Sydney Concerts, Feb 20-21, 2004
The 12,500 capacity Sydney Entertainment had the honour of staging two
back-to-back Reality concerts.
Built in
1983 and situated on the fringe of Chinatown, the venue had previously
staged no less than EIGHT Glass Spider shows (a personal record for Bowie
in terms of most consecutive concerts at any one venue). The two concerts
in 2004, however, were no exercise in nostalgia.
On the first night, Bowie debuted 'Fantastic Voyage', 'I've Been Waiting
for You' and '5:15 Angels Have Gone' for the very first time on Australasian
soil.
He joked with the audience in a mock Australian accent: 'The new songs are OK, but I wish he'd do more oldies. He doesn't do many oldies does he?' This followed with his 1972 smash hit 'All The Young Dudes'. Then as the song proceeded, Bowie noticed one person waving a pair of crutches to the chorus line!
"Crutches
are waving the air. What more can you ask for? What an extraordinary country!".
During the band intro, Bowie recalled that his guitarist Gerry Leonard
was once a professor of micropaleontology at Dublin University but threw
it all away to play guitar! "He's got some of the most amazing fossils.
That sounds really lewd doesn't it? I mean why should that sound lewd?
You want to see his fossils? But they're micro-fossils. They're tiny little
- it's all that stuff that collects at the bottom of the ocean."
Another four
song encore completed the concert but this time Bowie substituted 'Always
Crashing in the Same Car' for 'I've Been Waiting for You' (an appropriate
song given the vast amount of time since his last concert on these shores).
Following the final thank you, Bowie returned to the mic to say "Great
to be back....really great." and then "see some of you tomorrow."
On the second night, the set list was shuffled further. Bowie dropped
'Reality' for 'Afraid'. He also dropped '5:15' for both 'Panic in Detroit'
and 'Pablo Picass'o - two songs yet to be played on the downunder portion
of the tour. But then 17 songs into the set was the biggest surprise of
all. Bowie announced "Here's a song we have not done on tour AT ALL"
and with Mike Garson's introduction of two alternating notes on a vibraphone,
fans from all over the world were envious of the debut of Quicksand on
the Reality tour.
Bowie announced another song that hadn't been played for a while: "We
haven't done this for weeks. I mean weeks! Seriously, that's a long time
for us". Then in a serious tone (and perhaps in recognition of the
original video and the recent Aborigine riots in Redfern) Bowie said "I
see. This one's got a lot to do with Sydney". This followed with
an extremely powerful version of none other than 'Lets Dance'.
During the band introduction, Bowie kept the professor joke running from
the previous night. Now Catherine Russell was introduced as a leading
professor in quatrangento Italian history.
Photo by Daxem
Following
'Ashes to Ashes', Bowie thanked Something for Kate and explained that
he'd heard a really good hip hop version of the song by Aussie artist,
Danielle Spencer (who also happened to be in the audience).
Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer in the audience. Photo
by Daxem
At the completion
of the concert was another four song encore. This time Bowie substituted
'I've Been Waiting for You' for 'Bring Me The Disco King' - the first
and final time it was played on the downunder tour. Then he replaced 'Suffragette
City' with 'Hang on to Yourself'.
"We've
had a wonderful, great pleasure being here in Sydney. Some of the band
have never been here before and they've had the most excellent time".
Backstage in Sydney, Bowie met with guitarist Brendan Gallagher (he added guitar to the Marius de Vries mix of "Survive"), film director Baz Lurhman, fashion designer Collette Dinnegan, actor David Spader and others. Also present were Merrick & Rosso (Nova 969 breakfast radio).
"[Bowie] was cool. We talked music, Earl Slick and my chord book which a journo friend gave to him in NYC a few years ago." - Brendan Gallagher.
Bowie and Brendan Gallagher. Backstage Sydney.
Following the concert, many fans waited outside for Bowie. Whilst doing
so, they sang the 1969 hit 'Space Oddity' and DB himself came out to witness.
Film footage of this occurence was later shown on television show ROVE.
David Bowie outside the Sydney Entertainment Centre
Front page of the Sydney Morning Herald
Entertainment Section (following day).
Concert Transcript 20/02/04:
Photo by Daxem
REBEL REBEL
Sydney, you crazy mother fuckers, how are you? Good to be hear, good to play music for you, good to go.
I hope you're
well.
NEW
KILLER STAR
That's grand thank you, thanks a lot. How ya doing OK? Good good.
REALITY
That's great. Thank you.
FAME
There was a great band in America in the late 80s. This is one of their songs. It's called Cactus. The band was called the Pixies.
CACTUS
5:15 THE ANGELS ARE GONE
Thanks. Thank very much. So they were a couple of new songs weren't they? That's what they call a new song. You want an old song now don't you?
(Australian accent) 'Yeah you know, the new songs are OK, but I wish he'd do like more oldies. He doesn't do many oldies does he?'
I'll be doing
one but only if you sing. You've got to sing a long OK?
Photo by Daxem
ALL THE YOUNG DUDES
Stick in the air. Let's see the stick. Oh, I love to see the crutch in the air, look at that! There's a wonderful song tonight and the crutches are waving the air. What more can you ask for? What an extraordinary country! I've got a whole bunch of crutches just outside my window. Glorious colour brown this morning they were.
What shall we do now? I've completely forgot
(Sterling taps out a little beat)
OK, we'll do that!
CHINA GIRL
I suppose it's that's time in the evening you've all been looking forward to. Yes it's the instrumental
This is from an album called LOW. It's called:
A
NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN
I have to get my stand here.
I've always found that nothing works better on stage after a kind of slowish instrumental then to follow it up with something so incredibly slow, you forget to breath!
So this is a new song as well, it's called:
THE LONELIEST GUY
Thanks very much. Thanks, I appreciate that. (more applause) - Thank you -(even louder applause)
That's great. Go and get a coffee. That's really good. Ha Ha. If you can't find a coffee, I'll come around to your house and sing it again, alright?
I really would you know. You think I'm kidding? I've got HOURS left in Australia.
Look I did this album in 1970 and it was a big breakthrough for me I suppose and I'd like to do the title track of that album now. It's called:
THE
MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
Photo by Daxem
HALLO SPACEBOY
SUNDAY
How ya doing? Ha Ha.
You know a lot of people say to me, they say 'Dave?'
And I say 'what?'
They say 'Dav...id'
And I say 'yeaaah?'
'Who are those musicians, those people you work with on stage?'
And I say: 'Why don't you mind your own business'.
But tonight I'm going to make an exception because I think you'd get on well with each other.
Someone who has been working with me since 1974. He's also worked with many many other artists including the great John Lennon......EARL SLICK.
When I was just a spider......Thank you love, I'll eat it later
When I was just a spider, there was a web man who came along with us in the States in 1972. He still works with me and that's MIKE GARSON on keyboards.
Somebody we love to having working with us. She's been working with us for what nearly two years now? God it's a long time now. She has wonderful hair. On keyboards and congas and guitar and err and everything else and tambourine and greedo things and what else have you got? Castanets, harmonica, hairdryer.........CATHERINE CAT RUSSEL.
Also someone who has worked with me really quite a long time - way back since Black Tie White Noise and did the Outside album, that was right Sterl? A lot of stuff with me coming right up to date. On drums......STERLING CAMPBELL.
A real change of career for this one. Somebody who was once the professor of micropaleontology at Dublin University but threw it all away to play guitar......GERRY LEONARD.
His got some of the most amazing fossils. That sounds really lewd doesn't it? I mean why should that sound lewd? You want to see his fossils? But they're micro-fossils. They're tiny little.......it's all that stuff that collects at the bottom of the ocean.'
'How ya doing? Are you OK for time? Oh I am just rambling on here tonight'
Look, I did a song with Freddie Mercury in the 1980s
(mad applause)
Yeah Yeah Yeah
..........which I unfortunately don't have time to do tonight but I thought I would remind you that if we did do it then miss GAIL ANN DORSEY would do Freddie's part.
(more applause)
If we did it!
UNDER PRESSURE
Sharon Hollywood Dorsey
Gail Anne Dorsey everyone.
Excellent.
Photo by GeeFree2001
LIFE ON MARS?
Thank you.
Mike Garson
on keyboards.
LOOKING FOR WATER
This ones quite old. But I promise you that you won't know it. I'd love to do it for you.
FANTASTIC VOYAGE
Where did they all go?
I promise I'll play you something you know in a minute. But not right now. You'll think you know this one which is an interesting thing, isn't it?
So I thought I went to school with you? But that's the wrong country isn't it? This is a song called DAYS which I'm in a bit of.
DAYS
Thanks a lot. Back to space. Do you want a rock song?
Photo by Daxem
WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT
Good. I'm glad to get that off my chest.
Do you remember a guy that's been in such an early song?
ASHES TO ASHES
Thank you monsieur Garson.
Two tiny peaces of music. A plus and a minus. This is the minus. It's called:
I'M AFRAID OF AMERICANS
This is the plus for our side.
'HEROES'
Thanks a million. Thank you folks.
(The band leave the stage)
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU
FIVE YEARS
SUFFRAGETE CITY
Thank you Sydney.
ZIGGY STARDUST
Thanks for a great night, everyone. Thanks a lot.
Great to be back. Really great.
See some
of you tomorrow.
Concert Transcript 21/02/04:
REBEL REBEL
Sydney you crazy mother fuckers, how are ya? For the second time in a row. You know it's STILL good to be back. Musically.
NEW KILLER STAR
AFRAID
FAME
What's your name? OK we've got a Marilyn here. Do we have any more Marilyn's? A lot of blokes answered that. A lot of blokes called Marilyn in this audience tonight. This does not surprise me. Oh but you're still beautiful the lot of you. Have you had a great day? Wasn't it nice today? What shall we chat about now.? Let's not chat at all, let's do some more music, right?
CACTUS
That was a song about a dress. You wait until I start the songs about the women.
Ah this is an old one. We are going to throw in a few new ones from last night. Oh that's for the four of you who came last night. How about this one?
PANIC IN DETROIT
This is a new song. Well it's a new song that we've recorded. It's actually very old. It was written in the mid 70s by a guy called Jonathan Richman from a band called Modern Lovers. This one is called quite poetically 'No one called Pablo Picasso an arshole'.
PABLO PICASSO
You say 'yeah yeah, enough of this new stuff. Why don't you do something we know?' Heartfelt agreement. Couldn't agree more. I want something I know.
ALL THE YOUNG DUDES
Do you know how good that was? It was so good, I'm gonna let you sing the next song on your own. And I'm just gonna watch.
CHINA GIRL (AUDIENCE VERSION)
Fucking tragic! Alright, I'll sing this one but you'll have to sing all the others. I'll tell you what deal - well alternate - I'll do this one you do the next. There's a goth girl. Look I've got a goth girl in the audience. Hi darling. How you doing? Got the teeth? Oh yes I see you have.
CHINA GIRL
Thank you. Can we have some more of that? This is Tristan. Tristan's a hobbit. I bought him in New Zealand. I'm serious. Hey Tristan, how are you enjoying it on tour? It's good innit? It's better than those fucking hills, right? Thank you Tristan. He's sorting out my cable. So it's your turn now? We'll your in luck because the next one is instrumental.
A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN
That's called A New Career in a New Town. I wrote that a long time ago. It's from an album called Low. This is a new song comparitively. Not comparitively.....that's just being pretentious. This is a new song period. Not comparitively at all. Because comparitive would be many years ago.
There's a town in Brasil called Brasillia and it looks like one of the loneliest places in the world. And all the undergrowth is growing back through the stone work. And this song came from that image.
THE LONELIEST GUY
A very early album that I had....it meant a lot on me.....I enjoyed working on it very much and this song is the title track from that album and it's called:
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
HALLO SPACEBOY
SUNDAY
On guitar, that's EARL SLICK. His worked with on and off since 1974.
Someone whose worked with me even longer than that.....he came with me on the first Spiders trip to America and he is keyboardist MIKE GARSON.
He looks a dream in padded shoulders and stack heel boots.
(Repeats) He looks a dream in padded shoulders and stack heel boots.
That's interesting, those lines play much better to that side of the house.
On keyboards and congas is a fine woman who believe it or not was a leading professor in quatrangento Italian history before she joined this band. She is just talented in verything she does and touches....speak over seven languages......CATHERINE CAT RUSSEL.
We feel very privilged to be able to put her away from the University at this particular time of the year because it's coming up to marking and books and.....what a bunch of shit I'm talking.
You're not a professor or quaragento Italian stuff are you? And you're not a professor of paleontology are you? Oh right! I knew one of you was.
How ya doing, alright?
(screams from the audience)
You're much politer than last night's audiene. You must be the Saturday night crowd. And you know what, I don't mind. I'm actually relieved because I had to just shout and shout to get them to shut up. So this is kind of pleasant for me. (more shouts from the audience) Alright you'll be up here in a minute!
On drums......STERLING CAMPBELL.
Sterling worked on loads of stuff with me......Black Tie White Noise, the Outside album, Reality - you name it, he was on most of it.
And on guitar from Ireland and a professor of what I made up.....GERRY LEONARD.
This ladies got something new to show you.
Flex darling flex.
(cheers from the audience)
She started that last week when we came to Sydney. It's pretty impressive isn't it?
I wrote a song with Freddie Mercury in the 80s. And obviously I'm going to have do it for you now? Freddies vocal part could only ever be done by one other person in my opinion and that is......miss GAIL ANN DORSEY
UNDER PRESSURE
Gail Ann
Dorsey. Lovely girl.
Photo by Daxem
LIFE ON MARS?
Mike Garson on keyboard.
Actually I like this one. This one's called:
LOOKING FOR WATER
Here's a challenge. Here's a song we have not done on tour at all. This is a debut for the song. Errr....it was first recorded by ABBA. We're not doing that one today? This one comes from Hunky Dory. Well do our best but I just wanted to do this one tonight. It's called:
QUICKSAND
Thank you. Well done guys. That was......that good. You know it's not often I write a piece of music for.......a piece of furniture. But....this stool means a lot to me. It's got 'do not move' on it. I put that instruction on it years ago, and do you know what? This stool does not move.
DAYS
Here a song we haven't done for a long time as well. It's another old one. We haven't done this for weeks. I mean weeks! Seriously, that's a long time for us. All I've got to do is remember it. I see. This ones got a lot to do with Sydney.
LET'S DANCE
My book says no one plays drums like Sterling Campell. Then again that's my book. What should I play now? That's a rhetorical question.
WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT
Yeah, a Velvet
Underground song. From a million years ago. This one is not quite a million
years old but it starts up there.
ASHES TO ASHES
Thanks a lot. A couple of things I should mention. I heard a really good version of that song Ashes to Ashes, kinda hip hop by an Australian artist, I think her name was Danielle Spencer. It was really very good. Also I would also like to thank very much Something For Kate for doing such an excellent job in Australia. (mock Australian accent) 'A really good band. We're gonna keep em for the rest of the tour'. Which is only about four more cities. It's been a really good time over here. But you know, something....
I'M AFRAID OF AMERICANS
We've had
a wonderful, great pleasure being here in Sydney. Some of the band have
never been here before and they've had the most excellent time.
'HEROES'
Thank you so much.
(Band leave
the stage).
BRING ME THE DISCO KING
Mike Garson on piano. Well, that was a song called Bring Me The Disco King.
FIVE YEARS
Thanks gladly. That's great. Stay in the same ???:
HANG ON TO YOURSELF
Thank you. Thank you very much.
ZIGGY STARDUST
Thank you
so much again. Thank you.
Photo by Daxem
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