David Bowie 1972-07-15 Aylesbury ,Friars Borough Hall .
Sound Quality Rating
01. Intro.wav
02. Hang On To Yourself.wav
03. Ziggy Stardust.wav
04. The Superman.wav
05. Queen Bitch.wav
06. Song For Bob Dylan.wav
07. Starman.wav
08. Changes.wav
09. Five Years.wav
10. Space Oddity.wav
11. Andy Warhol.wav
12. Amsterdam.wav
13. I Feel Free.wav
14. Moonage Daydream.wav
15. I Can’t Explain (first time live).wav
16. White Light ,White Heat.wav
17. Suffragette City.wav
18. Waiting For The Man.wav
Label: No label
Audio Source: audience
Total running time: 1:15:34
Sound Quality: Not good ,much Noise ,very dull
Attendance: 2.000
Artwork: None.
Note; Concert filmde by Mick Rock
David walked on stage and said “Alright , I’m David Bowie and this is some of our rock.” He announced ‘I feel Free’: “This is a song from a long time ago. It’s written by Jack Bruce and Keith Brown. It’s called ‘I Feel Free’;
Same as Preston,plus I Can’t Explain afther Moonage Daydream. Twenty-four journalists,especially picked for the occasion were invited over from America by RCA to attend the concert. For RCA this was an investment of $25,000,but this was a splendid concert,so it was worth every penny,since the revue they wrote were quite positive one and all,which was a Tremendous boost to the Ziggy Stardust record sales in America.
“Allright,I’m David Bowie.these are the Spiders from Mars and this is some of our rock” Bowie says on coming on. A great deal of the numbers are announced by himself: “This is a track that is called Amsterdam which is a French song by a Belgian who writes in France. I always thought he was French but l found out later he was a Belgian. Anyway,this Belgian lives in France and writes songs,and they’re good songs like Amsterdam. About twelve years ago they were translated into English by an American guy called Schyman. An international Song,called Port of Amsterdam.
Bowie starts singing the first lyrics when he is shortly interrupted by.the audience.“this is a song from a long time ago,it was written by Jack Bruce and Keith Brouwn,it’s called I Feel Free“. “Our album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,we’re very pleased to tell you,we heard it went up to number eight and this is one of the tracks from it,called Moonage Daydream“.
This version of I Can’t Explain. is the first and only one of the Ziggy period that I possess. During Suffragette City Bowie went down on Mick Robson’s guitar and performed an act that was highly suggestive of Eellatio!.
The American Journalists had never yet seen such a show,their enthusiasm was great.One of them .Glen O’Brien from ‘interview’ ,wrote extensive report (five 30×40 cm pages’).I quote part of it.”The Aylesbury Town Hall is the size of an average pre-war high school gym… There were perhaps a thousand peers in the hall when we entered. At first if was remarkable that RCA had spent at least $25,000 to bring a select group of writers to the concert at which there were no seats for them.Then I realised there were no seats at all.
David Bowie did no come unannounced.He was in fact preceded on stage by a handsome negro and his attendants who attempted to work the audience to a fever pitch by tossing them balloons,Pinwheels,and hundreds of Bowie posters.The audience needed little prodding though,and anxiously awaited David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars,while the giant amplifiers sounded a recording of old Ludwig Von’s Song of Joy from the Ninth Symphony.
David appeared on stage with what fairly could be called a thunderous ovation.And he deserved avery handclap from it,even it he would not be abel to play a note,for his mere appearance was a work of considerable art.His half hair was a vibrant orange.His body was encased In a skin tight Jumpsuit… On his prancing feet David wore red patent midcalf booth… The total effect was quite breathtaking.And the band played on. And David proved himself to be a unique performer.Not only did he shake his hips and toss his head with the best of them ,he also arched his brow like a silent screen actress and illustrated his songs with gestures”
CA fly in the cream of the American music press (Lisa Robinson – After Dark; Lilian Roxon – New York Daily News; Bob Meusel – UPI; Ellen Willis – The New Yorker; Alan Rich – New York; Lenny Kaye – Changes; Henry Edwards – The New York Times; Glen O’Brien – Andy Warhol’s Interview and others from Rolling Stone, Creem, and Playboy) to this concert at the cost of US $25,000 in order to sell Bowie, who while well known in the UK, is less so in the US. The club which held 2,000 people was packed for the concert. Bowie had planned to relay this concert to a huge video screen in the market square but this did not occur. Bowie enters the concert to flashing strobe lights and the “Clockwork Orange” music.
The press spend a weekend at The Inn on The Park and have an opportunity to meet Bowie personally.
“My first concert ever was Ziggy at Friars Aylesbury…The event changed my world and I’ve seen David six times since. I remember Ronson in a silver suit…..the Spiders in high platform shoes…fake fellatio with David between Micks legs playing the guitar with his teeth songs…..Ziggy, My Death, White Light White Heat… Wow wow great great memories” Simon Brackley (2002)
“The gig on 15 July was used as a showcase for record company executives form all over the world. I remember doing a little history of the town and giving this out to these high-flying executives. This was an amazing gig, there was real hysteria. We had a hard time with security too. It was really that intense. It was also quite clear at that point that it was breaking huge. I had put on the gig in Dunstable the previous month and Bowie was extremely good. I remember the fellatio with Ronson at that gig and I remember everyone being pretty shocked. It was breaking literally by the day and by the time 15 July came around there was great excitement in the air. Needless to say, the gig had sold out instantly.” – David Stopps (1999)
“The Aylesbury town hall is the size of an average pre-war high school gym…There were perhaps a thousand peers in the hall when we entered. At first I thought it was remarkable that RCA had spent at least $25,000 to bring a select group of writers to a concert at which there were no seats for them, save the floor…David Bowie did not come on unannounced. He was in fact preceded on stage by a handsome Negro and his attendants who attempted to work the audience to a fever pitch by tossing them balloons, pinwheels, and hundreds of Bowie posters.
The audience needed little prodding, though, and anxiously awaited David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars, while the giant amplifiers sounded a recording of old Ludwig Von’s Song of Joy from the Ninth Symphony. David appeared on stage with his band to what could fairly be called a thunderous ovation. And he deserved every handclap…His hair was a vibrant orange..And the band played on…And David proved himself to be a unique performer.” – Glen O’Brien (Andy Warhol Interview 1972)
“Insane. The most ridiculously crass thing to happen. There was too much happening at once. The attitude of more is better, I quickly learned is just the wrong thing to do in music. If you think your work matters, and if you want some kind of understanding between the audience and the work, then you can’t throw it away like that. All those things came to be the friction between Tony [DeFries] and me near the end. I wanted to approach the thing from a much lower profile than all this hyperkill.” – Bowie (1993)
New Musical Express’s first Bowie headliner outlining Bowie’s rapid rise in the music charts and scene. “Starman” enters the singles charts.
David Bowie Tour Band – The Ziggy Stardust Tour
David Bowie – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Mick Ronson – guitar, vocals
Trevor Bolder – bass
Mick “Woody” Woodmansey – drums
Matthew Fisher – piano (20 Apr 1972 – 27 May 1972)
Robin Lumley – piano (2 Jun 1972 – 15 Jul 1972)
Nicky Graham – piano (1 Aug 1972 – 7 Sep 1972)
Mike Garson – piano, mellotron, organ (22 September 1972 – end of tour)
John Hutchinson – rhythm guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar (8 Apr 1973 – 20 Apr 1973 – 3 July 1973)
Aynsley Dunbar – additional drums (8 Apr 1973 – 20 Apr 1973)
Geoffrey A. MacCormack – backing vocals, percussion (19 January 1973 – end of tour)
Ken Fordham – saxophone (19 January 1973 – end of tour)
Brian Wilshaw – saxophone, flute (19 January 1973 – end of tour)
Crew
Robin Mayhew ,Will Palin ,Mick Hince ,Dean Heiser – Sound ,Ground Control ,Front of House Engineer ,Stage hands
Nigel Olliff, Nick Gilbey, Paul Normand and crew – Lights ,1972 Heavy Light ,1973 See Factor Industries NY Bob See ,Steve Hurston ,Mick Fussey
Peter Hunsley – Stage Equipment
Suzi Fussey – Wardrobe, Makeup and Hair
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