An Encore 35 Years in the Making - Kate Bush Fans Travel to See Rare Concerts in London

Kate Bush Fans Travel to See Rare Concerts in London

The Brooklyn singer Mirah is not known to brag on Twitter. But there was one occasion this month that called for some public glee.

“Dear Mirah, I bought you a Kate Bush concert ticket & an expensive plane ticket to London for yr 40th birthday present!” she wrote. “Surprise! Love, Mirah.” 

Ms. Bush, the reclusive British singer-songwriter with an inventive musical style and a fervent cult following, has inspired many of her fans to reach deep into their wallets. When she made a surprise announcement in March that she would perform onstage after an absence of more than three decades — with 22 shows from Tuesday through Oct. 1 at a 3,600-seat theater in London — all 77,000 tickets sold within 15 minutes. Online sellers had tickets with a face value of 135 pounds (about $224) listed for as much as £1,250 ($2,078). 

Mirah, an indie singer-songwriter with 10 albums and EPs to her credit, paid $750 for the concert ticket itself, and more than that for the travel from New York to London for a September show.

“This is definitely the first time I’ve crossed an ocean to go to a concert,” Mirah said.

She’s not alone. Ms. Bush’s fans are traversing continents to take part in what they regard as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Her one and only tour, an elaborately choreographed production that veered close to performance art, was in 1979. Few details have emerged about what will happen next week, when Ms. Bush, 56, will again take the stage at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, where she played that last full-length concert 35 years ago. The new show is called “Before the Dawn,” and the anticipation for her return has built in the last few months to something of a fever pitch.

“The fans are beside themselves,” said Sean Twomey, a 41-year-old Dubliner who has run a fan site, KateBushNews.com, since 1998. “It was just one of those things they never, ever thought would happen.” 

Mr. Twomey will attend the opening-night concert. “I’m quite prepared to take a ferry or swim over if I need to,” he said. He has been obsessed with Ms. Bush since he was a teenager, bewitched by her idiosyncratic vision, literary references and vocal ability. 

“When she sings the song ‘Pi,’ ” whose chorus is a recitation of the mathematical digits, “she really brings the emotion to it,” he said. “She’s able to deliver things that on the surface seem odd.”

Since Ms. Bush emerged as what appeared to be a fully formed teenage musical force — her generation’s Lorde — in England in 1977, she has built an eclectic artistic career. Over 10 albums, she has maintained a mystical sensibility and sophisticated production, often breaking boundaries for female musicians, on the charts and in the recording studio, where she produced her own work. Onstage and in videos, she danced with abandon and unabashedly awkward facial expressions. (She was also among the first to adopt a headset microphone, so she could better dance and sing.)

“The music world in 1978, ’79, I don’t think was ready for her, but she did it anyway, and that was admirable to me as a musician,” Mirah said. She, too, sometimes has long gaps between releases, and she added, “It’s inspiring to me to feel like: See, it is possible, you can just wait until the music comes, and that’s O.K.” 

In 2009 Lady Gaga covered “Don’t Give Up,” Ms. Bush’s 1986 duet with Peter Gabriel, telling the music site Spinner that she hoped her pop version would be “something that young people would hear and learn something about Kate Bush.”

On the British arm of Amazon, sales of Ms. Bush’s albums spiked immediately after the shows were announced, “with combined sales averaging 25 times higher than the previous week,” the online retailer said in a statement. 

Emma Fushimi, who’s in her mid-40s and has been a fan since she was 10, is coming from Japan with her sister to see the show. She applauded Ms. Bush’s eccentricities. On her 2005 album “Aerial,” “she does bird songs,” Ms. Fushimi said. 

Jade Gordon, 38, an artist and record store owner from Los Angeles, is traveling to London twice, for two shows, with her husband — his birthday present to her. (After this, she said, “He doesn’t have to worry about getting me a birthday present for five years.” )

Could Ms. Bush possibly live up to the hype, and the expense? “I have a couple sour-grapes friends who have said: ‘Oh, it can’t be good. She hasn’t performed in a long time, how could it be good?’ ” Ms. Gordon said. “I feel like it’s going to be a spectacle, no matter what.”

Even in Ms. Bush’s absence, she has been emulated in tribute nights and fan art. Maaike Breijman, a Dutch singer, tours Britain as a Kate sound- and look-alike. Last month, Philadelphia hosted the first Night of 1000 Kates, a dress-up party and concert for “Kate worship.” (“If anyone actually shows up in dunce caps and roller skates, all of us here at 1000 Kates will totally lose our minds,” read a promo for the event.) 

In April a group called the Kate Bush Dance Troupe performed at the Whitney Biennial, mimicking the dramatic mask choreography in the video for “Running Up That Hill,” one of the biggest songs from her 1985 album, “Hounds of Love.” 

In England the concerts have prompted retrospectives. This weekend the BBC is broadcasting a documentary about her career, from her 1978 debut single, “Wuthering Heights,” to her 2011 album, “50 Words for Snow,” interviewing collaborators and fans like Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Tori Amos and St. Vincent, as well as a separate compilation of concert footage. 

Near Piccadilly Circus, Snap Galleries, which specializes in rock photography, will have an exhibition of previously unpublished images of Ms. Bush by Gered Mankowitz and Guido Harari, coinciding with her concert dates. And clubs around town are offering a half-dozen consolation parties for those who couldn’t score tickets.

Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the event uploaded to YouTube may be disappointed: Ms. Bush issued a statement asking that concertgoers refrain from recording the show. “We have purposefully chosen an intimate theater setting rather than a large venue or stadium,” read a note on www.katebush.com. “I very much want to have contact with you as an audience, not with iPhones, iPads or cameras.” 

Ms. Bush, who has given few interviews over the years, has not explained why she chose to end her hiatus now.

“My take on it is that she probably thinks, why not?” said Mr. Twomey, the fan site editor. Mr. Twomey, who has been in the room with Ms. Bush at a few fan conventions, has barely given himself permission to think about what it will be like to experience her singing live. 

“I’m sure, on the night, it will be emotional and overwhelming, and I’ll realize I’m actually sitting there and listening to this incredible artist performing,” he said. “I hope I remember most of it.”