1978 Low and
Heroes Tour
Commencing in March 1978, the "Low and Heroes World Tour" was the largest tour of David Bowie's career so far, taking in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and for the first time Australia and New Zealand.
The Pacific
part of the tour was called "The Oz Tour". The overwhelming
demand by Australian and New Zealand audiences enabled Bowie to play larger
concerts than ever before and fill massive open air venues such as the
Melbourne Cricket Ground - one of the 10 largest stadiums on the planet.
On the flight to Australia, Bowie recalled that the captain announced that he was closing down one of the engines because it was spilling oil. "Awfully decent of him to tell us," Bowie told a small gathering of the Australian press.
DB at rehersals
in Sydney. Photo from Sean Mayes' 'We Can Be Heroes'.
To make
an impression in these arenas, Bowie developed the stark approach of the
1976 staging. The ceiling of fluorescent tubes which had formed part of
the Station to Station tour's lighting rig was expanded to create enormous
panels of stripped light, hanging like prison bars at the back and
sides of the stage. These panels would pulse moodily during the slow instrumental
pieces and flash frantically during rock numbers like "Rebel Rebel" and
"Suffragete City".
Appearing as special guests on all Australian dates was local band The Angels. At this time, The Angels were experiencing stunning success on the Australian charts with their album Face to Face (a 79 week run) and their first hit single, "Take a Long Line" (later covered by Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson).
In 2007, lead singer Doc Neeson recalled "Bowie was so giving......he insisted we be called 'special guests' rather than the support act. He said we could have his lights and did we want to borrow his guitars? He showed how to treat a support band."
David
Bowie arrived in Australia in early November with no arrival date
given to the press. Avoiding large press conferences, he attended small meetings over the course of two days that were organised via the tour promoter.
David
described how he felt about the Australian tour. "I'm looking forward
to it. It's a long way to go and there have been times in the past when
I considered it. But now we're about to start, I'm very happy".
The Australian leg began at Adelaide Oval - the first open air gig of
the 1978 tour, and the first large scale outdoor concert Bowie had ever
played. The repertoire remained almost identicle to the previous leg of
the tour - focusing on material from Low and "Heroes", although
"Speed of Life" had now been dropped.
The
band members had arrived in Australia on November 4 and rehearsed in a
stadium in Sydney for several days. On the Friday, Bowie and the band
left for Adelaide and on November 11, Bowie played his first ever concert
on Australasian shores.
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"Adelaide
was a strange city to my English eyes." said keyboardist Sean Mayes. "The
streets were wide like an American town but the buildings were like a European
town"
The
backstage was a camp of tents and caravan trailers, and was reportedly
a great relief after many concrete stadiums and catacomb dressing rooms
on their more hectic US and European tours.
The
band played two sets, and the crowd was particularly vocal in the second
half. Bowie forgot some of the words to "Station to Station" and Carlos
was losing his voice towards the end. Nevertheless, they stormed through
the encores. Band
members Roger Powell (synthesiser) did not play with Bowie in Perth or
Adelaide. Instead, he played with his regular band, Utopia, and his place
was taken by local musician Denis Garcia.
In Perth,
the band stayed at the Sheraton Hotel and after the gig they went to Connections
nightclub.
On the
Thursday, their day off, Paul Dainty (promoter) hired them a motor launch
to cruise along Perth's Swan River. During
the second half of the show, Bowie introduced the band while Dennis measured
out the intro for "Five Years". The crowd went wild and during the encore,
people in the crowd let fireworks off.
The
band stayed at the Hilton overlooking the Melbourne Cricket Ground which
boasted a 40,000 capacity for the concert (more than double the size of
any previous Bowie concert audience). In Brisbane,
the band also celebrated the first wedding anniversary of Tony
Mascia (Bowie's bodyguard). At
a nightclub, Dennis played the drums with an all girl group, as Bowie
danced. There
were several reports in the press the following day about noise from the
concert. As one newspaper reported:
David
Bowie today (22 November 78) received some noisy feedback from Queensland's
minister in charge of noise, Mr Russ Hinze, following the pop star's
open air concert lasty night. "These
pop singers come out here to make a quick quid by disturbing our peace
and tranquility," Mr Hinze said. "The fact that he's pommie as well
wouldn't help". Mr
Hinze, who is the minister for local government, said the newly-formed
noise abatement authority will investigate complaints that last night's
Bowie concert at Lang Park, Brisbane, disturbed the peace. It
was reported that the noise was loud enough to be heard 6 km away. Residents
of the suburbs of Paddington, Bardon and Milton described it as "intolerable".
It
is estimated that 40,000 kg of equipment will accompany the thirty one
year old cult hero, including an intricate system of fluorescent lights.
A fleet of seven sem-trailers will be used to trasnport the equipment
around Australia. Back
in Sydney, the band stayed at the Sebel Town House at Elizabeth Bay. On
the night of their arrival, Dennis and Roger jammed with Bette Midler's
band at the Manzil Room. Peter Frampton was in town and Bowie visited
him at his hotel room. He also saw Bette Midler live at the State Theatre.
To capitalise
on the excitement of the Bowie tour, The Man Who Fell to Earth
was re-released on the Australian circuit. Bowie's latest film Just
a Gigolo (Schoner Gigolo - Armer Gigolo)
meanwhile had it's world premierre at the Gloria Palast, Kurfurstendamm,
Berlin on November 16 and although most of the cast had attended, Bowie
did not seeing he was in the middle of his Australian tour.
On November
17, Bowie's latest single "Breaking
Glass" / "Art Decade", "Ziggy Stardust" (taken from the Low/Heroes tour)
was released by RCA, David's second live single. Some initial pressings
were on coloured vinyl and came in a picture sleeve (highest chart position
No. 54).
The next
concert was on November 14 in Perth. Bowie played indoor at the Entertainment
Centre, a new circular building seating 7500. On
the same day, he was interviewed for the TV program "Countdown",
although, Kevin Cann mentions that "the interviewer seemed more interested
in David's sex life than anything else".
Cruising
down the Swan River with friends. Photo from Sean Mayes' diary "We
Can Be Heroes".
On
November 18, Bowie played an
outdoor gig in Melbourne that was billed "come rain or shine". Sure enough
- it rained, and even though David was slipping around on stage, Sean
Mayes reported that Bowie loved it despite at one time, almost going arse
over tit into the front row
Bowie's guitarist Adrian Belew enthused "Oh that was an incredible
show. There was a huge expectation and everyone's waiting for you to come
out and finally you do come out and there's this concern whether everyone
will be electrocuted!". The band played a tremendous gig with mascara
and make-up dripping down their faces, and the threat of a rather terminal
end to the show an ever-present possibility.
On November
21, Bowie played Lang Park, Brisbane. Fans camped at the gates with canvas
awnings spread above their sleeping bags. The crowd was reportedly very
lively and one girl down the front kept fainting.
Bodyguards Stuey George (left) and the late Tony Mascia
in Australia.
The first
of the two Sydney gigs (November 24) was fairly subdued, but the final
one (November 25) was a stunner - Sean Mayes reported it as one of the
best of the whole tour.
For
the second encore, David returned alone. He stood there leaning on the
mike stand, the spotlights holding him while the raptuous noise broke
over him like heavy surf. "What would you do if I sang out of tune! NO!!!
Then he started singing along to a beer commercial - "Have another Toohey,
have another Toohey, have another Toohey or two"....."We'll be back next
year, I promise".
David Bowie, Sydney 1978. Photo sent in by John Larkin.
Tickets
for Sydney concerts cost $12.50 AUS (equal to 8 pounds UK
at the time). While in Sydney, David was awarded a plaque
for "Outstanding sales" by the Australian office of RCA. It was later
given to charity.
For more photos of Sydney 1978, please see the
following page.
On November
28, Bowie made his last appearance in Australia on TV. He was interviewed
on Mike Willisee's current affairs program.
On to
New Zealand - Christchurch (November 28) and Auckland (December 2), Bowie
was to eventually finished his World Tour in Japan.
In
Auckland, Bowie played to a 41,000 strong crowd at Western Spring Stadium,
breaking the country's previous attendance records. The concert at Queen
Elizabeth II Park in Christchurch was also a solid concert.
DB photographs
the Auckland audience. Photo
from Sean Mayes diary "We Can Be Heroes".
The
piano used for "The Oz Tour", a Berchstein, was originally wood
grain coloured. It was painted black for studio work, blue for a TVB special,
black for private use, white for Rod Stewart's 1977 tour of Australia,
and black again for Bowie!
Meanwhile, support band The Angels released a special tour EP as 'special
guests to David Bowie'. It featured 'After the Rain' backed by live versions
of 'Who Rings the Bell' and 'Comin' Down'.
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As indicated on the back sleeve:
The Angels Tour EP: released to coincide with their national tour as
'Special Guests' to David Bowie.
Scans from Bruce Butler.
In early December, Australian rock magazine Juke published the following article:
Rumours.....that bizarre rocker David Bowie was paid for his Australian tour in gold to avoid customs and taxation , and made into jewellery....Rumours have been established as false, a spokesman for the tour said "If he'd been paid in gold he would have lugged around a nugget as big as a bumper bar".
David
left Australia / NZ as quietly as he arrived, travelling on to Japan to
finish his tour.
