: "I only discovered Kate Bush once people started saying that I sounded a bit like her. And that was quite a breakthrough for me to find her, because then I just fell in love straight away and bought all her albums. I think the great thing about Kate Bush is the more she pushes, the further she goes, the more outrageous it gets, the more you want. She's addictive."

  • London Grammar: The operatic shades of singer Hannah Reid's voice, though deeper in tone, are definitely reminiscent of Kate Bush - an influence she has noted in numerous interviews: She told Fiasco magazine: "Being in London Grammar, I have found nuances distinctive to the songs we write, but there are female vocalists I am hugely influenced by who made me think I could hit notes - Kate Bush."

  • Florence and the Machine: While Florence later went on to deny that she sounded anything like Bush, in an NME interview at the start of her career, she pointed towards the iconic singer as an inspiration. Just take a look at the 'Raise It Up' video, that sees Florence floating down a country river in a coffin. It points to the Anglican Gothic themes so integral to Bush's work.

  • From Florence + The Machine to Bjork to Wild Beasts, the roster of artists inspired by Kate Bush is almost as eclectic and and exciting as Bush herself. Here are 15 brilliant artists who, on top of their own individuality, owe a debt to the trailblazing icon that is Kate Bush.

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