“The band was altogether.” Picture from The Beacon Theatre by Happyland.
“It’s metamorphosis”
David Bowie played the last show of his current string of seven American dates at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston last night, but while we’re waiting for pictures and reports from that show, here’s some pictures (finally) from the Beacon Theatre in New York and The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. Thanx as always to Mark Plati, and also to BowieNetters, Happyland, Desert Firefly and Anker for all of the pictures in this piece.
“And with each beam, The same old dream.” Bowie bathes in
white light at the Beacon. Pic by Desert Firefly, with sfx by TBB.
Since the initial flush of reviews for the first New York shows, I’ve had no luck in finding any other online accounts, which I guess is quite normal. But, as ever, there are plenty of BowieNetter accounts on the MBs well worth a read, and don’t forget to keep an eye on
Black is the new black, as modelled by The Goombah Three
backstage at The Beacon Theatre. Pic supplied by Mark Plati.
Both the Beacon and Tower shows had an identical setlist to The Bronx show, and here it is:
Sunday
Cactus
Breaking Glass
Fame
Ashes To Ashes
Slip Away
China Girl
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
Starman
Absolute Beginners
I’ve Been Waiting For You
Afraid
Fashion
Be My Wife
Sound And Vision
Rebel Rebel
I’m Afraid Of Americans
Life On Mars?
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
White Light, White Heat
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust
The audience at the Tower. Click for bigger version if you dare!
I’m sure you’ve already read that James Brown was David’s very special guest at The Tower, well, below is the photograph that proves the fact. Eye-witness reports suggest that James looked smaller than most had imagined, and that his performance was wooden… or plastic even!
“Get up offa my knee…” Now that’s what I call Plastic Soul.
JB and DB get aquainted backstage at The Tower Theatre.
Spaceface has managed to sniff out an interesting online piece regarding David Bowie’s association with the Tower Theatre. The article was written by Chuck Darrow for the Courier Post, and you can read the whole thing
The facade of that most historic of venues, The Philadelphia Tower Theatre.
I’ll post anything I get from last night’s show as soon as Mark sends me something. (It’s on its way now.) Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt of a great review of the Bronx show by Cheryl Spielman with an excellent picture from the Brooklyn show (confusingly enough) taken by BowieNetter Anker…hope you don’t mind Anker?
“We’re just here to have fun,” Bowie told the eager-to-oblige audience. Never one to shy away from a bit of role playing, the now retired frontman for the Spiders From Mars revealed that he’d been doing some not-so-serious moonlighting as the leader of Jimmy’s new “house band.” “Those of you who’ve been coming here to see us regularly on a Thursday night at Jimmy’s, over the last couple of months, know that this one has always gone down well with the locals,” he quipped, then delivered a pulsating version of “Breaking Glass,” from “Low.”
“His ever loving face smiles on the whole human race…” A picture from
Brooklyn in the middle of a Bronx review! Picture by BowieNetter, Anker.
Bowie’s vocals soared to operatic proportions on his spare reading of “Life on Mars.” Even more moving was his impassioned performance of “Heroes,” a song that took on new meaning when he performed it at last year’s post-9/11 “Concert for New York.” Originally written about lovers meeting at the Berlin Wall, it now serves as an anthem of hope for this still recovering city.
Bowie closed the 23-song set with a vibrant version of “Ziggy Stardust.” The now 30-year-old song brought home the irony that a man who has spent so many years thinking, writing, and singing about space had delivered a most earthy and unpretentious set of fresh, contemporary songs and cherished classics. But if Ziggy, Major Tom, or even a boy once known as David Jones eventually had to fall to earth, where better to land than smack in the middle of New York?
You can read the whole of this great review
PS – The first person to tell me why I used the lyric quote “It’s metamorphosis” at the top of this piece gets a little prize!