The Man Who Fell To Earth

He must have fallen to earth, because he certainly didn't come from around here. David Bowie is without doubt the coolest man on the planet. He didn't just play his old hits, he re-invented them, as he has re-invented himself many times, and the new interpretations made them sound as fresh as the day they were first released. Looking fit at 57 in tight jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt, and with a full, strong voice, he puts most of today's pop and rock performers to shame. He was relaxed and funny, at one point teasing the crowd about how old they all were - there were an astonishing number of hands raised when he asked how many were over 50. His artistic range is amazing, including hard rock, soul, dance, rock and roll and even old-fashioned crooning. The playlist, as posted at davidbowie.com:

01 Rebel Rebel
02 Queen Bitch
03 Cactus
04 Sister Midnight
05 New Killer Star
06 All The Young Dudes
07 China Girl
08 The Loneliest Guy
09 The Man Who Sold The World
10 Battle For Britain (The Letter)
11 Pablo Picasso
12 Heathen (The Rays)
13 The Supermen
14 Hallo Spaceboy
15 Under Pressure
16 Station To Station
17 Fantastic Voyage
18 Ashes To Ashes
19 Quicksand
20 Modern Love
21 Let's Dance
22 I'm Afraid Of Americans
23 "Heroes"

(Encore)
24 Diamond Dogs
25 Ziggy Stardust

(you can also find photos from our show at that link)

He began "Let's Dance" as a slow song, and when the chorus finally kicked in, the place went nuts. "Heroes" was the usual crowd-pleaser, and I was happy to see that he took as much pleasure in singing the older hits as he did singing the ones off the new CD, Reality (which I will be buying soon). When he came back for the encore, he introduced "Diamond Dogs" by saying, "This is what we called rock and roll in the 70s." And man did they rock the place. I loved that they finished with "Ziggy", and that final "Ziggy played guuuitaaaar" was sung deeper than in the released version and made a great way to end the show.

And, just so you know, my college crush on David Bowie has been re-ignited.

I must tell you about the opening act, The Polyphonic Spree. You'd have to figure the opening act for David Bowie is likely to be somewhat eclectic, and, well, you'd be right. I can't say I didn't like the music - it was pretty good, in a Godspell/Jesus Christ Superstar/Psychedlic way. There are 25 people in the group, and that includes an 8 or 9 person choir. They all wear colorful choir robes or empire waist dresses, and look like they just walked off the commune. I even noticed that a couple of the women in the choir were pregnant. The instruments included a harp, a french horn, a trumpet and a flute, along with a couple of keyboardists, electric guitar, a percussionist and a drummer. Very big sound with a "the sun makes me shine" sort of message. Definitely an acquired taste.

All in all it was a great night, and a concert that I will remember for a very long time.