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bowiedownunder.com
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Back in Sydney, Bowie and the band again stayed at the Sebel Town House at Elizabeth Bay. In it's day, the Sebel was Australia's most recognised celebrity hotel. A detailed documentary can be heard here. |
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| Left and centre : Bowie relaxing at The Sebel. Photos sent in by Tim from Perth. Right: The Sebel when it was first designed in the 1960s. | ||
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On the night of their arrival in nearby King's Cross, Bowie's band members Dennis Davis and Roger Powell jammed with Bette Midler's band. The gig took place at the Manzil Room which was a popular live venue and the 'in place' back in the 70s. The following evening, Bowie, Coco and Sean Mayes saw Bette Midler live at the State Theatre. "It was a marvelous, hilarious and dazzling show. I was amazed how Bette had managed to get familiar with all the local jokes and put-downs" said Sean. |
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Bette
Midler in Australia, 1978.
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Peter Frampton was also in town and Bowie visited him remarking: "He's very friendly. Just as sweet as he used to be in school!". |
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| The second Sydney show was a
stunner - and one of the best of the whole tour. |
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Sydney 1978. Photo sent
in by Tim from Perth
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Above: Ticket set in by Bruce Carter. Left and Right: Sydney 1978. Photos sent in by Tim from Perth. |
| For the second encore, Bowie
returned to the stage alone. Leaning on the mic stand,
rapturous noise broke over him like heavy surf. "What would you do if I sang out of tune! NO!!!" He then started singing along to a beer commercial: "I feel like a Tooheys, I feel like a Tooheys, I feels like a Tooheys or two"....."We'll be back next year, I promise". |
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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| Bruce Butler reflects: I traveled to Sydney on the overnight train from Melbourne with a few of my friends from the Melbourne Bowie queue. Arriving on the Saturday morning, I checked into my room at the Sebel Townhouse where Bette Midler had told me Bowie would be staying. My friends and I then went to the Sydney Cricket Ground and joined the surprisingly few people queuing up for that evenings performance. Having already seen the first concert of the Australian tour in Adelaide two weeks earlier and the incredible MCG show in the rain the previous Saturday, it was thrilling to be at the final show of the tour. We made a number of friends in the queue in particular a girl named Josephine Bateson who took much better photos than me. If she's reading this or someone knows her, I'd love to get in touch. They are not mine so I won't put her photos up here but I have included some of my shots. The concert that night followed the same set list but Bowie was in a playful mood. During the regular break he came out on stage by himself and got the audience to join in a sing-a-long of a Toohey's beer ad and after a couple of rounds of this he promised to be back in a few minutes with the band, waved and ran off. This unique event was highlighted recently in a TV show about the Mojo Advertising company who created the ad slogan. The story was illustrated using some of my photos from the concert. No actual audio or visual of this has ever surfaced. After the concert we headed straight back to the Sebel, we tried to find Bowie or any signs of life but with no luck. About 10 of us ended up in my room having our own end of tour celebration. The next morning, still with no sign of Bowie life, we hung out (hung over) until it was time to catch the train back to Melbourne. For me it was the end of an adventure that started the day I saw the advertisement for tickets in The Age on Saturday 9th September and provided me with the most incredible three months of my life that has remained important to me and to who I am for over 4 decades. Thanks to all my Bowie friends old and new. Love on ya, Bruce. |
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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Reviews of the Sydney shows were ecstatic. Stephen
Dowse's review for an English newspaper concluding
that Bowie was "undoubtedly the total master of his
environment and physically and intellectually the most
exciting performer in the world today".
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Article sent in by Mike from
England. |
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Ticket scans from Peter Green
via Harry Williams. |
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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Sydney. November 25, 1978.
Photos by Bruce Butler.
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| In 1978, tickets for David
Bowie's Sydney concerts cost $12.50 AUS (equal to 8
pounds UK at the time). There
were over 40,000 tickets snapped up for the two shows.
While in Sydney, Bowie was awarded a plaque for "Outstanding sales" by the Australian office of RCA. It was later given to charity. On their last day in Australia, Bowie and the band spent time at Dennis Garcia's retreat in Gosford, NSW. |
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Left: Photo by
Jo Bateson. Othr Sydney photos by John Larkin. To see
full versions, visit
John's page.
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Sydney photos by Jo Bateson.
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The following footage has been uploaded to youtube by Nacho Video. Towards the end of the interview, you can also see Peter Green's piece of Sydney Showgrounds (Nov 24) footage, correctly synced to the Nov 24 boorleg audio thanks to Nacho Video on youtube. This is the only known live footage from the Australia tour.
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