I’ve been waiting for you, And you’ve been coming to me…
A Reality Tour returned to Canada last night for a sold out show at the Pengrowth Saddledome, in Calgary. David and the band performed a twenty-five song set list which included the Neil Young cover, I’ve Been Waiting For You, only the second airing of the song during the tour so far.
Here’s the setlist, followed by snippets from four reviews, with links to the full online articles.
Calgary January 21st 2004
01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 Fame
05 Cactus
06 All The Young Dudes
07 China Girl
08 I’ve Been Waiting For You
09 Days
10 The Man Who Sold The World
11 Hallo Spaceboy
12 Sunday
13 Under Pressure
14 Life On Mars?
15 Panic In Detroit
16 Ashes To Ashes
17 White Light, White Heat
18 I’m Afraid Of Americans
19 “Heroes”
(Encore)
20 The Loneliest Guy
21 Blue Jean
22 Hang On To Yourself
23 Five Years
24 Suffragette City
25 Ziggy Stardust
————————————————————————————————————-
It was David Bowie?s Sound + Vision Tour, which, the icon promised, was the last time he would haul out his two decade?s worth of recorded rock history. Guess what? He lied. And guess what else? Nobody cares. Certainly not any of the 13,000 fans, old and new, who showed up for his return engagement Jan. 21 in support of his latest release, Reality.
For many, it was the first time hearing live versions of hits such as Rebel Rebel, Fame, Under Pressure, Heroes, Suffragette City, and Ziggy Stardust. But then again, so bloody brilliant a performer is Bowie that he can make all of those songs seem like it?s the very first time you?re hearing them. It?s a testament to how good an entertainer he is, and it?s the reason he?s lasted so long.
————————————————————————————————————-
CALGARY — Amid the sweaty halls of eternal rock and roll, David Bowie has been around long enough to witness the movement’s original and total mainstreaming, but also give it a solid kick in the butt during several keys points of its stagnation.
A chameleon’s chameleon, the now 56-year-old can finally look back on the total volume of his work, concentrate on his most sinister and icon-busting moments, and deliver them to stadiums with the punk energy of a child of 14. Which is exactly what he did last night at Calgary’s Saddledome, full of punks, goths, glam girls and grandmas. Sorry about your luck, Deadmonton.
It was a fierce night of weird hits, more about songs like the Nirvana-covered The Man Who Sold the World than Let’s Dance, which he left off the set list. why not? Thin as ever and with a mean grin and tongue, Bowie’s poetry remains deadly given the context of the modern, paranoid world. For each upbeat classic like Heroes he sung in his sleeveless, New York rocker outfit, there was an I’m Afraid of Americans, a Life on Mars or a Panic in Detroit, that cruel, violent anarchy anthem from Aladdin Sane that still makes me want to put my fist through bus-shelter windows. Yeah!
————————————————————————————————————-
One thing David Bowie has never been is predictable. The man who sang of “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes,” all those years ago has more than fulfilled the tune’s promise throughout his nearly 40-year career. Whether playing the role of a glam-rock alien or a slick MTV star, among his many incarnations, Bowie’s career has largely been an ongoing work of performance art.
So, what Bowie did Calgary get Wednesday night at the Saddledome? A no-frills performer for the most part, which wasn’t disappointing, because the man is nearly as charismatic as the many identities he has assumed. And, as he proved, his tunes — past and present — stand up just fine without the theatre.
Some say rock is a game for the young. They’re usually quite right. Wednesday night, however, Bowie knocked that type of agist thinking out. Flat out.
————————————————————————————————————-
Finally, it seems the Calgary Herald had two writers at the show. I’m posting the whole of this second one, even though Nick Lewis, who wrote the piece, didn’t seem to notice that David played I’ve Been Waiting For You, and it would also appear he can’t tell his Disco Kings from his Loneliest Guys… However, it’s still worth a read to get a bit of a flavour of last night’s show…
————————————————————————————————————-
Here’s a song-by-song look at David Bowie’s show at the Saddledome:
1) Rebel Rebel: The 57- year-old Bowie, who has seemingly reversed the aging process, struts out in a tattered black tailcoat, red T-shirt, worn black jeans and frayed Chuck Taylor sneakers.
2) New Killer Star: “Calgary, you crazy mother (expletives)!” Mick ‘n’ Keef are both 61, but David, er, Mr. Bowie, looks like he’s too young to have heard of them as he shrugs his cascading blond hair out of his face.
3) Reality: It’s a shame everyone in attendance is sitting so quietly at a rock show Rolling Stone critics have called the No. 2 best tour of 2003 (Radiohead was No. 1). You’d think they were at Yanni.
4) Fame: Audience livens up as they recognize a classic. Mr. Bowie delivers with surgical precision.
5) Cactus: A Pixies cover off Heathen, the six-piece band backing him sound tight.
6) All The Young Dudes: “Well, here’s a singalong for you.” Even people who didn’t think they knew the song sing along at the brilliant chorus.
7) China Girl: “That was really good. I was really impressed. I was so impressed I’m going to let you sing along to this next song.” He then stops after the intro and says, “That was (expletive) tragic.”
8) Days: Mr. Bowie has now stripped to a black sleeveless T-shirt, looking like a kid you’d shoo away from outside the convenience store.
9) The Man Who Sold The World: “When I first came to Canada in 1970, this was one of the songs on the radio. I’d like to play that for you now.” As good as Kurt Cobain’s 1993 cover is, the original is better.
10) Hallo Spaceboy: So, Elton John is knighted, but David Bowie is not. Apparently he hasn’t made enough rubbish songs about feeling the love tonight.
11) Sunday: A slow, percolating ballad after the effervescence of the previous song. Before the next song he says “I haven’t caused a stampede so far tonight. I’d like to rectify that.”
12) Under Pressure: To the extreme, he rocks a mic like a vandal, lights up the stage to wax a chump like a candle. Ice, ice. . .
13) Life On Mars?: Fellow Herald reviewer Heath McCoy squeals with delight and tells everyone it’s his favourite Bowie song. He hasn’t been like this since the Backstreet Boys.
14) Panic in Detroit: Every Bowie pose is worth a photograph, as he shows again here.
15) Ashes To Ashes: Another tune that has the audience cheering from the first recognizable note.
16) White Light, White Heat: Flashes of white light shock and spill over the stage during the song.
17) I’m Afraid of Americans: I squeal with delight and tell everyone it’s my favourite Bowie song. I haven’t been like this since the Backstreet Boys. Blades of red, white and blue light burst as Mr. Bowie whispers effectively, “God is an American.”
18) Heroes: “Well, every story has two sides,” Mr. Bowie says as he plays a softer version of the song, as people stand and applaud.
ENCORE
19) Bring Me The Disco King: All of the Saddledome bathed in black light, Mr. Bowie stands in a cone of white light softly balladeering.
20) Blue Jean: “We just started playing this two nights ago, so bear with us.”
21) Hang On To Yourself: A punked-up version of the song. In the Sex Pistols sense, not the Ashton Kutcher.
22) Five Years: Five orange spotlights frame the singer as he hugs an acoustic guitar.
23) Suffragette City: Audience gets up to dance and sing along. Everyone screams “Wham-bam, thank you m’am!”
24) Ziggy Stardust: Great closer for a great show as audience gives Mr. Bowie a standing ovation.
————————————————————————————————————-
The tour continues in Vancouver on Saturday.