“The return of the Thin White Duke”
David Bowie’s 1976 ISOLAR tour of North America and Europe in support of the Station To Station album, commenced on February 2 at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, concluding at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, France, on May 18 the same year, close to seventy shows later.
Variously known as the Station to Station and White Light tours, it is now referred to as the ISOLAR tour, as reflected by the title of the official tour programme. (The 1978 World Tour is now referred to as the ISOLAR 2 tour)
Bowie’s band for the shows (collectively known as Raw Moon) consisted of: Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar), Stacy Heydon (lead guitar), Dennis Davis (drums and percussion), George Murray (bass) and Tony Kaye (keyboards and synthesisers). Bowie himself also played saxophone on occasion.
Our montage shows images from contact sheets of that first night taken by Andy Kent and a pass from the opening night, along with the Raw Moon bass drum logo head cover.
The colour image is the cover of the last publication from Cygnet Committee: The Dawn Of The Duke – David Bowie in Vancouver, 1976.
This volume features rare and exclusive Andy Kent shots from rehearsals and the opening show, along with his recollections of both.
The Dawn Of The Duke also has the usual reviews and memorabilia, with accompanying text by Andy Barding.
Speaking of Andy, he sent us in these words from Stacy Heydon (top left in our montage), written this very day, regarding that opening night all those years ago:
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“It all became real when I sat on the stage watching them all file into the venue. We’d sound checked at 3ish and Buford Jones had the house audio dialled in. We were confident and well-rehearsed.
It was this 21-year-old’s second time performing in front of tens of thousands of people and I could barely wait for the Dali film to end, and for me to fire up the Marshalls and get the show started, with my feedback/intro to Station to Station.
For the first minute or so, standing there solo doin’ my thang, my knees would have been shaking like Paris Hilton’s at a spelling bee. But when you have a wingman like Dave, it’s pretty damned easy to calm the eff down and let his greatness make us all look good… Just as he’d done with everyone he’d worked with countless times before and after. It was an absolute honor sharing the stage with this great man… Cheers! – Stacy Heydon”
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Check out the Cygnet Committee page to order your copy.
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