"Nah...of course I'm not nervous...much!"
Bowie looking ultra-cool before the show.
A figure sitting cross-legged on the floor...
David Bowie last night performed to a highly appreciative audience at MSG as the opening act at The Concert For New York City. Kicking of with a bizarre, but beautiful, version of Paul Simon's 'America', David had the audience entranced from the moment a single white spotlight picked him out sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Dressed in "street clothes and sneakers" (The T shirt is the same one as the Vanity Fair 'eating' shot with Gwen and Beck), David performed the song solo, accompanying himself on an David's Omnichord relaxing before the show last night. This really was a remarkable performance of the song, sort of Victorian fairground with a Cockney twang. Excepting the words, this version wouldn't have been out of place on David Lynch's 'Elephant Man' soundtrack. "This is not America...hang on a minute, yes it is actually!" After the song David addressed the audience:
"Thank you very much. Hi friends. Hi fellow New Yorkers. I'd particularly like to say hello to the folks from my local ladder. You know where you are...I must say it's an absolute privilege to play for you tonight. Without further ado..."
Then Gail and Mark joined David and the house band for an emotionally charged 'Heroes'. The stage now swathed in white light and everybody teary-eyed. This was one of the more remarkable performances of this classic Bowie perennial, that managed to capture the spirit of the whole event, best summed up in a review from this morning's Mail On Sunday:
"But perhaps it was David Bowie's stunning performance of his classic hit "Heroes" which captured the defiant survival mood of the night." From "Let us be lovers" to "Yes we're lovers, and that is that" After the song David thanked the audience and wished them a great evening. That's what I call a hard act to follow. When I asked our man how he felt his performance had gone, he replied:
"My part of the show rushed past so quickly it felt like I was on stage for about two minutes. Fabulous crowd. So well dressed. (smile) New York at its finest."
Of course you are all dying to know if anybody actually won David's 'lover' T-shirt that we put up as a competition yesterday. Well, incredibly, we do have a winner. You know who you are if you sent in 'America' as your guess, but were you the first? Tune in tomorrow to find out. };-)
Bowie during his performance of Paul Simon's 'America'.
David during an incredibly moving version of "Heroes" last night.