Sweet is the night, bright light destroys me…
While I’m waiting for a definitely 100 per cent correct set list from San Jose, (Grrrrrr) here’s some stuff regarding Sunday’s Seattle show.
Firstly, as I mentioned yesterday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer web site stated that David “borrowed sunglasses from a fan because of the bright spotlights at the Paramount during his performance”.
There were maybe three spotlights trained on me in a tiny little theatre. So close they were really hurting my eyes. I asked the crowd if anyone had a pair of shades and a young lady was kind enough to let me have her pair. The lighting guy got the hint and they reduced the light power down to one spotlight.
BowieNetter, webwolf, also mentioned the sunglasses in his account of David spotting a girl dressed as a bunny rabbit. Here follows webwolf’s brief recollection of events:
There was also a ‘rabbit’ sitting in the front row, which became kind of a running joke for the evening. To paraphrase David “I know it isn’t all the drugs I used to do, or these shades I’m wearing, but there is a rabbit sitting in the front row. And don’t think I didn’t see you last night in Vancouver!!!”
It transpires that said ‘rabbit’ was actually BowieNetter Isabelle_Guns. BowieNetters can read Isabell’s moving story on the
Seattle January 25th 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 A New Career In A New Town
11 Breaking Glass
12 Be My Wife
13 Always Crashing In The Same Car
14 The Man Who Sold The World
15 Hallo Spaceboy
16 Sunday
17 Under Pressure
18 Life On Mars?
19 Panic In Detroit
20 Ashes To Ashes
21 White Light, White Heat
22 I’m Afraid Of Americans
23 “Heroes”
(Encore)
24 Five Years
25 Suffragette City
26 Ziggy Stardust
Here’s a couple of snippets from reviews of the Seattle show with links to the full pieces… Is there anybody on the planet that doesn’t think this tour is just about the bloody best thing that ever there was?
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A piece of the rock ‘n’ roll firmament fell onto the Paramount stage Sunday night. Those who witnessed it came away with the reassurance that the fountain of youth flows in the magic of music. At least if your name is David Bowie.
For more than two hours, this Dorian Gray of rock’s aristocracy held the sold-out audience in sway with a boyish charisma that has grown more commanding with time. Thirty years separated “Rebel Rebel” and “New Killer Star,” the first two of 27 songs performed, but they went down like water from the same well.
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Now that’s what I call a rock star!
Forty years after his first recordings, David Bowie has not lost any of his charisma, charm or sex appeal. At 57, he is still every inch a superstar, still brimming with style and panache, although his youthful rebelliousness has been replaced by cool sophistication and utter confidence.
He sported a huge, toothy smile throughout a two-hour set. You could see the twinkle in his eyes from 40 rows back. He was having fun, and so was the capacity crowd.
Bowie remains the most seductive of rock stars. He charmed and teased the audience, especially the mostly young, wildly energetic fans clustered at the lip of the stage. He saluted some tour followers by name, borrowed a pair of shades from someone, invited everyone on a date, let the crowd sing while he listened, and talked to us like we were in his living room.
The set was a celebration of his whole body of work. He featured some of his biggest hits, songs from his impressive new “Reality” album, covers from a variety of sources, and obscure songs from his past.
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I’ll post the San Jose set list as soon as I have it. David Bowie’s A Reality Tour continues in Las Vegas on Friday… See ya there!