It was a day in that blue month September… Erm, and March…
There’s a great four page photo feature as this month’s FLASHBACK in the November edition of
In the piece, photographer
As you all know, David played keyboards on this tour and I was lucky enough to catch the show and ‘meet’ Bowie before and after the March 7th show at the Rainbow. (03.07.2002 SNIPPET: 25 YEARS AGO TODAY – BLAMMO MEETS BOWIE!)
Gus also talks about The Vibrators being the support act and mentions that Bowie and Iggy came and had a chat with him and the band before the show.
There is a shot of The Vibrators in the photo-spread too, but I’ve obscured it with a colour picture, which was the first ever snap I took of DB as he exited the stage door at The Rainbow that very night.
So I can confirm that Bowie did have on the shirt that he is pictured wearing in Gus Stewart’s shots in the UNCUT piece.
However, all of the pictures of Iggy are not only from a different night but a completely different tour!
Though Bowie wore different tops throughout The Idiot Tour, (the checked shirt was a favourite) as far as I can tell, Iggy pretty much stuck to bare torso, blue jeans and the low-slung leather belt for the duration.
The shots of Iggy in this UNCUT feature are actually from one of two more shows at The Rainbow later in the year during The Lust For Life Tour, by which time Bowie was busy elsewhere and no longer in the band.
I was at the show that the Iggy pictures were taken at too. It was either September 30th or October 1st, 1977…can’t remember which…and The Adverts supported. Which was a nice surprise after The Vibrators earlier in the year.
The pictures in UNCUT are from the night I attended as I can remember they were also used in reviews of the show at the time. Iggy had now expanded his wardrobe to include knee pads, a horse’s tail and a German helmet. He complimented the look with crudely painted wavy lines down both arms and took to sitting in a child’s chair at the front of the stage.
The theatrical effect combined with the music was mesmerising, and these shows along with two Iggy performances the next year at the Music Machine in Camden, (when I met Bowie again and Eno the previous night and where Iggy dressed in black leather jacket, leotard, fishnets and stilettos) remain among my very favourite shows of all time.
Anyway, if you’re reading this Gus, I’ll bet you can’t find any shots among your negatives of Iggy dressed as he is above, while David Bowie plays keyboards on the same stage.
Sorry UNCUT, but you were never going to get that one past us. 😉