Month: July 2002

What’s Really Happening?

Just a quick teaser…the first person to tell me what the picture above is all about will get a silly prize of some sort, and another prize will be awarded for the best caption supplied. I’ll give you a clue, it was taken in London last night.

Send your answers/captions to me at TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of “What’s Going On with David and Iman?” We’ll post the answer and the winner tomorrow at some point.

Right I’m off to get that Manchester-bound locomotive…see you there!

I keep a photograph…

In the absence of any pictures from the Seat Beach Rock 2002 festival in Belgium last night, I am posting the rather moody picture above, which is a shot from the Meltdown soundcheck. (Click on the image for a couple of other pictures I took at the soundcheck, and posted on the MBs yesterday)

Mr Plati has promised some pix from last night’s show, but I know how impatient you lot are, so in the meantime here’s the set list with new additions, ‘Starman’ and ‘Absolute Beginners’:

Life On Mars?
5.15 The Angels Have Gone
I?ve Been Waiting For You
Ashes To Ashes
China Girl
Sunday
Cactus
Slip Away
Changes
Starman
Stay
I Would Be Your Slave
Fame
Absolute Beginners
I?m Afraid of Americans
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
A New Career in a New Town
Everyone Says Hi
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust

SusanS, our man in the field, reports breathtaking solos from Earl Slick and Mike Garson on ‘Sunday’ and ‘Changes’ respectively, and she says David looked absolutely gorgeous dressed in a blue number for the encore, similar to the red jacket he wore for his performance at the Tribeca Film Festival back in May.

She also notes that David and Gail enjoyed some romantic playacting interactivity during ‘Absolute Beginners’, and that DB seemed to linger a little longer than usual during THAT bit in ‘I?m Afraid of Americans’! What is she talking about? };-)

See you in Manchester then folx.

White Light makes me sound like Lou Reed…

As you know, today sees the EMI release of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ 30th Anniversary Special Edition double CD, for which we set a competition last week. (07/03/02 NEWS: ZIGGY 30TH PROMO WINNERS AND NEW COMPETITION) This was the poser we set: “The version of ‘Moonage Daydream’ on this CD was mixed especially for a TV/cinema ad…what was that advert?” …and I don’t think anybody answered anything but “Dunlop Tyres”, which is the correct answer.

Unfortunately, only five of you get to win a copy, and TRS? has decreed that these five BowieNetters should be the winners of this very special item:

thunderball@davidbowie.com
bab@davidbowie.com
squinty@davidbowie.com
c.hanington@davidbowie.com
scottspalding@davidbowie.com

If the five winners could please send your address to me at TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of “Ziggy Stardust 30th Anniversary CD winner”, we’ll send you your prize as soon as the live European madness is over.

July 8th 1972

As David pointed out when he brought The Dandy Warhols onstage to join in on ‘White Light/White Heat’ at Meltdown last week, thirty years ago today is the day that he performed as the headline act for a “Friends of the Earth/Save the Whale Benefit Concert” at the Royal Festival Hall. This was the show that introduced Britain to Lou Reed who joined Bowie on-stage for ‘White Light/White Heat’, ‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘Waiting For The Man.’

Support that night came in the shape of The Marmalade and The JSD Band, and David was introduced by DJ Kenny Everett thus: “..here is the second greatest thing…next to God…David Bowie!”

The item on the left in the picture above is the original programme that folded out into a big poster with David superimposed, rather bizarrely, on a what looks to me like a whale harpoon! I guess it was the glam equivalent of a flower in the barrel of a rifle. The advert on the right appeared in music publications to advertise both the release of the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album and the show at the RFH. There is a clearer version of this ad in the excellent packaging for the Ziggy re-issue.

You can read more on this particular performance by nipping over to the ZSC and scrolling down to July 8th 1972. Check out the reviews from which these two quotes are taken:

“A Star is Born! – When a shooting star is heading for the peak, there is usually one concert at which its possible to declare – That’s it – he’s made it.” – Melody Maker

“David Bowie will soon become the greatest entertainer Britain has ever known.” – Music Week

Never let it rain, never let it rain, never rain…

David Bowie’s show on Friday at the Horsens Festival in Denmark was threatened by an early downpour that thankfully passed in time for the show. The gig was an intimate affair with another new running order that included an emotional rendition of ‘Space Oddity’.

The crowds at these European shows are already greeting newer songs such as ‘Slip Away’ and ‘Heathen’ as if they were old classics…with a mass clap-a-long to the latter becoming de rigueur.

Band member Mark Plati has kindly sent in a couple of pictures to share with us, of which we’ll be posting more in the near future. Here is the set list from Friday’s show:

Warszawa
Space Oddity
Sunday
I’ve Been Waiting For You
Hallo Spaceboy
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
China Girl
Slip Away
Cactus
I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship
I Would Be Your Slave
Subterraneans
Ashes To Ashes
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
Speed Of Life
Everyone Says Hi
Ziggy Stardust

Tonight’s show at the Seat Beach Rock 2002 festival in Belgium has a live stream of some of the acts playing today, though I’m pretty sure that David’s set isn’t being broadcast. But go here if you want to take a look anyway.

Due to all the system upgrades and maintenance, we have decided to post the winners on the site without having an email confirmation. The new BowieNet email system still is being tweaked up, and we wanted to make sure that all the winners were notified.

SO —

Without further adieu, we proudly announce the winners for the Lancashire C.C.C., Old Trafford show in Manchester.

We are hoping that all the winners are able to attend. If you are able to attend simply show up at the venue with some form of ID.

Click here to see the list of winners for MANCHESTER

This is the trip, And this is the business we take…

David Bowie’s ‘Heathen’ album has returned to the UK top 20 after spending a week at number 27. Obviously recent media coverage, and indeed word-of-mouth, have rekindled interest in the album which now stands at number 19 on the UK chart.

‘Heathen’ remains in the top 30 of eighteen countries around the globe, with top 20 positions in fourteen of those countries :

Iceland – 3
Denmark – 4
Norway – 5
Germany – 6
Austria – 7
France – 7
Argentina – 9
Australia – 9
Japan – 10
Belgium – 14
Sweden – 14
Switzerland – 16
Italy – 18
UK – 19
Holland – 24
New Zealand – 25
Spain – 29
Canada – 30

These are the latest chart placings as far as I know, but some of these positions may have changed with new charts being published around the world daily. Please feel free to contact me with any updates.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ll all want to join me in congratulating David on the continued success of ‘Heathen’. Well done guv!

Sense Of Doubt…

David Bowie scotched suggestions of any return to London as a family base last night, via a short interview on the BBC’s Six O’clock News. David, who was interviewed in front of two TVs which played bits of old footage as he spoke, made it clear that the all-invasive British media had a lot to answer for:

?The pure inconvenience of having a camera lens stuck in either my face or my wife and child?s face every morning, I think would certainly be a deterrent to me wanting to come back to live here on a permanent basis. Even being here a couple of days, I mean, this is a really different place. It?s astounding how media driven London is.?

He also suggested that the quality of chart entertainment in the UK wouldn’t make a return to his ancestral home any easier:

?I know about Kylie and Robbie and Pop Idol and stuff like that. You can?t get away from that when you hit the shore, so I know all about the cruise ship entertainment aspect of British pop.?

All very fair comments I guess, illustrated in a tenuous way in the picture below of my daughter, Holly, with Kylie at Coldplay’s Meltdown aftershow recently, where I stuck my camera lens in the face of the cruise ship entertainer, who my 12-year-old is a fan of.

Holly, whom I have never force-fed Bowie’s music, (she’ll get there under her own steam, though I have taught her how to do Bowie Eyes, see pic) last week asked me to compile her a best of Bowie CD as she rather likes “that space one and the ch, ch, ch, one”…Needles to say I declined to perform the illegal act of copying, and instead suggested she go spend some of her not-very-hard-earned pocket money on ‘The Singles Collection’ and ‘Heathen’!

Sorry for that diversion…You can watch the three-minute snippet from last night’s news by clicking on the image above.

The Church of Man-Love, is such a holy place to be…

For those of you with access to BBC television that aren’t attending tonight’s show in Denmark, you should tune into BBC1 at 22:35 (BST) for 45 minutes of Jonathan Ross’s exclusive chat with David Bowie. David was in fine form for this interview, and having been present at the taping (06/28/02 NEWS: LAST NIGHT WITH ROSS AND BOWIE) and having enjoyed the advantage a preview tape, I can tell you that this is a great piece of TV.

Apart from the highly entertaining interview, David and the band’s performances of ‘Fashion’, ‘Slip Away’, ‘Everyone Says Hi’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust’ will all be broadcast this evening. And if you’re around earlier in the evening, you may want to check out the news on BBC1 at 18:00…I’m saying no more. But here’s another pic from tonight’s show anyway.

Kiss you in the rain…

David Bowie played his first outdoor festival show of the ‘Heathen’ tour to an ecstatic crowd last night. Though the set was performed in a steady drizzle of rain, the 12,000-strong audience’s spirit certainly wasn’t dampened as they clapped along to the like of ‘5:15’ and ‘Heathen’. The crowd obviously showed great appreciation for the older stuff too, greeting songs such as ‘Changes’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust’ with much joyous enthusiasm.

David was by all accounts in joyous mood too, drawing from a twenty-one-song set list that was similar to the Paris show, but included both of the Side One ‘Low’ instrumentals, and opened with ‘Life On Mars?’. Members of various of the support bands danced along sidestage. Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes getting down to ‘A New Career In A New Town’…now that’s a sight I would’ve loved to have witnessed!

Anyway, here is the complete set list from last night’s show:

Life On Mars?
Hallo Spaceboy
I?ve Been Waiting For You
Speed Of Life
China Girl
5.15 The Angels Have Gone
Stay
Slip Away
Ashes To Ashes
Afraid
Cactus
A New Career In A New Town
Fashion
Changes
Sound And Vision
“Heroes”
Heathen
——————–
Everyone Says Hi
I?m Afraid Of Americans
Let?s Dance
Ziggy Stardust

Onward to Horsens it is then.

Those of you with tickets, you’ll understand…

As of late, we’ve been getting a lot of questions and requests for the full skinny on the European shows.

Here’s the 411:

If you have tickets that you’ve won here on BowieNet, or you have them waiting for you at the venue, all you need to do is show up at the venue the day of the show with some form of ID and (if you have one) your confirmation email. The confirmation email is not mandatory, it is only a backup. All BowieNet ticket winners are on the master list at each venue.

Venue information is as follows:

NORWAY
Quart Festival
Odderøya, Kristiansand, Norway.

DENMARK
Friluftsscenen-Lunden
Sundvej
DK 8700 Horsens
Doors 6.30pm

BELGIUM
Zeebrugge Beach Festival
Hippodroom, Koningin Astridlaan, 8400 Ostend, Belgium.
All day event

MANCHESTER
Move 2002
Old Trafford Cricket Ground
Manchester

COLOGNE
E-Werk
Schanzenstrasse 37
51063 Koln
Doors 7pm

NIMES
Nimes Festival
Nimes Arena
Open Air 3000 Nimes
Doors 5pm

LUCCA
Piazza Napoleone
Lucca
Doors 7pm

MONTREUX
Congress And Exhibition Centre
Stravinski Hall
Grand Rue 95
Doors 7.30pm