Month: September 2002

Strange fascination, fascinating me…

Rex Ray‘s intriguing exhibition of Bowie inspired artworks that we told you about a couple of months ago, (07/27/02 NEWS: REX RAY WANTS A POSTCARD FROM YOU!) ends today. So if you’re in the San Francisco area right now, do try and get along to FASCINATION – THE BOWIE SHOW at:

Gallery 16
1616 16th Street 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103

A catalogue/book containing the artworks featured in FASCINATION is available at the exhibition, including work by Cliff Hengst, Caitlin Mitchell-Dayton, Gary Indiana, Jim Winters, Jason Mecier, Douglas Coupland, Myriam Santos-Kayda (I’ll be presenting a piece on her ‘Doing Bowie’ project later in the week), Scott Hewicker, Peter Mitchell-Dayton and Rex Ray (herself).

The catalogue also contains small essays by many writers including Doug Coupland, Rick Moody, Eileen Miles, our very own KelmarSuperVixen and this by Rex Ray:

My own discovery of Bowie occurred in 1973 while I was still in high school in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Suddenly, I could hear in Bowie’s music and see in his persona something that was totally strange, and yet seemed so hauntingly familiar, something in this extremity which felt like, dare I say, home. I knew no other Bowie fans, and I never revealed my obsession to my peers. Living in the cultural vacuum of America’s midwest suburbs, I was surrounded by teenage kids who listened only to Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. I knew that becoming a Bowie fan set me further apart from this world in which I had grown up. And I couldn’t wait.

From a distance of nearly 30 years, I can now say that Bowie was the first light that shone under my closet door. Along with Warhol, I can think of no other artist that has held my fascination for so many years.Obviously I am not alone.

This exhibition, book, play and cd of covers are all the result of a drunken conversation I had with friends at an opening about a year ago. In previous years several of us had participated in 2 other “tribute” exhibits in San Francisco, Glen Helfand’s Prince show Pop Life at New Langton Arts in 1993, and Rick Jacobsen and Wayne Smith’s Yoko Ono show, “This is Not Her,” at Kiki in 1995. The idea was to do homage to our beloved icons by both paying tribute and poking fun.

Organizing “Fascination” has shown me how many people also have intensely personal experiences around David Bowie. If pop music is the soundtrack of our lives, Bowie has provided the pivotal moments when the plot twists and the music swells.

-Rex Ray

If you’re quick, there is also a version of the catalogue that contains a free limited edition CD called AFTER LOW, which is basically a reworking of LOW from start to finish, including musicians such as, Matmos, Tom Recchion, The Foibles, The Gentle Leader and obscenely talented BowieNetter Derek Donovan, who has recorded a wonderful version of ‘Be My Wife’ with his outfit LOVE AMONG PUPPETS.

Of course, being the generous chap he is (thanx so very much for the beautiful birthday present luv), Rex Ray has donated five copies of this very limited CD version of the catalogue for a competition right here, right now…. and it’s a very easy one too. Simply name three Bowie CD album covers that Rex Ray has designed. All the usual rules apply.

Send your answer to me at MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.com with a subject line of: “I Want The Fascination Catalogue” – Please note this is not my BowieNet account as BowieNet e-mail is down right now. The competition will end about this time next Monday, and I’ll announce the winners later that same day.

David Bowie announced today that he will wrap up nearly four months of national and overseas touring?encompassing stadiums, arenas and amphitheaters?with seven truly intimate shows in the Northeast. Read the press release for the full skinny and some interesting quotes from the press.

Starting at 10:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday, October 2nd, a special pre-sale will be available to BowieNetters through Ticketmaster. This pre sale will continue through 5:00 p.m. EST Thursday, October 3rd. Tickets will then go on sale to the public Friday, October 4th.

The 7 new dates, as well as BowieNet pre-sale ticket limits are as follows:

DATE	CITY	VENUE	Pre-Sale Begins	Pre-Sale Ends	Public On-Sale	Pre sale Ticket Limit
11-Oct	Staten Island	The Music Hall at Snug Harbor	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	2
12-Oct	Brooklyn	St. Anne’s Warehouse	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	2
16-Oct	Queens	Colden Center at Queens College	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	8
17-Oct	Bronx	Jimmy’s Bronx Cafe	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	4
20-Oct	New York	Beacon Theater	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	4
21-Oct	Philadelphia	Tower Theatre	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	4
23-Oct	Boston	Orpheum Theater	2-Oct	3-Oct	4-Oct	4

Watch this space for the latest info on these dates as well as the special code you’ll need for the presale.

Blue, blue, electric blue, That’s the colour of my suit…

In the absence of any reviews just yet, here’s the incredible 29-song set list and a couple of Mark Plati pictures from tonight’s show in Munich. We’ll hopefully have something of a little more substance for you shortly.

Life On Mars?
Ashes To Ashes
Look Back In Anger
Survive
Breaking Glass
Cactus
China Girl
Slip Away
Absolute Beginners
Alabama Song
Speed of Life
Be My Wife
Fame
I?m Afraid of Americans
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
I?ve Been Waiting For You
Afraid
Fashion
Rebel Rebel
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
Sunday
Moonage Daydream
A New Career In A New Town
Everyone says ‘Hi’
Sound and Vision
Hallo Spaceboy
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust

DAVID BOWIE announced today that he will wrap up nearly four months of national and overseas touring?encompassing stadiums, arenas and amphitheaters?with seven truly intimate shows in the Northeast.

Dubbed the ?New York City Marathon Tour,? BOWIE will perform 5 different nights in 5 different venues in each of New York?s 5 boroughs. In following the route of the New York City Marathon, BOWIE will commence the tour October 11 in Staten Island. The trek will then move over the Verrazano Bridge to Brooklyn, down the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge heading north into The Bronx, and back across the Hamilton Avenue Bridge to Manhattan. The tour will conclude just two weeks before the running of the actual New York City Marathon.

?The last time I came through the Northeast it was on the Area 2 Tour,? said BOWIE. ?We played in amphitheaters which are usually a good distance from the major cities. Marathon courses are strategically planned to bring the runners to the streets. I would like to repay the fans that traveled so far to see me by bringing my show to them. But most importantly, I could get home from all the gigs on roller skates.?

With venues ranging in size from 300 to 2,900, the fans will get to see BOWIE as never before.

After the whirlwind tour of New York City, BOWIE will perform one-night-only shows at Philadelphia?s Tower Theatre (October 21) and Boston?s Orpheum Theatre (October 23). Both venues have capacities under 3,000, giving BOWIE fans a unique intimate evening like they?ve never had before.

Tickets go on sale Friday, October 4. There will be a special pre-sale of tickets to BowieNet members, his online community at davidbowie.com.

These shows will come directly on the heels of DAVID?s in-progress overseas trip, which includes an October 2 performance at London?s Carling Apollo (formerly the Hammersmith Odeon), site of BOWIE?s final ZIGGY concert in 1973.

BOWIE?s performances have been hailed for their blend of classics and songs from his critically acclaimed HEATHEN album (ISO/Columbia), which achieved 15 top 15 debuts around the world, including the U.S. and earned him a Mercury Prize nomination in the U.K. The album features the song ?Everyone Says Hi,? which will be released to radio in America in early October.

Here are some recent live quotes from the press:

?BOWIE?seemed every bit as rejuvenated on stage as he does on his new Heathen album. Equally important, the six songs from the new album held their own in that classy company?reassurance that BOWIE remains a vital artist who?s not depending on the oldies to hold fans? attention.?
–Robert Hilburn, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 8/15/02

?His impressive performance proved that BOWIE is still a performer to be reckoned with and also made a case for Heathen, as tunes such as ?Slip Away? and ?Cactus? held their own beside ?Breaking Glass? and ?Heroes.??
–Steven Mirkin, DAILY VARIETY, 8/15/02

?DAVID BOWIE has been putting on some of the best shows of his recent career.?
–Isaac Guzman, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 8/5/02

??a hot set of his own that deftly combined classics, newer tunes and a few obscure album cuts? He sounded sensational, as did his tight backing band? Newer tunes such as the winsome acoustic pop number ?Everyone Says Hi??fit in with ease.?
–Sarah Rodman, BOSTON HERALD, 8/4/02

The ?New York City Marathon Tour? dates:

Fri 10/11 Staten Island The Music Hall at Snug Harbor
Sat 10/12 Brooklyn St. Anne?s Warehouse
Wed 10/16 Queens Queens College Golden Center
Thu 10/17 Bronx Jimmy’s Bronx Cafe
Sun 10/20 Manahattan Beacon Theatre
Mon 10/21 Philadelphia The Tower Theatre
Wed 10/23 Boston Orpheum Theatre

I’m a dude, Dad

The latest edition of MOJO (Oct 2002) has ardent Bowie fan Boy George selecting the record which changed his life. The full page article is illustrated with the beautiful picture above, and the record the Boy selects is ‘Hunky Dory’, which MOJO describes thus:-

‘Hunky Dory’ was Bowie’s first masterpiece of song-writing, poise and vision, invigorated with both brave-new-world glee and apocalyptic despair. It was also the first appearance of the yet-to-be christened Spiders From Mars: their band leader Ziggy Stardust was about to fall to earth, and make the children boogie.

George says:-

‘Hunky Dory’ was the one.. mainly because of ‘Kooks’. … I developed the idea that Bowie was my father.. I wanted to meet Bowie. I wanted to be Bowie… The album as a whole is so unusual, so far removed from anything you heard on the radio. It’s so complete, it all fits together. At the same time, there’s no logic to it – the term I use is ‘avant-no-regarde’…

‘Quicksand’ is beautiful, and ‘Fill Your Heart’ too… It’s such a joyous record….

I’ve probably bought 50 copies of ‘Hunky Dory’ – you’re on tour and really need to hear it, then you give it away to someone who hasn’t heard it. I’ve got friends around the world as obsessive about Bowie as me. We have competitions to see who can remember the words best. I sometimes forget my own, but never Bowie’s!

:))

You’ve really made the grade

I know those of you who weren’t able to attend our BowieNet wedding last Saturday have been looking forward to seeing a photograph of the happy couple on their big day.. Don’t they look lovely! 🙂

Lindsay told us:-

The day was wonderful and went without a hitch of any significance.

Linda and I love each other so much. Linda was a beautiful bride and will always be my beautiful wife.

I wrote a poem to go with the wedding day picture.

We walk on a cloud

In perfect weather

We walk on clouds

We have time

We have time for each other

In perfect weather

Our day is bathed by the sun

Our love unafraid

Not hidden beneath a shroud

In perfect weather

We walk on clouds

I’m choked here.. Lovely, eh?

Lindsay and Linda’s alliance has also produced one of the nicest fan sites on BowieNet, which you can see at Poems For BowieNet.

Thanks so much for sharing your day with us you two.

:))

Chilly Down (in Hammersmith)…

Thousands of Bowie fans brought a bit of excitement to the streets of Hammersmith this morning when they queued (many overnight) for tickets for DB’s show at the Carling Apollo next Wednesday. Though there were some ugly scenes early on, caused by equally ugly ticket touts, (sorry to hear of your distress Paul and Michelle) it seems that most of the BowieNetters there came away with what they wanted.

I braved the bitter chilly elements for some considerable time* in the early hours of the morning, having arrived around 2:00am to get a few pictures, and chat with a few BowieNetters… or at least to have my ear bent, and rightly so! };-) Hallo to those of you I did meet, Martyn, Wendy, MARK, Rob (or was it Les…sorry always confuse you two), Trevor, aka Queen Bitch, and a few more whose names I didn’t catch. Sorry to have missed a few others of you that I would have liked to have met…hallo Zuzu, Lizsk2 and all the other BNetters that were present.

On a serious note, it really was very touching to see BowieNetters queuing overnight for tickets to give to other fans, even though many of them had already been successful in getting tickets for themselves over the phone earlier. We are all proud of your selflessness and generosity. Sad to see that there is at least one BNetter trying to profit out of the situation, though thankfully, goodness prevails.

While we’re on the subject of goodness, Zuzu has produced a brilliant Hammersmith page where people can go check out anything related to Wednesday’s show, including a list of people who still need tickets, details of when and where to meet beforehand, transport, local information, competitions and more. Thanx so much for that Zuzu, see you in the Old T(r)out pub! };-)

You can view bigger versions of some of these pictures on the MBs, In the meantime, keep your eye on the news, message boards and Zuzu’s page for any further developments.

Meet & Greet Winners

Speaking of further developements, two BowieNetters that didn’t need to queue for tickets, seeing as how they already have them, are the winners of our Meet & Greet competition, tgwtmh and Kisch. They have been informed of their win, and our congratulations go out to them and both their lucky guests.

For those still interested, the answer to the competition (09/22/02 NEWS: BOWIENET HAMMERSMITH MEET & GREET COMPETITION) was either ‘Shapes Of Things’ or ‘I Wish You Would’. Both songs appeared on David Bowie’s Pin-Ups album and both had been recorded by Jeff Beck’s former group, The Yardbirds. And of course, it was the wide-trousered Jeff who played as a guest of Ziggy and The Spiders at Hammersmith Odeon (now the Carling Apollo) on July 3rd 1973.

This question clearly foxed a few of you as 25% of the answers I received were incorrect.

*Actually, it was almost warm and I was only there for about an hour…well, do you want drama or not!?

Quand il est Bonn, il est vraiment bon*…

Sorry for the lateness of this posting, but I’ve been searching, unsuccessfully, for some reviews of last night’s David Bowie show in Bonn. So, instead, here are a few pictures from last night courtesy of Mark Plati, though I’m not sure who took the first two pictures that he’s actually in?!

I’m sure most of you have already seen these, but just in case you missed ’em, here are some member reviews from the MBs, courtesy of Grace3000, Regina and Revilo… hope you lot didn’t mind me highliting your work here?

Here’s last night’s set list:

Life On Mars?
Ashes To Ashes
Look Back In Anger
Survive
Breaking Glass
Cactus
China Girl
Slip Away
Fame
I?m Afraid of Americans
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
I?ve Been Waiting For You
Afraid
Fashion
Rebel Rebel
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
Sunday
I Would Be Your Slave
Moonage Daydream
A New Career In A New Town
Changes
Starman
Hallo Spaceboy
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust

Here’s to Munich tomorrow and a good hangover cure for those of you that spent too long at the Oktoberfest… I can just imagine Chas and Jesus John in a pair of lederhosen, though I’d rather not! };-)

*Yeah I know it’s a bit clever clever, but somebody must get it? First person to send me the song title gets a four track ‘Heathen’ promo.

They’ve all gone to look for America…

Good news for those of you in the US that couldn’t make it to Europe for David’s current “Searching For Jackalopes Tour”. Although we can’t give 100% confirmation on this right now, you’ll be pleased to learn it does look likely that David Bowie will be playing a number of intimate shows in the US from the middle of October. These shows are expected in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York’s five boroughs.

We anticipate some “official” word on this next week, along with a two-day pre-sale window for BowieNet members. Please keep an eye on the site for more definite information next week.