Month: August 2002

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow…

In a highly uncharacteristic move I have decided to take a little holiday from today. I’m off to kick up a storm in Venice with my family. Don’t let my absence deter any of you that were thinking of posting me foreign magazines or gifts put you off. My sister will be house-sitting and the knock of the postman will thankfully wake her from her slumber so that she can continue to scrub the scullery floor!

The downside of this, (apart from none of my sparkling wit to brighten the gloomier corners of your world of course) is that with the current busy Bowie schedule, I have not had a chance to meet up with postmistress Susans for the quarterly handing over of the vault contents. This means that prizes from competitions I have recently set won’t go out for another couple of weeks. My heartiest apologies for this delay, but at least you know your goodies haven’t gone missing in the post!

With pages of wonderful recommendations from Sailor on what to do in Venice, you can expect a far more cultured Total Blam Blam to emerge on the far end of the next two weeks. Enjoy the rest of area 2, and please send your e-mails of sadness at my departure to the usual address so that I can show off to my wife when we return. Please do miss me…Love to all…Blammo oxo };-)

Over the last few months we have been telling you about the Bowie career retrospective to be hosted by MTR (04/26/02 NEWS: BOWIE CAREER RETROSPECTIVE AT MTR). Now Sak is using the MTR / Bowie happening as a bit of window dressing. Have a look:

words of truth…

Thursday night was the taping of David’s appearance on the 30 minute USA TV show Last Call with Carson Daly, attended by an audience of lucky BowieNetters! ( 07/22/02 NEWS: BOWIE ON LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY – WANNA GO?).

Judging by your posts on the message boards, a very good time was had by all. It seems that Carson Daly joined a lengthening line of TV hosts who cannot believe their luck at breathing the same air as David Bowie :-). David was wearing a black three piece suit with white shirt. He was relaxed, funny and charming and answered most questions at length.

When asked about the current generation of MTV music, he warned that there could be danger in ignoring recent creative bands – giving The Pixies as an example from the past – to loud applause from the audience. He also talked of the natural instinct of the new music generation to want to wipe out the old, and had the audience in hysterics by refusing to comply. He threatened to go on and on and on singing :-). When discussing children he was asked about discipline. He repeated that lovely old story about taking Duncan to a PIL concert. Duncan came down the stairs with green hair and David almost said ” you’re not…” but thought better of it.

After the interview, the band played ‘Everyone Says Hi’ and ‘Cactus’. BowieNet member Antoine Poincelet described both versions as ‘stunning’. There was some between song banter, with Gail playing along on bass to a recorded version of ‘Under Pressure’ and David dancing and wiggling which brought some ‘TOTP style’ squealing from the audience! Some of the members nearest the stage were the lucky recipients of a handshake as David left.

The show airs on NBC in the USA on 8/8/02 at 1.35AM. Don’t miss!

Here is a round-up of some local press from the area2 tour:

DAILY NEWS
” David Bowie has been putting on some of the best shows of his recent career. He began with an intimate take on ‘Life on Mars’ and then moved into an 85-minute set that elegantle fused classics with contemporary work.

A cover of the Pixies ‘Cactus’ and the lament ‘Slip Away’ are the best songs from his new album ‘Heathen.’ They sounded strong, even next to a loungy ‘Changes’ and commanding versions of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Ziggy Stardust’… ”

COURIER POST ONLINE
” …nostalgia is hardly Bowie’s bag…

All seven of the new tunes were uniformly strong and interesting. Bowie – always one of rock’s great band leaders – guided his seven-piece group through a variety of pop styles from the T Rex-style boogie of “Cactus,” to the atmospheric-but-catchy “I Would Be Your Slave,” to the frothy “Everyone Says `Hi’.”

As warmly received as the new material was, it didn’t come close to the crowd-pleasing properties of the evening’s more vintage material, which included a typically heartfelt “Heroes,” a snappy “Ashes to Ashes” propelled by a particularly funky bass line, and a version of “Fame” whose groove was so deep it probably could have been used to rescue those Pennsylvania miners.

However, these all paled beside the songs that bookended the 15-song set. Bowie opened the program with a powerful reading of 1971’s “Life on Mars.” He exited with a galvanizing “Ziggy Stardust” that provided one of the more potent in-concert moments in recent memory.

In addition to the ensemble work of the band, the performance was enhanced by some of the best live vocal work Bowie has delivered in years. He seems to have found his way back to slightly higher registers; the icy edge that informed his earlier style was frequently employed to great effect.

In addition, Bowie seemed delighted to the point of giddiness to be back in the market that was the first outside of London to embrace him in 1972. At one point, he even joked he was “born in Philadelphia … you can tell by my accent.”

In all, a return to form by one of the all-time greats. “

click for full article

” The compare-and-contrast early acts set the mood for the headliners: David Bowie, rock’s original chameleon, and space-age whiz kid Moby, who bounced around his multilevel stage much as he bounced from clattering electronica to howling Delta blues.

Bowie, in a black suit and white shirt, looking every bit the Thin White Duke of the mid-’70s, played a dignified career-spanning set that was a crash course for the unsuspecting ravers. His voice was as steely and sinuous as ever, even when taking things down an octave on the show-opening “Life on Mars” and a taut “Ashes to Ashes.” He played seven songs from his new Heathen album; “5:15” with its romantic waves of harmony, and the elegiac “Slip Away” both echoed the spirit of his ’70s glory days.

His guitar foil, the well-preserved Earl Slick, breathed searing fire into a rearranged “Let’s Dance” and set-closing “Ziggy Stardust.” Bowie has avoided both songs in recent years, yet they represent two of the legendary performer’s strongest suits: suave soul and preening glitter-rock.

Only an artist with Moby’s unforced verve and try-anything-once approach to music could follow a performer like Bowie and not look like a chump. Pogoing from guitar to keyboards to congas to turntables, Moby presented a masterful summation of everything the crowd had witnessed earlier.”

click for full article

Notice: We will be upgrading our mail servers during the next 12 hours. During the upgrade (Saturday), users will not be able to access their e-mail.

On Saturday, starting at midnight EST, we will start this upgrade process. A new e-mail server will be put in place to accept new, incoming e-mails. We will then copy the data from the old e-mail server to the new server which will take about 8-12 hours. Your e-mail will be back by 6 p.m. EST

We do anticipate this upgrade will improve email performance. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make these upgrades.

Thanks,
The BowieNet Staff

WHEN
August 1st (8:30)
August 8th (8:30)

All Thursdays

WHERE:
CBGB’s

A BIT ABOUT:
Plucked from the thick-brown-rumblin?n?rollin?-Tina Turner-Chuck Berry-Muddy Waters of the Mississippi River?.arrives ROCK singer/songwriter, KRISTEEN YOUNG.

This native St. Louisan re-introduces ADVENTUROUS rock as only a 1/2 Apache/bible-fed/orphaned child/now non-teen/mid-westerner can. It?s from a far-off distant planet called Missouri and it?s got scars. Kristeen leads her band, KRISTEEN YOUNG & the Low Boys, with a driven, blown-out, guitar-riff piano sound that is equal parts Jerry Lee Lewis/Jimmy Page/Jello Biafra in attitude.

She combines this with a Thomas Dolby meets DMX meets Bowie flavour, then, throws it into a 3 minute/verse-chorus American blender for good measure. This is definitely music from a person sitting in the middle of a continent (no boundaries).

Vocally, she slides just as effortlessly through styles, wielding a 4 octave range?.And, of course, her clothes could only be designed by?her?all 60?s structure gone sliding sideways into that American artery.

Rock and Roll as an ADVENTURE.

Rock and Roll as a BLOODSPORT.

Isn?t it time?

To see it is to believe it.

Be sure to drop bye as many fellow Bnetters will be in attendance as well as the great Tony Visconti, who is rumored to be having a meet and greet after the show. 

…spoke of many powers that he had…

This morning’s Daily Express here in the UK has a rather strange comparative feature that looks at the careers of David Bowie and George Michael. The piece is basically a knives out for George by David Robson, and it is the latest in a long line of features that prove the tabloids are seemingly hell-bent on finishing off the ex Wham! star’s floundering career. Fleet Street is not known for it’s restraint when it comes to kicking a man when he is down.

Using a headline of “Why Bowie is still a star and George is an apology for one”, Mr Robson’s piece seems to have been triggered by the Mercury Music Award nomination for ‘Heathen’ and the relative “failure” of George’s latest controversial single, ‘Shoot The Dog’.

Though I’m not the biggest fan of George Michael’s music, I won’t go into the attacks on him contained within the article…having said that, you all know I blow Bowie’s horn at every opportunity (oooer) so here’s a few of David Robson’s reasons for DB’s thirty plus years of success:

“…For contrast, consider the case of David Bowie, a smarter, cooler, older man who this week was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Awards. The two have things in common. Both reinvented themselves ? Bowie started out plain David Robert Jones, George was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; both have had decades of success; both have worn very short pants on stage. The difference is that Bowie has never got his knickers in a twist. He never apologises, never explains.

Some say that Bowie has been nominated to bring glamour and stature to the list rather than because his new CD, Heathen, demands inclusion (though it was well received). Either way, nobody would disrespect him, a 55-year-old who is 21st-century cool. His concerts this summer were greeted with acclaim and you only had to see the slavering worship of Jonathan Ross the other Friday to appreciate what happens when a man meets a god.

It is hard for a rock star to remain cool for 20 or 30 years. Bowie, always elusive, pretentious, changing, always trying something new, has managed it. His music, which has moved sinuously through the gamut of idioms and styles, is both the most influenced and influential in rock. For years on end it didn’t really work, it didn’t sell. It was out of whack but there was something magical about him, a sort of genius which let people know that, if this twist wasn’t a winner, the next one would be.

As he said in his song The Bewlay Brothers more than 30 years ago, he is “Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian and Caricature”. The beautiful boy and his divine African wife Iman have become the most beautiful middle-aged couple on Earth.”

There is more, but it would be a little tacky of me to continue at George’s expense, so we’ll leave it there. Not that David Robson has anything to say about David Bowie that we didn’t already know.

You’re face to face…

David has suggested I post the above picture of the very enthusiastic audience from Tuesday’s gig at the Tweeter Center in Philadelphia, as he thinks a few of you may recognise yourselves.

Those BowieNetters that found themselves toward the front of the stage that evening, may want to go and check a larger version of this shot taken by Mark Plati that I’ve now posted on the message boards. You can get there by clicking here…if you are in the picture, why not identify yourself on the MBs.

Hot tramp, I love you so…

David Bowie and his band were welcomed to New Jersey last night by more sweltering temperatures and yet another very appreciative audience. Early in the set David made light of the heat by shivering and pretending to keep himself warm.

According to Superfan Simone, he was in playful spirits as usual, and after explaining he was from New York himself, David introduced the individual members of his band, whom he now reffered to as Stella. (stellar…geddit?) He went on to tell the audience that both Mark Plati and Slicky were Italian-Americans from NJ, whose ancestors were all buried under the venue!

The same set as the previous two shows was performed last night, apart from the addition of ‘Changes’ which David explained was to make up for the fact that he had said he would be performing some of his Sixties songs earlier in the show, and that ‘Changes’ was at least a song he had written in the Sixties. Here’s the complete set list:

Life On Mars?
Ashes To Ashes
Cactus
Slip Away
China Girl
Fame
I?ve Been Waiting For You
I Would Be Your Slave
I?m Afraid of Americans
Changes
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
Everyone Says Hi
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust

The tradition of audience participation at these shows culminated in David holding up an envelope that had been thrown onto the stage, with the legend “A LETTER” scrawled on the front of it, during the appropriate line in ‘Everyone Says Hi’. Thanx again to Mr Plati for the pictures in this piece. And while we’re on the subject of Mark Plati photographs…