Join The Gang...
Sorry for the late notice of this exciting news folx, but with the on/off nature of the recent shows, we weren't sure who was going to be around.
We're still not one hundred per cent sure who will attend this latest BowieNet chat, scheduled for 3:00pm NY time tomorrow afternoon, but of the characters in the shot above, at least four have promised to be there... and who knows just who might make it on the day!
Click on the image above at the aforementioned time to get into chat.
A little reminder, DB onstage in Glasgow a couple of
weeks ago, the last show played on his A Reality Tour.
Like that sailor leaves, comes back again...
It is with much relief that I can tell you David will definitely ("unless anything unexpected happens") play Montreal tomorrow night. (Saturday) He confirmed the good news on the message boards this evening thus: Montreal - I'm there...or bust - Sailor.
So, spread the word, phase two of David Bowie's A Reality Tour will now kick of in Montreal on Saturday December 13th.
As you all know, the fun continues when David nips back over the border in time for Monday's show at MSG in NY, a show that A.D. Amorosi of the
While the press has labelled Springsteen?s The Rising as pop music?s most intense display of Manhattan?s loss, allow me to nominate someone less sentimental and, perhaps, even grander in his optimism: David Bowie. As the original alien/androgyne in New York, Bowie?s played it cool since his glam touchdown: walking in Warhol?s shoes, toeing the Velvet line, languorously playing the Jean Genie in an always a-go-go New York while presenting lyrics rife with low-level anxiety and nagging fear. If it weren?t the "side effects of the cocaine" that made him spill things across the carpets of Station to Station and Low?his robo-disco classics?he envisioned Scary Monsters with a rocking sound and vision most dissonant.
Bowie placed himself within an apocalyptic post-9/11 environs on 2002?s Heathen (ISO/Columbia). While that record questioned the gods that betrayed Lower Manhattan with Nietzsche-ian anger and a forlorn graceful voice at one with his finest croonings, its gloomy mood and Heroes-like ambience offered mere slivers of light that demanded "A Better Future." For his latest CD, 2003?s Reality, a relaxed, art-rocking Bowie casually but intelligently flits down sunshiny streets along Riverside, Battery Park and the Hudson. Though he spies "great white scars" ("New Killer Star") and women "sick with fear and cold" ("She?ll Drive the Big Car") while strumming noir-ish vibraphonic rock chords, Bowie remains opulently open to the bright future-forward possibilities that everything?s okay. In fact, rather than succumb to the wounded weariness that Springsteen has, Reality?s dripping lounge-lizard finale, "Bring Me the Disco King," feels jazzy, dark and invigorating, as if appropriating another of Bowie?s indulgent icons, Frank Sinatra.
Perhaps, rather than bookends to Bruce?s baleful soliloquies, Heathen and Reality are closer in spirit and tone to Sinatra?s Trilogy, a three-record set whose centerpiece?an epic, orchestrated "New York New York"?was set in a time of strife and victory, of piss and vinegar, for the city that never sleeps. Bowie has finally become what he once promised: a Sinatra for the modern age, whose sadness and sweetness are at one with his own theatrical reality.
Very well put sir. Welcome back David, your return to good health has made a fair few thousand people very happy indeed.
We wish you well, we wish you well...
Very sorry to have to report that it has been decided David is not yet well enough for tomorrow's show in Toronto, which has now been postponed. Obviously this means that the taping of tonight's CTV Bowie special has been cancelled.
David is slowly improving, and we are still hopeful that Montreal will go ahead on Saturday. But, as I have said before, we can only judge these things day-to-day, and if there is any change in plan, we'll let you know the moment we find out.
You all know better than anybody how David hates to cancel shows, but it is pointless him going out again before he is completely well. Our thoughts are with you David, and despite the disappointment for those that have missed shows, I know every one of them wants you to get well soon for your own sake.
DB in festival mood at MOVE in Manchester last year.
The music is outside...
Apart from the
Tickets for the
In addition to these, tickets for
Below is a hopefully less confusing breakdown of announced festival dates which are on sale, unless otherwise stated:
June 2004
July 2004
There are more dates to be confirmed, and we'll let you have them as soon as we are able. It seems that some dates are being leaked before we are allowed to announce them here officially. And, while our hands are generally tied, we will be happy to deny any rumours (or postings) that are not true.
DAVID BOWIE has been forced to postpone two additional shows on the North American leg of his "A Reality Tour" as doctors have ordered him to remain in bed for a few days longer while he shakes the flu. Fans who were planning to attend these two shows?Boston ? Tuesday, Dec. 9th ? FleetCenter, and Philadelphia ? Dec. 10 ? First Union Spectrum (in addition to the previously postponed Atlantic City and Washington performances) --should retain their tickets until a new show date is announced. Tickets for the previously scheduled performances will be honored at the rescheduled events.
BOWIE is coming off a sold-out and critically acclaimed tour of Europe and the U.K. in connection with his current album REALITY, which debuted in the #1 position on Billboard?s Pan European chart and entered the Top 10 in 15 countries. Yesterday, he was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "New Killer Star," a track from REALITY and a highlight of the live show.
It is expected that BOWIE will now launch his North American tour Friday, December 12th in Toronto.
For Official Fan Club, Tour and Ticket Information visit: www.davidbowie.com
Awful nice, Really quite paradise...
Des de Moor and Russell Churney have released a CD album of their highly successful two-man show, Darkness and Disgrace. This is a 22-song record of their brilliant interpretation of the songs of David Bowie, that I have already given much deserved space to on these very pages.
The CD doesn't include any of the dialogue from the show, and though it makes for a slightly less coherent presentation, it's still a wonderful collection just the same.
To celebrate the release, the boys will be performing a one-off "special edition" of Darkness and Disgrace at the Retro Bar in London on Tuesday 16th December. Go
You can purchase Darkness and Disgrace online at places like Amazon, and at 50p a track, it's honestly well worth the eleven quid they're charging. We'll also be running a competition to win copies of the CD shortly.
By the way, I hope I'm not the first to point this out, Des, but please don't look at the back cover in anger, (groan) as I've noticed your designer has left out track five! Anyway, don't let that put you off kidz, it's a truly lovely listening experience that you must go and purchase now... for a brief taster, (that doesn't really do the depth of the CD any justice) you can listen to mp3s of Lady Stardust and The Man Who Sold The World by going
We wish you well, we wish you well...
Though there has been some very slight improvement in David's condition this morning, it is with much regret that we have to announce he is clearly nowhere near well enough to play Tuesday and Wednesday's shows in Boston and Philadelphia respectively.
Obviously we've given you this information as soon as the decision was made, but, I'm afraid we can only approach this thing one day at a time. We'll let you know about any plans for rescheduled shows that there may be as soon as we have them.
As disappointing as this surely must be for those of you that this decision affects, I know you will still want to join me in wishing David the very speediest of recoveries.
Halloween Jack holds Marla Kanevsky's hand at Sigma Studios in 1974, while Luther
Vandross looks at the DAGMAR credit as it hovers menacingly above David's head.
Just you and your idol...
We've mentioned the story of the legendary Sigma Kids on these pages on more than one occasion, the most recent being a front cover feature from the Philadelphia Weekly last year. (07/24/02 NEWS: BOWIE PRESS BLITZ CONTINUES)
That particular piece, written by BowieNetter, Steve Volk, concentrated on BowieNetters Patti Brett and Leslie Radowill, but more specifically it looked back over the life of Marla Kanevsky, aka BowieNetter, Zelvis.
Well, now BowieNetter (and super sleuth) Regina, and indeed Zelvis herself, have pointed me in the direction of another piece regarding this momentous event in an article printed in the Press of Atlantic City.
The piece again focuses on Zelvis, (that's her with David in the wonderful Dagmar shot above) and another of the Sigma Kids, Lenore Monroe. Here's a little snippet from the piece:
Kanevsky, who was known as Marla Feldstein at the time, couldn't get tickets to the first leg of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" tour in 1972, but she saw him on the tour's second leg in 1973 at the Tower.
"I was in the 25th row. I rushed the stage and made eye contact with him," she said. After that, she got front-row tickets for all Bowie's 1974 Tower concerts. During one show, Bowie bent down and hugged her from the stage. She whispered her name into his ear. Another night, she came to his concert carrying a pillow with Bowie's face on it and gave it to him while he was on stage.
"I have never sat on my face before," Bowie said, before sitting on the pillow to sing "Rock 'n Roll Suicide."
There's more priceless stuff like that in the Press of Atlantic City article online, which you can reach by going
You can also view more of Dagmar's iconic shots of various rock stars by clicking on the image above. Dagmar will be creating a whole page dedicated to her Bowie shots in the very near future, and they really are among the very best of that period Bowie.
You probably know more of her pictures than you think you do, and I'm sure you all know that she was responsible for the sleeve of David Live too. You can also purchase prints from Dagmar by contacting her here.
All you've got to do is win...
Congratulations to DB on his nomination In the category for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in the 46th annual Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on February 8th 2004 and here are the nominations for the category:
New Killer Star - David Bowie
Down In The Flood - Bob Dylan
If I Could Fall In Love - Lenny Kravitz
Gravedigger - Dave Matthews
Return of Jackie and Judy - Tom Waits
This is the fourth consecutive Bowie album containing a single that has received a nomination in this category. David was also nominated for Dead Man Walking from Earthling (also nominated for the Best Alternative album in that same year), Thursday's Child from "hours..." and Slow Burn from Heathen.
There's also a rumour going around that David will receive a Brit nomination for Best Male. I've not heard anything official on this at all yet, but apparently In UK newspaper The Sun's Bizarre column, David Bowie, Daniel Bedingfield, David Gray, Sting and Darius Danesh were mentioned as artists among those nominated in the category.
I guess we'll just have to wait until the nominees for 2004 are officially announced on the
DAVID BOWIE has been forced to postpone the first two shows of the North American leg of his "A Reality Tour" this weekend, as doctors have ordered him to remain in bed for a number of days until he shakes the flu. Fans who were planning to attend these two shows--December 6 (Atlantic City, NJ, The Borgata) and December 7 (Washington, D.C., Patriot Center)--should retain their tickets until a new show date is announced. Tickets for the previously scheduled performances will be honored at the rescheduled events.
BOWIE is coming off a sold-out and critically acclaimed tour of Europe and the U.K. in connection with his current album REALITY, which debuted in the #1 position on Billboard?s Pan European chart and entered the Top 10 in 15 countries. Yesterday, he was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "New Killer Star," a track from REALITY and a highlight of the live show.
It is expected that BOWIE will now launch his North American tour Tuesday, December 9 at the Fleet Center in Boston.
I'm stiff on my legend, the films that I made...
It is our sad duty to report that David Leslie Edward Hemmings, actor, director and producer, died suddenly on Wednesday following a heart attack while filming Samantha's Child in Romania. Born November 18 1941, Hemmings was just 62 when he died.
Though very well known and respected for his roles in iconic 60s films such as Antonioni's Blow Up, (on which the recent Bowie/Moss Q shoot was based) and Barbarella, Bowie fans will probably know him best for the film Just A Jigolo in which DB starred and in which Hemmings appeared in and directed.
Dismissed by DB at the time as "My 33 Elvis movies rolled into one," Just A Gigolo isn't quite as bad as it's reputation would have you believe. If you've never seen it, it is worth at least one look, if not only for the sight of David Bowie walking around with a pig under his arm!
Another product of the two David's union is the as-yet-unreleased film of the The 1978 World Tour called Stage, which David Hemmings directed, and, you guessed it, David Bowie starred in.
Apart from wanting to see this film for obvious reasons, I'd also like to see if I made it to the final cut, as I remember being filmed by a chap holding a camera with Isolar stickers on it as I flounced my way to the front of Earls Court, resplendent in fake leopard skin coat back in June 1978... actually, in the name of good taste, I hope that particular piece of footage hit the cutting room floor!
Anyway, click on either of the images above to read an Obituary, courtesy of The Guardian newspaper.
We have just gotten notice that David has come down with the flu and doctors have recommended several days of bed rest.The following shows scheduled for this weekend have been postponed:
|
12-06-03 |
Atlantic City |
US |
The Borgata |
|
12-07-03 |
Washington |
US |
Patriot Center |
Details on the whether or not the Boston show will be affected are currently unknown.Any forthcoming information will be posted here. Check back for updates.
Fans should retain their tickets to these postponed performances as they will be honoured at the rescheduled events.
Rescheduled show dates will be forthcoming.
Click here to read the official press release.
Living on a movie...
Well they say ants are the most industrious creatures on the planet, and our very own Anthony is proof of that. We've got a couple of new films created by him, one of which some of you have already stumbled upon.
Firstly there is some great footage from Stuttgart including a few words from DB direct to camera, and a re-enactment of Cat and David getting in a bit of a tangle. This film is entitled: "Stuck on Cat in Stuttgart" - You will die and thou shalt get hooked to some kind of strange costume. A title that will make more sense once you've viewed the film.
The second (which is the one you may have stumbled upon) is a compilation of random bits of footage, even more enigmatically entitled: Untitled View No. 1 - danse manatee. But, be warned, this one starts with David performing a striptease!
Click on either of the stills on this page to take you to the video page of the Virtual Ticket section. Thanx once more to Anthony for all this wonderful stuff, and stay tuned to BowieNet for more exclusives like these in the near future.
Black Tie Wight Noise...
As I announced on the boards earlier today, tickets for the
IOW Festival - Discount tickets for BowieNet members up until 31st December.
Day tickets will be £28.50 + booking fee & postage (for Sunday 13th - David's headline day)
Weekend tickets (11,12,13 June) will be £57 + booking fee & postage
These discounted tickets can only be purchased from Ticketzone on 08705 321 321 from Friday 5th December at 9:00am. You may be asked for your BowieNet user name, and the password is SAILOR.
If you missed our original piece about this event, check out this news item: 11/30/03 NEWS: T IN THE PARK ON SALE MONDAY PLUS IOW CONFIRMATION
Clockwise from left: Phil, David, Paul, Ricky and Eddie.
And other friends of mine...
The stars were out for David Bowie's Wembley shows last week... and photographer Jason Fraser was there to record the evidence. We'll start with the above photo taken on the first night. Clockwise from left we have: Roxy Music's very tall guitarist,
I had a quick chat with Ricky this morning, and he told me that he thought the Bowie gig at Wembley was easily the best show he had seen this year. He also asked if I could use a shot from the aftershow that "Izzard hadn't managed to push his way in to". So, just for you Ricky... here's a lovely shot of David and Eddie alone.
Well known transvestites, David Bowie and Eddie Izzard.
Another comedian my wife spotted on the night was Jack Dee... and I also bumped into ex-Roxy Music member Brian Eno the following evening... I guess that's the closest him and Phil get to a reunion.
The next couple of shots are also from the aftershow on the second night of Wembley:
DB with three-times Mobo award-winner, Beverly Knight.
David with smiley Travis bass bloke, Mr Douglas Payne.
As you can see, DB was visited by singer
My first musical memory is, being made to sing 'Bye Bye Baby' (the Bay City Rollers), by 2 of my older sisters . A slightly more pleasant memory is my sister Gill playing me Hunky Dory by David Bowie when I was about 6. It was the first album I ever listened to, and I was immediately smitten. I was lucky to grow up with a sister in the next room who had very good taste in music. Years later I would buy albums by the Beatles and Bowie, and wonder how I knew all the words.
Here today, gone tomorrow...
Don't forget that Earl Slick will be popping in to BowieNet for a chat today. It looks like we may be starting a little earlier now, we're aiming for 2:30pm NY time approx... 7:30pm UK time.
Mr Slick is planning to be around for around 90 minutes at the moment, and I understand there will be some CD give-a-ways and stuff too.
Hopefully, for those of you not familiar with the geography of BowieNet, the above CD cover should link to the chat area if you click on it shortly before kick off.
Don't you wonder sometimes, 'Bout sound and vision...
The Sound + Vision 4-CD Box Set that we first told you about way back in July (07/18/03 NEWS: SOUND+VISION BOX SET DUE IN THE AUTUMN) was released yesterday, apart from in the US where it is released today.
We will be running a competition for five copies of this beauty sometime next week, so stay tuned if your tour budget doesn't allow you to go get a set just yet! The tracklisting is the same as it was when we originally told you about this splendid package, but here it is once more just to remind you what a bargain this box set is:
CD 1:
     Space Oddity (original demo 1969)
     The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud (rare B-side version 1969)
     The Prettiest Star (single version 1970)
     London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo mix recorded 1970) previously unreleased stereo mix
     Black Country Rock (from The Man Who Sold The World)
     The Man Who Sold The World (from The Man Who Sold The World)
     The Bewlay Brothers (from Hunky Dory)
     Changes (from Hunky Dory)
     Round And Round (alt vocal take 1971) previously unreleased alternate vocal take
     Moonage Daydream (from Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars)
     John, I'm Only Dancing (Aladdin Sane outtake 1973)
     Drive-In Saturday (from Aladdin Sane)
     Panic In Detroit (from Aladdin Sane)
     Ziggy Stardust (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     White Light, White Heat (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (from Pinups 1973)
     Sorrow (from Pinups 1973)
     Don't Bring Me Down (from Pinups 1973)
CD 2:
     1984/Dodo (recorded 1973)
     Big Brother (from Diamond Dogs 1974)
     Rebel Rebel (rare single version 1974)
     Suffragette City (from David Live 1974)
     Watch That Man (from David Live 1974)
     Cracked Actor (from David Live 1974)
     Young Americans (from Young Americans 1975)
     Fascination (from Young Americans 1975)
     After Today (Young Americans outtake 1975)
     It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City (recorded 1975)
     TVC15 (from Station To Station 1976)
     Wild Is The Wind (from Station To Station 1976)
     Sound And Vision (from Low 1977)
     Be My Wife (from Low 1977)
     Speed Of Life (from Low 1977)
     "Helden" (German version of "Heroes" 1989 remix)
     Joe The Lion (from "Heroes" 1977)
     Sons Of The Silent Age (from "Heroes" 1977)
CD 3:
     Station To Station (from Stage 1978)
     Warszawa (from Stage 1978)
     Breaking Glass (from Stage 1978)
     Red Sails (from Lodger 1979)
     Look Back In Anger (from Lodger 1979)
     Boys Keep Swinging (from Lodger 1979)
     Up The Hill Backwards (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Kingdom Come (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Ashes To Ashes (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Baal's Hymn (from Baal E.P.) previously unreleased on CD
     Drowned Girl (from Baal E.P.) previously unreleased on CD
     Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (soundtrack album version)
     China Girl (from Let's Dance)
     Ricochet (from Let's Dance)
     Modern Love (Live) (B-side) previously unreleased on CD
     Loving The Alien (from Tonight)
     Dancing With The Big Boys (from Tonight)
CD 4:
     Blue Jean (from Tonight)
     Time Will Crawl (from Never Let Me Down)
     Baby Can Dance (from Tin Machine)
     Amazing (from Tin Machine)
     I Can't Read (from Tin Machine)
     Shopping For Girls (from Tin Machine II)
     Goodbye Mr. Ed (from Tin Machine II)
     Amlapura (from Tin Machine II)
     You've Been Around (from Black Tie White Noise)
     Nite Flights (Moodswings Back To Basics Remix Radio Edit) previously unreleased
     Pallas Athena (Gone Midnight Mix) previously unreleased Jack Dangers Remix
     Jump They Say (from Black Tie White Noise)
     Buddha Of Suburbia (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     Dead Against It (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     South Horizon (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     Pallas Athena (Live as Tao Jones Index)
There's a brand new talk...
King of Cool, Mr Earl Slick, will be popping in for a BowieNet chat this coming Wednesday. We've not finalised a time yet, but we're aiming to kick off around 3:00pm NY time at the moment... I'll let you know if this changes.
Earl, who is in-between Bowie shows right now, releases his new studio album, Zig Zag, next week. As we told you absolutely years ago, the album contains contributions from the likes of Robert Smith, Joe Elliot, Royston Langdon, Martha Davis and David Bowie.
Zig Zag will be released on Sanctuary Records, and here's the full tracklisting:
01 Dancing with Eleanor
02 Believe (Vocals: Robert Smith of The Cure)
03 Isn't It Evening (The Revolutionary) (Vocals: David Bowie)
04 1735
05 Zig Zag (Vocals: Royston Langdon of Spacehog)
06 Pike St.
07 Crunched
08 St. Mark's Place (Vocals: Martha Davis of The Motels)
09 Psycho Twang (Vocals: Joe Elliot of Def Leppard)
10 The Cat
The album's first single will be Believe featuring Robert Smith, and Mr Slick had this to say about the singers on the album: "Each vocalist wrote his or her own melodies and lyrics. Some of them got really rough demos from me and still managed to come up with amazing ideas. They really helped make this a unique record."
Slick goes on to talk about David's particular contribution: "David sounds amazing on the song. I remember being in the studio when he recorded the vocals and thinking, ?This is weird. For once, I?m on the other side of the glass and he?s playing on a track for me. He nailed his vocals in one or two takes and it came out great?that?s the beauty of working with David."
Do try and make it along on Wednesday folx, apart from talking to Slick about his new album, I'm sure you all have some questions for him regarding his on-off working relationship with David over the past thirty years...almost.
Click on either of the above images to take you to a recently-published press release.
I'm under Japanese influence...
A pre-sale for a second Melbourne date and the three previously mentioned Japanese shows (11/19/03 NEWS: JAPAN TICKET UPDATE AND NEW ZEALAND PRE-SALE TODAY) go on sale here on BowieNet in a few moments.
The extra Oz show takes place on Friday 27th February at the Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, and the pre-sale for all four of the shows commences here on BowieNet at 5:00pm NY time this evening.
Here's a recap of the shows newly-available to BowieNetters from today:
Friday 27 February - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Monday 08 March - Tokyo, Japan - Budokan
Tuesday 09 March - Tokyo, Japan - Budokan
Thursday 11 March - Osaka, Japan - Castle Hall
You can get your tickets by clicking on the above image at aforementioned time.
While you played T-time tunes...
As mentioned in yesterday's news piece, David Bowie will be playing next year's
Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (Monday December 1st) at 9:00am UK time, and they can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling 0870 169 0100, or online by going The return of the Thin Wight Duke...
We can confirm that David will also headline the David is reported to have said he has longed to play the legendary event which was revived in 2002. The festival was originally held each summer from 1968 to 1970, and hosted performances by The Who, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.
David said of the festival: "I was so envious of other acts that got to do the other Isle of Wight Festivals - it is really coming back. This is the very first time I have been to the Isle of Wight Festival. Obviously I've been to the Isle of Wight, it's a fabulous place - I used to go there on holiday when I was a kid. I jumped at it, it is a smashing thing to do."
I can also tell you that there will be a discount for BowieNetters when the tickets do go on sale. Stay tuned for more shortly.