Denver days were the days were the days boys…
David Bowie played within the intimate confines of the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver last night, and judging by the online reviews, it was another special night for the people of Denver, and the Bowie fans that made the effort to travel to the 3,600 capacity venue.
No new additions to the 29-song setlist, not that that dampened the enthusiasm of the four reviewers below, from whose online pieces I have posted snippets with links to the full reviews…
Denver January 19th 2004
01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 She’ll Drive The Big Car
05 Hang On To Yourself
06 Cactus
07 All The Young Dudes
08 China Girl
09 Fantastic Voyage
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 Days
12 The Man Who Sold The World
13 Hallo Spaceboy
14 Sunday
15 Under Pressure
16 Life On Mars?
17 Changes
18 Fame
19 Never Get Old
20 Panic In Detroit
21 Ashes To Ashes
22 White Light, White Heat
23 I’m Afraid Of Americans
24 “Heroes”
(Encore)
25 Bring Me The Disco King
26 Blue Jean
27 Five Years
28 Suffragette City
29 Ziggy Stardust
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Sometimes fans just have to stare at a musician and wonder to themselves “How do they do it?” It’s hard even for musicians to explain where their inspiration comes from. At times it seems as much a mystery to them as it is to the rest of us.
After a bit of a lull that still produced some notable work, David Bowie has found himself at another creative peak. He’s 57, he’s more than three decades into his career, yet he’s able to leave fans ecstatic and nearly speechless. Bowie’s explanation is that his touring band is simply playing very well at the moment.
That’s undeniably true, as Monday night’s blasting show at the Fillmore Auditorium showed. But it hardly explains how his latest work has flourished. New songs such as New Killer Star and the gorgeous Days stand out as highlights in a concert that featured the best of his 35 years of hits.
The best part about having strong new material is that Bowie’s enthusiasm is infectious; even the songs he has played a million times are infused with new energy. Bowie is exploring not only his hits, but the more obscure corners of his catalog.
No one seemed to object. The concert here is one of the few small venues Bowie is doing on his Reality tour, so the 3,600 who packed in had to work hard to get tickets, which sold out in minutes weeks ago.
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Lasting 30-plus years in the music industry is nearly impossible. Most who have endured the decades did so by relying on nostalgia and not pushing what got them there in the first place, and the resulting situation is sticky, especially when seeing these acts “Live in Concert.”
The musicians play what made them famous in the ’70s while occasionally, almost shamed, sneaking in a new track every now and then. Try watching Peter Frampton live. It’s saddening. It makes you question his relevance and your taste. But this is what makes David Bowie so extraordinary.
He owned your world with the art rock of “Space Oddity” in 1969, and 35 years later he’s standing on the stage playing brand-new material that is as exciting, if not more, than the music that served as your Bowie 101. It’s exhilarating and frightening – yet not all that surprising, given that Bowie has spent his career jacking trends and bucking popular thought.
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On Monday night at the Fillmore Auditorium, Bowie took the stage as himself, both literally and figuratively: there were no appearances by Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke or any other of the rocker’s mythical musical disguises.
And after years of genre-hopping, Bowie’s all but abandoned his dalliances with drum ‘n’ bass, new wave, blue-eyed soul and industrial sounds. The once shiftless rocker has, over the course of his last couple of records, honed in on a mature, art-rock sound that can be every bit as captivating as anything he’s done.
Playing to a sold-out and visibly ecstatic crowd, Bowie ? in phenomenal voice and backed by a crack band ? offered a flawless, career-spanning evening of contrasts.
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David Bowie marries music and theater every time he steps on stage. He can?t help himself. So, I was curious to see what character he would inhabit for a sold-out audience at the Fillmore Auditorium on Monday night.
Bowie hopped on stage in low-slung black jeans and a tight black T-shirt (although, he couldn?t resist adding a bandana around his neck for flair). Looking like a 16-year-old punk with his skinny legs and blonde locks, Bowie launched into a lean rendition of 1974?s ?Rebel, Rebel.?
…Just when the show seemed to have climaxed, the place absolutely exploded on ?I?m Afraid of Americans.? Bowie growled his paranoia over the muscular guitar and the crowd went ballistic (despite the indictment of our country). The band rocked it out so hard that it physically hurt on the chorus. ?Americans? was five minutes of rock ?n? roll bliss.
Beam me up, Ziggy. It doesn?t get much better than that on this planet.
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The tour continues in Calgary tomorrow… wherever the hell that is! };-)