David Bowie onstage in Manchester on
Wednesday night. Picture by Total Blam Blam
The Sun Machine is Coming Down, and We're Gonna Have a Party...
The media here in the UK have given David Bowie's performance at the Move Festival in Manchester on Wednesday a big thumbs up...Here follows some excerpts from reviews in today's Daily Star, The Manchester Evening News and NME online:
Daily Star - By Amy Watts, with a headline of "BOWIE'S MAGICAL MOVE"
"The sun came out for David Bowie's performance at the first ever Move festival - and he responded with a sparkling gig in Manchester to go with the rare sunbeams...Even after more than 30 years in the business, the hits were pitch perfect, from the anthemic Starman to funky versions of China Girl and Let's Dance...Bowie rounded off the show with one of the most famous tracks in history, Ziggy Stardust. And the crowd went wild. If Bowie ever gets bored with belting it out after all these years in the business, he certainly hides it well."
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The Manchester Evening News - By Sarah Hughes, with a headline of "A GLORIOUS REIGN"
"As DAVID BOWIE strode on stage, the torrential rain stopped and the clouds parted to let him show why he is one of the greatest rock stars on Earth....Few have ever had as much effortless charisma and he wowed even the most sodden members of the crowd at the Lancashire County Cricket Ground with the headline show on the first day at the Move festival.
Looking unnaturally (and some might say unfairly) good for his age, Bowie, now 55, whipped the capacity audience into a frenzy, dipping in and out of his new album Heathen while finding time for the sort of greatest hits show most acts would be lucky to dream of.
...not only can Bowie reduce an audience to a quivering mass of hero worship, it seems he can also control the weather: Support act Suede turned in a tight, adrenaline-driven set, in a torrential downpour: But as soon as Bowie arrived on stage, the downpour stopped...
Bowie effortlessly dipped in and out of his extensive back catalogue from Ashes To Ashes to Let's Dance by way of Fame, Heroes, Starman and even a taut, menacing version of I'm Afraid of Americans, which sounded strangely apt although he was swift to point out his band were largely from the US.
As the hits kept coming, there was an overwhelming sense that Bowie is now more relaxed than he has been for years. Ever the actor; he played to the crowd, hamming it up at times and grinning and cracking jokes between hits. The voice, of course, was as glorious and theatrical as ever..."
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NME.COM - with a headline of "BOWIE 'MOVE'S MANCHESTER!"
"DAVID BOWIE wowed fans and stars at the first night of the NME-sponsored 'MOVE' festival in MANCHESTER last night (July 10). The show, at Lancashire County Cricket Club, saw John Lydon, Badly Drawn Boy and Tim Burgess of The Charlatans brave the elements to witness the legend?s only outdoor UK show of the year, alongside Suede, The Divine Comedy, the Electric Soft Parade and the Real People.
Bowie?s set drew heavily on new album ?Heathen?, which saw him reunited with Tony Visconti, producer of seminal albums ?Low? and ?Scary Monsters And Super Creeps?. However, he also echoed his 2000 Glastonbury appearance, opening with crowd favourite ?Life On Mars?? and incorporating ?Starman?, ?Heroes? and ?Changes?.
A stripped-down Divine Comedy were notable for a cover version of ?Planet Of Sound? by the Pixies ? the first of the day?s tributes, as Bowie played a reworking of ?Cactus?."