NASHVILLE |DATE: JULY 16, 2004
FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/LATHUM NELSON
DAVID BOWIE’S ‘A REALITY TOUR’ EARNS TOP-GROSSING STATUS
AS TOUR OF THE YEAR SO FAR
DAVID BOWIE’s critically acclaimed “A REALITY TOUR” has been named the top-grossing concert tour for the first half of 2004, according to Billboard Boxscore, besting Metallica, Simon and Garfunkel, Beyonce, Prince and Britney Spears. The influential rock legend’s first major world tour in nearly a decade attracted over 700,000 fans.
Armed with a rotating list of 60 songs, BOWIE and his band–Sterling Campbell (drums), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass/backing vocals), Mike Garson (keyboards), Gerry Leonard (guitar), Earl Slick (guitar) and Catherine Russell (backing keyboards/backing vocals)–played what many critics have said were the best shows of his career. The concerts were seen by a truly wide range of eclectic names in the music and film worlds:
Music: Lenny Kravitz, Velvet Revolver’s Slash, Lisa Marie Presley, The White Stripes’ Meg White, David Byrne, Trent Reznor, Tom Waits, Frank Black, Ray Davies, Martin Gore, Perry Farrell, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis and Flea, Grandaddy, The Rapture, Tony Visconti, Interpol, Maxwell, Laurie Anderson, Incubus, Tears For Fears, Steve Jones, No Doubt, Marilyn Manson, System of A Down, Helmet’s Page Hamilton, Gavin Rossdale, Q Tip, Steven Van Zandt, Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles, Bob Geldof, Placebo, Danny Lohner, Rodney Bingenheimer, Graham Parker, Ronnie Spector, Ian Astbury.
Film: Brad Pitt, Jude Law, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Coppola, Russell Crowe,Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Elijah Wood, Evan Rachel Wood, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville, Eddie Izzard, David Spade, Margaret Cho, Gary Oldman, Mary Stuart Masterson, John Stamos, Rachel Hunter, David Caruso, Dermot Mulroney, Dominic Monaghan, Kim Cattrall, Paul Schrader, Rosanna and Patricia Arquette.
The full listing of “A Reality Tour” critical soundbites (including both North American legs) is posted at DAVID BOWIE’s page at www.msopr.com <http://www.msopr.com/>. Here are a few of them:
Best Tour: #2, David Bowie, ‘A Reality Tour,’” after Radiohead, in the “Critics’ Picks” section in the ROLLING STONE “Music Awards 2003” poll.
—ROLLING STONE, 2/5/04
“Unlike many other rockers of his generation, Mr. Bowie, 56, made his recent songs sound just as trenchant as the oldies…He has reunited with his 1970's producer, Tony Visconti, and–with an added jolt from Sept. 11–has returned to contemplating apocalypse and alienation, fear and fame.”
–Jon Pareles, NEW YORK TIMES, 12/17/03
“…in stellar voice…in a world where only a handful or artists of Bowie’s stature remain active–and few new ones can sustain interest in their second album, let alone their 26th–it was impressive that he not only still had something to say but could also make us want to hear it.”
–Natalie Nichols, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 2/2/04
“At his best…Bowie levitates us to an elegant and dramatic plane distant from our everyday existence, while exploring the self-doubt and alienation that haunt our earthly passage.”
–Paul Rogers, LA WEEKLY, 4/30/04
“…songs from that disc (Reality)–including the driving ‘New Killer Star’ and the haunting ‘The Loneliest Guy,’ which was given a Spartan reading with just vocals, one keyboard and one guitar–shined in live performance.”
–Jim DeRogatis, CHICAGO SUN TIMES, 1/15/04
"…last night's 2 1/4-hour dash through the 57-year-old musician's catalogue testified to Bowie's rare and influential feel for the fine art of invention…his enduring appeal. Bowie played to a multigenerational sea of original fans, members of the glam and goth nations, all-purpose art-school types, and tow-headed youngsters deep into their classic rock indoctrinations…’New Killer Star’ and ‘The Loneliest Guy,’ both from the new disc, marked two of the night's most mesmerizing, deeply musical moments…Backed by a crack six-piece band, Bowie was loose, suave, a bit salty, and incredibly amiable.”
–Joan Anderman, BOSTON GLOBE, 3/31/04
“Bowie himself was in excellent voice and in total command of the stage throughout…exhibiting a level of enthusiasm artists half his age have trouble faking. ‘Fame’ was amazing, its insistent funk groove somehow sounding every bit as fresh in 2004 as it did in the 70’s…melancholy keyboards and noisy guitar [that] underscore[d] the aching vocals a the heart of ‘The Loneliest Guy in the World,’ the strongest case he’d make all night for picking up Reality.”
–Ed Masley, PITTSBURGH POST GAZETTE, 5/18/04
“…Poise and wit and a great deal more grace than most rock stars his age, or any age…Playful and unpredictable.”
–Nick Marino, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION, 5/9/04
“…the new material rang as true as the old and was played with the same intensity and conviction.”
–Brad Kava, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/29/04
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