David Bowie 1972-08-19 London ,The Rainbow Theatre – Awesome Incredible Stupendous –
Sound Quality Rating
01. Ode To Joy.flac
02. Lady Stardust.flac
03. Hang On To Yourself.flac
04. Ziggy Stardust.flac
05. Life On Mars.flac
06. The Supermen.flac
07. Changes.flac
08. Five Years.flac
09. Space Oddity.flac
10. Andy Warhol.flac
11. My Death.flac
12. The Width Of A Circle.flac
13. The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud.flac
14. Starman.flac
15. Queen Bitch.flac
16. Suffragette City.flac
17. White Light White Heat.flac
18. Waiting For The Man.flac
19. Dance Theme.flac
20. band introductions.flac
21. Monade Daydream.flac
Label: From The Hunky Geordie Tapes – HUG261CD
Audio Source: audience
Total running time: 1:27:49
Sound Quality: Much noise ,dull ,but still good listened to
Attendance: 3.000
Artwork & more: by Steve23yh
The show started with the customary Walter Carlos theme from a “Clockwork Orange.” With perfect timing Bowie appeared out of the darkness strumming a 12-string guitar and singing the opening number “Lady Stardust”, while clouds of dry-ice (hundreds of pounds of dry-ice were purchased for the concert) hovered just above the stage floor.
Petticoat Magazine wrote:
“When the spotlights came on the audience gives up a single gasp of utter disbelief. Ziggy’s hair is a solid bob of flaming Apricot Gold, made even brighter by a deathly white made-up face. He is wearing a blue Lurex jacket open to the navel and a pair of blue denims tucked into what appeared to be boxing boots. The Spiders…seem ill at ease in their silver jump-suits. The exhibition that follows is of secondary importance. David Bowie made his impact the second he stood there under the lamp, legs apart, hips gently swaying, guitar slung over his back and a limp smile playing on his mouth. There’s no getting away from it, the boy is beautiful…”
An image of Marc Bolan was projected onto a screen to the left of the stage while Bowie sang “Lady Stardust” implying that the song was specifically written about him. Throughout the concert hundreds of obscure images were also projected onto the screen to accompany the other songs. The Astronettes wore David Bowie masks for this number, an idea of Lindsay Kemps. This was to be the one and only known live performance of “Lady Stardust” at a Ziggy Stardust concert.
The stage itself consisted of a multi-level arrangement of scaffolding covered in sawdust, much like that typically seen in a circus. Bowie used the many levels of scaffolding after changing his costume, appearing either above or below the dancers. During the performances he moved up and down the levels by way of connecting ladders.
Bowie first changed his costume after “Changes” with Mick Woodmansey playing an extended drum beat (40 seconds worth!) for the beginning of “Five Years” in order to give Bowie time to change. On the tape of the concert, Bowie can be clearly be heard out of breath following his quick dash up the scaffolding to appear high above the stage. Bowie and Ronson’s vocal imitation of the blast-off sequence of “Space Oddity” (replaced in later concerts with a synthesiser) drew good natured amusement from the audience. Bowie first addressed the audience after singing “Andy Warhol” (nine songs into the performance):
“This is a Jacques Brel number, but its not “Port of Amsterdam.” Its equally as cheerful and its called “My Death.”
This was the first time that Bowie performed “My Death.” Another highlight, was the first and only full performance of “Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud.”
When Bowie sang “Starman”, Lindsay Kemp appeared wearing a wig and wings, smoking a cigarette (joint?) and leering at the audience from the stage and rafters as he played the role of the STARMAN. During the song Bowie sang a line from the Julie Garland song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in recognition of the venue:
“There’s a Starman
…. over the rainbow
Way up there….
Can you tell me
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie….”
After the Lou Reed songs “White Light/White Heat” and “Waiting for the Man”, Bowie concluded:
“I’d like to thank you for coming to our little show tonight. I’d like to thank The Astronettes for dancing it, I’d like to thank Trevor Bolder, Woody Woodmansey and Mick Ronson – The Spiders, for playing it. Thanks to my guest artist Mr Lindsay Kemp and lastly I’d like to thank-you. Thank-you and good night.”
The encore was Moonage Daydream and was introduced by Bowie:
“This is one of Ziggy’s numbers. Its called “Moonage Daydream.”
The performance drew huge critical acclaim and sales of the Ziggy Stardust album climbed sharply. There were, however, some dissenters. Some people were uncomfortable with the introduction of theatre to rock. Elton John reportedly walked out before the finale saying “He’s blown it now. He’ll never mean anything any more!” (an allusion to Bowie’s outrageous camp act which Elton found to be an affront as he chose to hide his bisexuality at this time), while Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music remarked “I don’t think it worked.” However, such comments were in the minority (It was rumoured that Roxy Music had been prevented from rehearsing in the theatre prior to the show and that their representatives had also been prevented from handing out promotional material in the foyer which may have led to some animosity).
The formula of brilliant hard rock combined with stunning theatricality became the staple Ziggy Stardust concert for future concerts…
David Bowie 1972-08 Rainbow theatre
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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
