Kate Bush has made a sensational return to the concert stage. At 56, she may no longer be able to hit the high notes of her teenage years and she might have cut back on the dancing, but she still has the trademark long dark hair, and she still knows how to put on a show.

Bush was kicking off her Before the Dawn ‘tour’ – 22 shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in west London, the venue where she effectively retired from live performances after six weeks on the road in 1979.

More than 80,000 tickets for her comeback gigs sold out in less than 15 minutes after they were announced in March and there was huge excitement among fans in the run-up to the first night, which had been described “the musical event of the decade”.

Tickets had been advertised for up to £1,000.

As the show began, there was a massive roar from the crowd as Bush walked on stage, dressed in black and leading a procession of backing singers. She opened with Lily, then Hounds of Love as she appeared to be putting on a conventional gig, singing in front of her seven-strong band.

We’ve just heard musical history. I dreamt of this but never thought I’d see it

But after she had sung her hit Running up that Hill, from her 1985 Hounds of Love album, a dancer came on stage, cannons fired smoke and confetti into the crowd and she moved into a dramatised version of the Ninth Wave suite of songs from the same album.

Actors dressed as fish, a helicopter rescue with searchlights on the audience, and a domestic scene involving toad in the hole followed in a typically Bush spectacle.

The second half continued in a similar vein as the singer performed the Sky of Honey suite of songs from the 2005 album Aerial.

The audience, including Lily Allen, Gemma Arterton and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, the man who spotted her talent as a teenager, loved every minute.

Bush still knows how to surprise and her encore consisted of a solo song at the grand piano, Among Angels, from her 2011 album 50 Words for Snow, followed by crowd-pleaser Cloudbusting.

Kate Bush fans waiting for the concert to start. Photos: Yui Mok/PA Wire

So there was nothing from her early albums – not even Wuthering Heights. But her fans did not seem to mind.

Kyla Fox, 41, said: “We’ve just heard musical history. I dreamt of this but never thought I’d see it. This was on my bucket list.”

Michael Anmuth had come all the way from San Francisco specially for the show. Anmuth, 46, said: “It’s awesome – really, really great. It was worth travelling this far because I’ve waited forever to see her. It has cost me a lot but it’s definitely worth it.”

Bush had asked fans not to take photos or film during the shows – and, unusually, for a modern concert, they respected her wishes.

Bush, a doctor’s daughter from Kent, was just 20 when she completed The Tour of Life with three dates at what was then called the Hammersmith Odeon.

She had topped the charts with Wuthering Heights the previous year, becoming the first woman to go to number one singing one of her own songs.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that her records are again climbing the charts.

Sales figures from the Official Charts Company showed that all nine studio albums and two compilations have been given a sales boost by the gigs.

Her greatest hits collection The Whole Story, which hit number one on its release in 1986, is currently number eight, followed by 1985’s Hounds of Love at number 14.

Her 2011 collection 50 Words for Snow and her 1978 debut The Kick Inside are at 32 and 33 respectively and 1989’s The Sensual World is at number 41. Further down the chart are The Red Shoes, Never For Eve, The Dreaming, Director’s Cut, Lionheart and Aerial.

Bush, who introduced her teenage son Bertie as one of the performers, thanked the audience at the end.

“Thank you so much for such a wonderful, warm and positive response,” she said.