“I’m not happy about this wind…look at my hair.”
David Bowie in Nimes. Picture © Philippe Auliac
Wild Is The Wind…
David Bowie played at the beautiful Arenes de Nimes in France last night, and for many this performance was up there with the very best of the shows on this European leg of the tour. Being Bastille Day in France yesterday was always going to create a bit of a special atmosphere, but that combined with the breathtaking surroundings and David Bowie live on stage made for quite a magical evening by all accounts.
David wore the usual black outfit with blue tie and silver fob chain, but he also wore a silver/grey jacket with gold fob chain over the top of that, as in the picture above kindly supplied by extraordinary French photographer, Philippe Auliac. For the encore he returned in the red jacket he wore for the MTV/Tribeca bash.
“Jour heureux de Bastille àvous, jour heureux de Bastille àvous.”
Plati-eye view of David Bowie last night. Photograph by Mark Plati
David performed this pretty darn good 25-song set:
Sunday
Life On Mars?
Ashes To Ashes
Cactus
Slip Away
Starman
China Girl
I Would Be Your Slave
I?ve Been Waiting For You
Afraid
Changes
Be My Wife
Stay
Fame
Breaking Glass
I?m Afraid of Americans
5:15 The Angels Have Gone
“Heroes”
Heathen (The Rays)
——————–
A New Career In A New Town
Fashion
Everyone Says Hi
Hallo Spaceboy
Let’s Dance
Ziggy Stardust
Apparently David battled with a strong gusting wind, known locally as a mistral, which he pretended to pocket and threatened to take to England! He’s an odd chap isn’t he? Other memorable moments (particularly for SusanS) included mock copulation with a garment of clothing at the end of ‘Cactus’, and a bit of windmill air guitar during ‘Starman’, àla Pete Townshend.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for……Me!”
David Bowie at the Arenes de Nimes. Photograph © Philippe Auliac
At the end of ‘I?ve Been Waiting For You’, (appropriately enough) as David attempted to introduce the band, a young lady bounced onstage, and quick as a flash David introduced her as Maria! I’m not sure if there was any relevance to the name, perhaps it was just another veiled reference to ‘The Sound Of Music’. As predicted a couple of days ago, David performed ‘Sixteen Going On Seventeen’ on the Stylophone…actually he didn’t, but I wouldn’t have put it past him…He’s an odd chap isn’t he?
While we’re on the subject of stunning performances by David Bowie…