With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

I can count on one hand the amount of tribute acts I have seen in my lifetime. Before last night it was just two; The Bootleg Beatles and The Wall a Pink Floyd tribute band. Both were very good. However in my opinion both were surpassed by the excellent show I saw at the Grand Opera House in York last night. It was titled ‘WOW – A Celebration of the Music and Artistry of Kate Bush’. The fact that Kate Bush is such an original and unique solo artist means that any attempt at a decent tribute to her would be difficult. However 36 year Maaike Breijman from Holland pulled it off impeccably well.

She has a resemblance to Kate and a similar vocal style. She is also an excellent all round performer and she proved this by singing, dancing and playing the night away. She didn’t only focus on Kate Bush’s greatest hits although most of them were there. The overall show, including a brief interval, was close to two hours long. I lost count of the costume changes Breijman undertook but every one of them worked. Her band was superb as were the two male dancers that accompanied her for most songs.

She seemed to draw her influence for the performances from film of Kate’s one and only tour and the videos for the later songs. The show included a terrific light show and some excellent projections and props. Including the weather machine from the ‘Cloudbusting‘ video. I particularly loved her performances of “The Wedding List”, “The Big Sky”, “Wow” and “Babooshka“. She also brought things a little more up to date with an excellent version of the 2005 hit “King Of The Mountain”. The theatrical staging of “Breathing” from inside a womb was pretty impressive too.

The two most exceptional moments for me were her wonderful rendition of “this Womans Work” whilst accompanying herself on the piano and the obvious choise for closing the show, the incredible “Wuthering Heights”. It is highly unlikely that we will ever get to see the real Kate Bush play live now, although to be fair whoever thought David Bowie would release a new album? But in the absence from the stage of Kate Bush I can definitely recommend Maaike Breijman. The only disappointment for me was how few people there were in the audience. When she tours again I order you to do your utmost to see her. Sell your Granny, send your kids to sweep chimneys, do whatever it takes just make sure you are there for Maaike’s next tour. That’s an order ok! Click here to find the WOW website.