“You’re the blessed, we’re the Spiders from Mars”
Today is the 43rd anniversary of a legendary date on Bowie’s first American tour in the autumn/fall of 1972 which produced the first, and one of the most popular live Bowie bootlegs of all time.
October 20 1972 was the first of two Bowie dates at the Civic Auditorium, in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by local station KMET-FM, and this broadcast became the source of the original bootlegs.
Santa Monica was released officially by EMI thirty six years later in 2008 as Live Santa Monica ’72. It’s a wonderful snapshot of a slightly nervous but confident Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, with a well-honed Spiders From Mars augmented by brilliant new boy, Mike Garson.
As a Bowie fan you probably know the album well, but that’s no reason not to go listen again right now.
#DavidBowieSantaMonica #SantaMonica72 #ZiggyStardust