And here are we, At the Patriot Centre of it all...
David Bowie played what was officially the 91st show of A Reality Tour at the Patriot Centre in Faifax, Washington, VA, last night.
Inseparable BowieNetters, Saxonny and Gwnavere, sent in a couple of brief impressions. Firstly, Sax's review concerns itself mainly with the title track from Station To Station, a track she claims never to have heard, to the point of not knowing what album it's from! I'm sure this is a humorous wind-up aimed at Keiths or somebody, otherwise she has just been awarded the BowieNet dunce cap! Kids eh? Must try harder!
First off, DC is a gorgeous town. I believe that Washington designed it to humble foreign dignitaries when they first arrived, and it did that. White marble abound EVERYWHERE. The concert was right over the Potomac in Virginia.
My main comments have to do with Station to Station. Last night was the first time I have ever heard that song and WOW! (do NOT ask me what album it's on cause I DON'T KNOW!) But the band just came aLIVE during the song. Everyone on stage looked like they were having SO MUCH FUN PLAYING IT! David let loose, I have NEVER seen Cat groove harder and I swear she was laughing for half the song, Gail was rolling her head gracefully which if I tried that I would fall over dizzy. Earl and Gerry were swaying and being total rock stars and Mike Garson was being...Mike Garson. Just...what an amazing song. Again, I am blown away by the revamped versions of the old classics. The Supermen: wow. Quicksand: wow. Panic In Detroit: eh. Not one of my faves, but whatever.
Seeing the show with a best friend who is 1) a Bowie virgin 2) new to Bowienet (Nuclear Baby) made my evening. Three six foot tall girls rocking out at a concert. And I'm blown away by Gwn: we were 30 rows back, kind of at the back of the floor, and somehow she manages to catch Bowie's attention and get a wave and a wink. It's like Where's Waldo? How the hell does she DO that???
Heh heh... good stuff Sax. Before Gwn has her say, here's, the officially-confirmed 27-song setlist courtesy of HNB:
Fairfax May 16th 2004
01 Rebel Rebel
02 Fashion
03 New Killer Star
04 Cactus
05 Sister Midnight
06 Hang On To Yourself
07 All The Young Dudes
08 Fame
09 China Girl
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 The Man Who Sold The World
12 Panic In Detroit
13 Hallo Spaceboy
14 Sunday
15 Heathen (The Rays)
16 Under Pressure
17 Station To Station
18 Ashes To Ashes
19 Quicksand
20 The Supermen
21 Loving The Alien
22 Modern Love
23 White Light, White Heat
24 I'm Afraid Of Americans
25 "Heroes"
(Encore)
26 Suffragette City
27 Ziggy Stardust
OK, on to Gwn's piece... so to speak:
Fairfax review by Gwnavere
This is short and sweet. We had an excellent pre-meet up with a mix of all ages and types of fans. So many familiar faces, so many wonderful new ones, and lots of those answering to "I'm new to Bnet...hi." Sax, NuclearBaby and myself made it on over to the venue early and caught the full Stereophonics set. They were great - kind of a garage band rock sound and they were totally groovin. Very humble and really held onto that "old fashioned" style of performance.
The show...sitting around row 25 didn't stop the 3 of us from having a good time (like we'd ever not have fun?). Standing through the show, David and the band came out with all smiles. Quite another Chatty Cathy from our man, Gail in excellent duds, Kat's great hair, Earl's forever coolness, steadfast Mike, good ole Green Flagged Gerry and a steady Sterling kept us totally enthralled. The standard set list with another great healthy dose of Quicksand and The Superman with a totally orgasmic rendition of Station To Station.
I'll tell you what, for a song that hit it's peak before I was even thought of, it still holds a special place in my heart and I'd never ever thought I'd hear it in my lifetime - only envy all those before me that were able to hear it on it's first run. Rock on to those that have already run their Bowie gauntlet!!
But, the tissues were about to come out when David broke out the lyrics (complete with music stand) for something we hadn't heard in the US (at least, I don't believe) since Carnegie Hall: Loving the Alien (acoustic). Tore down the house as the older yuppie crowd cheered on (many saying that they hadn't seen him since Serious Moonlight) saying that he was BETTER than ever. All in all, a fantastic concert.....ROLL ON COLUMBUS!!
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Thanx ladies, very kind of you to fight your morning after conditions to get these pieces to us. I'll leave you with links to a couple of great online reviews from the
A Reality Tour continues tomorrow at the Benedum Centre in Pittsburgh.