So I was taking a look at concerts that are going to be in town in Milwaukee and Chicago and I ran across David Bowie:eek: . I didn’t know he was on tour. Anyways I picked up some tickets. So what I need to know is: Is he on tour for a certain album? What songs do I have to listen too that will most likely be played (I know the old stuff, what about his past few albums)? Will he be playing with the Spiders From Mars?
In interviews, Bowie states that he looks at his past personas - Ziggy, the Thin White Duke, Aladdin Sane, etc. - as things from his past. He typically only focuses on his current music, and only plays classic hits rarely.
A great talent - should be a great show.
Nice feller. Used to in The Yardbirds with Hendrix and Jagger. His slide banjo style has proven very influential in the development of Mongolian throat singing. Great teeth now as well, not sure where he borrowed those from.
I believe he does indeed have a new album at the moment - and he’s quite proud of it apparently.
He’s lost none of his enigmatic nature. TV interviewers really struggle with him sometimes - primarily because, depending on his mood, he can be thoroughly gregarious, or as tight as a clam.
Personally, my fave memory of Bowie was his “Heroes” tour down here in Australia in 1978.
He opened the show with “Station to Station” and it just went from strength to strength. But there’s a bit of a funny story to that particular gig too.
He played Brisbane at a football ground called “Lang ParK” - which is now a really impressive enclosed 54,000 seat stadium somewhat similar to the Dallas Cowboys home ground.
But in 1978 it was still quite an open ground with lots of open area to the local houses in the nearby suburb - and it is indeed situated in a very leafy, quiet suburb in Brisbane. Anyways, Bowie has showed up with a sound system which towered 3 stories high - and he fucking cranked it. I mean really, really cranked it. You could hear it from 6 miles away apparently.
Well, the local houses were just 200 yards away and it was a suburb filled with gentrified, retirees. And they were up in arms!
The next day, the Brisbane City Council reported finding 1,500 little orange juice bongs - and it just hit the papers like you wouldn’t believe.
It caused such a stir that concerts at Lang Park were banned forever. There’s never been once since.
And the funniest thing is that my dearest friend who was at the concert, along with a whole bunch of us, well someone gave him a bit too much hash and he spent the entire concert unable to move - lying on the grass, only able to see feet and legs - and “an overwhelming sea of neon green light”. But he swears he remembers hearing “Heroes”.
Yep, he’s got a new album out, and I think it’s pretty good, too.
One of the most important figures in twentieth century music. Everybody should be required to see him once.
The new album is called Reality. I bought it, and it’s well worth purchasing. The television ads for the album feature Bowie wandering through an apartment, encountering his different personas in various rooms. It’s pretty clever.
Of the recent Bowie albums I own (I haven’t bought Heathen yet–Outside (1995), Earthling (1997), and Hours–I’d rank Reality right behind Outside in my favorites.
And for fun, here’s Bowie’s website: http://www.davidbowie.com/index.php
David Bowie won’t play any of his “hits” in concert anymore… but if you’re a fan, you’ll realize that he often plays his old favorites (Scary Monsters, Man Who Sold the World, etc.) or other obscure oldies. However, he does play more of the new stuff (anything written after his Tin Machine experiment).
I’ve got everything he’s put out from his self titled first album up to now, with the sole exception of this latest album, which I will be getting eventually. I really liked the ‘drum and bass’ phase he went through.