In 1983, David Bowie's sojourn began in the far west. Reversing the situation of 1978, Bowie's down under dates now occurred after Japan - the plan this time being to end the tour in Auckland. In early November, Bowie reached Perth Airport having boarded in Japan. In the arrival area, regular passengers began filing out a few at a time, then came the band members - Carlos, Earl, Frank and George, then Bowie's assistant Coco and then David Bowie himself.

BDU member Stevee was there at the time:

''He came out pushing his own bags on one of those uncontrollable baggage trolleys, black suit and hat, bright, bright yellow hair, and about 48 hours worth of stubble on his face.


I had to move to get out of his way - it was very surreal.


As he passed, I welcomed him to Perth, and he thanked me, desperately trying to manoeuvre the trolley towards the black limo waiting outside.''


~ Stevee. See his full report on this page.

Perth Airport 1983. Images sent in from Stevee. To see his full report, click here.

On the way to the car, Bowie stopped to sign autographs and then went off to what he said would be his "first and only" press conference during the Australia tour.

Dressed in gray trousers, brown shirt and jacket, Bowie faced 60 media representatives at the Perth Press Conference.


He spoke about sex, drugs, his son, nuclear war and the fate of the aborigines and how he would like to revive the idea of the Brotherhood of Man:

"I've achieved some status as a pop artist.

I'd like to be fairly committed to contributing my viewpoint on what are the immoralities of the world.

I think it's very fair to say the world is probably in the most catastrophic period of it's....of our knowledge. I think it's almost my duty to do something about it in positive terms."

~ David Bowie, Australian Press Conference, 1983.

Tom Prior (columnist for The Sun) recalled that his lasting memory of Bowie was "in drag, with high heels, white stockings and crotch-hugging tights".


Excerpts from the press conference and the airport arrival were shown on various programs including Newsworld, the Morning Show and the Today Show.

The tour kicked off in Perth with three gigs at the Entertainment Centre - the only indoor shows of the Australasian tour. Like the first part of the tour, Bowie opened his shows with 'Look Back in Anger' and it's insistant chorus line: "Waiting so long, I've been waiting, waiting so".

Perth, Nov 4, 1983. Photos from Stevee.

Completing 20 plus songs each night and spanning his entire career from 'Space Oddity' onwards, the Perth shows received ecstatic reviews.

Perth, Nov 4, 1983. Photos from Stevee.

Bowie fanzine Starzone mentions that Perth tickets initially sold for $19 each although some fans were willing to pay up to $100 as indicated by advertisements in the press.

Perth Setlist 4 Nov, 1983 1. Look Back In Anger 2. "Heroes" 3. What In The World 4. Golden Years 5. Fashion 6. Let's Dance 7. Breaking Glass 8. Life On Mars? 9. Sorrow 10. Cat People 11. China Girl 12. Scary Monsters 13. Rebel Rebel 14. White Light, White Heat 15. Station To Station 16. Cracked Actor 17. Ashes To Ashes 18. Space Oddity / Band Intro 19. Young Americans 20. Fame 21. Star 22. Stay 23. The Jean Genie 24 Modern Love

Ticket scan from Stevee.

According to Starzone, Perth went without a hitch. The only worry was when Bowie disappeared on a free day without saying where he was going. After visiting Perth Zoo, Bowie drove into the outback in a hired car.

Perth, Nov 4, 1983. Photos from Stevee.

As in 1978, Bowie again played Adelaide Oval. The show was billed "We play rain or shine" and sure enough, it rained. The News of Adelaide called Bowie's concert "The show of the decade".

Adelaide 1983. Photos from David Bowie's Serious Moonlight The World Tour.

Whilst in Adelaide, Bowie gave a personal interview to the State Premier and his wife (both fans). Bowie promised to consider an invitation to sing at the South Australian 150th Anniversary in 1986 and passed the time talking about films.

Adelaide 1983. Photos by Eamonn aka Abbey Stump.

Adelaide Setlist, 9 Nov, 1983 1 Look Back In Anger 2 "Heroes" 3 What In The World 4 Golden Years 5 Fashion 6 Let's Dance 7 Breaking Glass 8 Life On Mars 9 Sorrow 10 Cat People 11 China Girl 12 Scary Monsters 13 Rebel Rebel 14 White Light White Heat 15 Station To Station 16 Cracked Actor 17 Ashes To Ashes 18 Space Oddity 19 Fame Encore 20 Star 21 Stay 22 The Jean Genie 23 Modern Love Scan from Cass aka SoulLoveChild.

Adelaide 1983. Photo by Eamonn aka Abbey Stump.