NASHVILLE |LONDON, October 8, 2003
DAVID BOWIE OPENS FIRST WORLD TOUR IN A DECADE WITH A DANISH DELIGHT FOR FANS;
ALSO OFFERS OPPORTUNITY TO FOLLOW TOUR AROUND THE WORLD WITH A’VIRTUAL REALITY TICKET’
DAVID BOWIE opened his worldwide “A Reality Tour” with a two-and-a-half-hour show packed with surprises at the sold-out Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark last night. He played an incredible 25 songs including material from the pan European #1 album REALITY plus a selection of songs from his career.
The tour–which will last for seven months and reach 16 countries and hundreds of thousands of people–features an ever-changing set list. Bowie is looking to change the songs he’s performing every night to make the shows more organic and real for the fans. With this in mind, Bowie is taking the ground-breaking step of inviting every ticket holder to join him on a ‘Virtual reality’ tour of the entire world. Each attendee has a code on their ticket that can be entered on BowieNet (www.davidbowie.com), at which point the ticket holder can follow the entire world tour online with exclusive footage and audio from Denmark to Denver and from Tokyo to Glasgow.
Those present last night would have witnessed a dramatic start to the show: it utilised one of the biggest LED screens ever taken on tour, which revealed David and his musicians in animated form. The band then kicked in with a spectacular version of “New Killer Star,” the first track from the hit album Reality. Next up was Heathen’s “Afraid, followed by his classic “Fame,” co-written with John Lennon. David–wearing Victorian Biker, deconstructed look–sounded in top form. He was totally relaxed with the crowd, even stopping to congratulate one couple on their 25th wedding anniversary. Behind him a black and white split screen added to the drama of the moment, and the screens high above the stage gave it the feel of a boxing match. The crowd were on their feet from early in the show, and it stayed that way right through to the very end.
Bowie and his crack band continued to mix classics such as “Rebel Rebel,” “Changes”–which he introduced as “that David Essex song”–and a brilliant “Under Pressure” with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey sharing vocals, as she also did on fan favorites such as “Fantastic Voyage” as well as tracks from last year’s Heathen. The songs from Reality provided the real highlight of the night: the forthcoming single “Never Get Old” and the epic “Bring Me The Disco King”–featuring some inventive keyboard work from Mike Garson–were received ecstatically by the sell-out crowd as modern classics.
A storming version of the album’s title track saw the enormous LED screens coming into their own once more, showing an extraordinary psychedelic graphic and “CCTV” footage of the band provided by tiny “lipstick” cameras hidden around the stage.
Other highlights included the powerful “I’m Afraid of Americans” (with great animation imagery playing behind the band) and a fantastic finale including “Heroes” which received a thunderous ovation, a rocking “Hang On To Yourself,” “Let’s Dance” and a show-stopping “Ziggy Stardust.” Bowie was clearly moved by the response and told the crowd how in these difficult times it felt very important to him that he and his band were able to be there performing for them.
The tour continues through Europe during October and reaches Bowie’s U.K. homeland in mid-November. From there, he heads to the USA in December, a trek that will include prestigious shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ historic Shrine Auditorium.
Photographs from this show are available at http://www.rexfeatures.com.
###
For More Information about David Bowie, please contact:
Mitch Schneider
MSO
818-380-0400 xt.235
Lathum Nelson
MSO
818 380 0400 xt.227
http://
