“He kicked it into high gear with an opening fusillade of old favorites–‘Quicksand,’ the Velvet Underground’s ‘Waiting For The Man,’ ‘Jean Genie,’ ‘Panic In Detroit’–but he then reversed direction and built the heart of the set around his newest music. That’s something that few of his contemporaries are willing to do during a summer touring season increasingly given over to nostalgia…His artistic reinvigoration was reflected in the performance, whose sonic force, richness and dynamism captured the complexity and inventiveness of the new material–which brings BOWIE’s preoccupation’s with technology, alienation and spiritual fragmentation to bear on ’90s culture–and enlarged it to a grand scale.” LOS ANGELES TIMES Richard Cromelin 9/12/97
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“He performed six songs from EARTHLING in the 21-song show, and they were among the freshest and liveliest of the lot. He mixed new songs like ‘I’m Afraid of Americans,’ ‘Looking For Satellites,” “Dead Man Walking” and “Little Wonder” with reworked versions of some of his best-known songs–‘Jean Genie’ done as a blues, ‘Stay,’ slowed down to a syrupy flow, ‘Under Pressure’ given a brilliantly stark treatment with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey nailing the vocal part originally sung by Freddie Mercury…The superb audio production transformed the five-piece band into a glistening glass highway of sound…At the center of all this stood BOWIE, chipper and eager to please…Under the close inspection afforded by the Warfield, he seemed to glow and grow stronger as the two-hour show went on.” SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Joel Selvin 9/11/97
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“Backed by a talented, experienced four-piece band…BOWIE balanced his newer material with plenty of classic, some of them reworked but all delivered with force and pride.” SEATTLE TIMES Patrick MacDonald 9/8/97
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“Long adept at taking the nascent pop trends and adapting them to his own ends, BOWIE is now mining the various dance music subgenres known collectively as electronica, using the machinelike propulsion of digital samples, drum loops and synthesized sonic atmospheres to bring new excitement and cultural relevance to his big bag of rock ‘n’ roll tricks…the approach works well, even when he’s adapting older songs to newer methods. Sunday night’s two-hour show included plenty of classic BOWIE, some in electrified clothing.” THE PORTLAND OREGONIAN Marty Hughley 9/10/97
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“Rock’s grand chameleon has returned as a stripped-down rocker with a rhythm-heavy show that coalesces bright spots from the glam and disco days with his current techno forays…BOWIE’s great success here is stepping through all the electronic bleats and crunching with elements of humanity.” DAILY VARIETY Phil Gallo 9/12/97
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“At 50, BOWIE rocks harder than guys half his age. He continues to stretch in all musical directions, effortlessly incorporating techno, dance and rock riffs into his music. A commanding presence onstage, BOWIE worked the crowd through a handful of numbers from his latest release, Earthling…The show’s highlight was a powerful version of the BOWIE-Queen collaboration ‘Under Pressure,’ which nearly stopped the show.” HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Marc Pollack 912-14/97
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“His excellent two-hour set mixed beloved classics with more adventurous new songs.” SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS Brad Kava 9/10/97
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“BOWIE is close to being a few steps ahead of his contemporaries (and progeny) once again. Further greatness lies just around the corner.” THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (CA) Ben Wener 9/15/97
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“If you have tickets to the DAVID BOWIE concerts next week, don’t sell them for whatever the scalpers offer. If you don’t have tickets, offer big money. BOWIE’s concert Tuesday night at the Warfield is right up there with the top shows of the year. The chameleon can rock. BOWIE could sell out much larger venues such as the Shoreline Amphitheatre without a moment’s notice. Seeing him at the Warfield, with its 3,300-person capacity, may be a once-in-a-lifetime treat. You get to watch his face as he laughs through ‘Fashion,’ striking poses with self-irony that would be lost if projected on a large video screen. You get to watch him doing his little, shake your hips, mini-BOWIE-dances that still catch the eye…What seemed most evident about Tuesday’s show was that BOWIE was having a whole lot of fun.” SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER Craig Marine 9/11/97
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“He not only had confidence, BOWIE was confidence, charming the crowd silly with his passionate belting, toothy grins and cockney between song asides…Backed by a wailing four-piece band starring his Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels and ‘Aladdin Sane’ keyboardist Mike Garson. BOWIE galloped through mostly new material including the infectious ‘Little Wonder,’ the revelatory aging manifesto ‘Dead Man Walking,’ and the sultry ‘Seven Years in Tibet,’ during which he traded his 12-string acoustic guitar for a saxophone.” NEWS PILOT (South Bay, CA) Corey Levitan 9/13/97
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“To simply say DAVID BOWIE tore it up Friday night lacks the eloquence sufficient to convey how awesome he was…In what can be described as the ultimate surprise event, fans won ‘Blind Date’ tickets in a raffle to see an unnamed performer at an undisclosed venue…When the curtain rose, the place went up for grabs. The emotion from the pleasantly shocked music lovers turned this show into a love-in…And don’t think he didn’t feel it. Feeding off the energy, BOWIE displayed genuine joy…as he effortlessly pulled together material from his prolific career.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Kevin Williams 9/22/97
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“DAVID BOWIE is suddenly hip yet again…he proved during his eclectic two-hour, 22-song set, rock music has come full circle once more, and rediscovered BOWIE…Instead of meandering aimlessly through a predictable set of greatest hits, BOWIE instead built historical bridges that united rock’s past and future…Forget that ‘rock’s elder statesman’ stuff. By the time BOWIE concluded by leading a sing-along coda to ‘All The Young Dudes,’ it was apparent that musically, he fits in as much now as ever. Smiling, dancing and laughing the entire evening, BOWIE’s clearly at his peak when he tries to please himself.” CONTRA COSTA TIMES (Walnut Creek, CA–outside San Francisco) Dave McCoy 9/11/97
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“BOWIE’s no longer the young dude, but the currency of his new music and the relevance of his older stuff make him a still-formidable performer.” CHICAGO TRIBUNE Greg Kot 9/22/97
