Earthling Tour

The Earthling Tour was a concert tour by British musician David Bowie, in promotion of his album Earthling, released in 1997, The tour started on 7 June 1997 at Flughafen Blankensee in Lübeck, Germany, continuing through Europe, North America before reaching a conclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 November 1997.

Earthling Tour

Tour by David Bowie
Bowie performing at the Ruisrock festival in Finland
Associated album	Earthling
Start date	7 June 1997
End date	7 November 1997
Legs	3
No. of shows	83
David Bowie concert chronology

History

Bowie first publicly performed Earthling material in late 1996, playing "Telling Lies" and sometimes "Little Wonder" at shows on the US East Coast in September and October. On 9 January 1997, he hosted a concert at Madison Square Garden for his 50th birthday. A month later, Earthling was released and Bowie promoted it with appearances on Saturday Night Live (8 February) and The Tonight Show (11 February), followed by a Pay-Per-View broadcast of the birthday concert on 8 March.[1]

Bowie and his band began rehearsing for the tour in April 1997, and expected the tour to last "from May through Christmas" (1997). Bowie predicted a "really extensive, a long, long tour".[2] During rehearsals for the tour, Bowie re-recorded updated versions of some of his older songs, including "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Stay". These updated versions were performed during the tour, though the latter wouldn't be officially released until 2020 as part of Is It Any Wonder?[3]

The original concept was to perform two sets: one regular and one dance-oriented, incorporating drum and bass.[4] This idea was abandoned, owing to the antipathy of critics and audiences.[5] After the performance at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht, on 11 June 1997, elements of each were incorporated into one set.

"He hated playing things just like the record," recalled guitarist Reeves Gabrels. "He wanted me to dress songs up in the clothes we're wearing now."[6]

The 19 July 1997 Phoenix Festival performance – billed as Tao Jones Index (a pseudonym that played on Bowie's birth name "Jones") – in the BBC Radio 1 dance tent preceded the regular performance on the main stage the following day. The 14 October 1997 show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York – broadcast on MTV's Live from the 10 Spot – was added at short notice due to cancellation by The Rolling Stones. The following show on 15 October 1997 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York was part of the GQ Awards.

The setlist included Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" (from Big Science (1982)) with lead vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey.

Tour publicist Tony Michaelides handled press, radio & television for Bowie.

Setlist

This performance is from the Radio City Music Hall, New York City, United States show at 15 October 1997.

1. "Always Crashing in the Same Car"
2. "Panic in Detroit"
3. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
4. "My Death"
5. "The Jean Genie"
6. "I'm Afraid of Americans"
7. "Seven Years in Tibet"
8. "Looking for Satellites"
9. "Under Pressure"
10. "Fashion"
11. "The Man Who Sold the World"
12. "Battle for Britain (The Letter)"
13. "Stay"
14. "Little Wonder"

Encore:

1. "Hallo Spaceboy"
2. "Moonage Daydream"

Tour band

• David Bowie – vocals, guitar, alto & baritone saxophone
• Reeves Gabrels – guitar, backing vocals
• Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Zack Alford [7] – drums, percussion
• Mike Garson – keyboards, backing vocals

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
Warm-up shows
17 May 1997	Dublin	Ireland	The Factory Studios
2 June 1997	London	England	Hanover Grand [8]
3 June 1997
5 June 1997	Hamburg	Germany	Große Freiheit
Europe
7 June 1997	Lübeck	Germany	Flughafen Blankensee
8 June 1997	Offenbach am Main		Bieberer Berg Stadion
10 June 1997	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Paradiso
11 June 1997	Utrecht		Muziekcentrum Vredenburg
13 June 1997	Essen	Germany	(Cancelled) Essen Stadium
	Dortmund		Westfalenhalle
14 June 1997	Paris	France	Parc des Princes
16 June 1997	Rezé		La Trocardiére
17 June 1997	Bordeaux		La Médoquine
19 June 1997	Clermont-Ferrand		Maison des Sports
21 June 1997	Leipzig	Germany	Go Bang Festival
22 June 1997	Munich
24 June 1997	Vienna	Austria	Sommer Arena [9]
25 June 1997	Prague	Czech Republic	Congress Centre
28 June 1997	Oslo	Norway	Kalvoeya Festival
29 June 1997	Turku	Finland	Ruisrock Festival
1 July 1997	Zagreb	Croatia	Dom Sportova
2 July 1997	Pistoia	Italy	Piazza del Duomo
4 July 1997	Torhout	Belgium	Torhout Festival
5 July 1997	Werchter		Werchter Festival
6 July 1997	Ringe	Denmark	Midtfyns Festival
8 July 1997	Brescia	Italy	Stadio Mario Rigamonti
10 July 1997	Napoli		Neapolis Festival
11 July 1997	Arbatax		Rocce Rosse Festival
13 July 1997	Frauenfeld	Switzerland	Out in the Green
15 July 1997	Madrid	Spain	(Cancelled) Las Ventas
			Aqua Lung
16 July 1997	Zaragoza		Pabellón Príncipe Felipe
17 July 1997	San Sebastián		Velodromo De Anoeta
19 July 1997	Stratford upon Avon	England	Phoenix Festival Long Marston Airfield (billed as Tao Jones Index)
20 July 1997
22 July 1997	Glasgow	Scotland	Barrowlands
23 July 1997	Manchester	England	Manchester Academy
25 July 1997	Malmö	Sweden	Mölleplatsen
26 July 1997	Stockholm		Lollipop Festival
27 July 1997	Gdańsk	Poland	(Cancelled) Stadion Lechii
29 July 1997	Lyon	France	Fourvière
30 July 1997	Juan-les-Pins		Pinede Gould
1 August 1997	Birmingham	England	Que Club
2 August 1997	Liverpool		Royal Court
3 August 1997	Newcastle upon Tyne		Riverside
5 August 1997	Nottingham		Rock City
6 August 1997	Leeds		Town & Country Club
8 August 1997	Dublin	Ireland	Olympia Theatre
9 August 1997
11 August 1997	London	England	Shepherd's Bush Empire
12 August 1997
14 August 1997	Budapest	Hungary	Student Island Fest
North America
6 September 1997	Vancouver	Canada	Plaza of Nations
7 September 1997	Seattle	United States	Paramount Theater
9 September 1997	San Francisco		The Warfield
10 September 1997	Los Angeles		Hollywood Athletic Club
12 September 1997	Universal City, California		Universal Amphitheatre
13 September 1997
15 September 1997	San Francisco		The Warfield
16 September 1997
19 September 1997	Chicago		The Vic Theater
21 September 1997	Detroit		State Theatre
22 September 1997
24 September 1997	Montreal	Canada	Metropolis
25 September 1997
27 September 1997	Toronto		Warehouse [10][11]
28 September 1997
30 September 1997	Boston	United States	Orpheum Theatre [12]
1 October 1997
3 October 1997	Philadelphia		Electric Factory
4 October 1997
7 October 1997	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida		Chili Pepper
8 October 1997
10 October 1997	Atlanta		International Ballroom
12 October 1997	Washington, D.C.		The Capitol Ballroom
13 October 1997	New York City		The Supper Club
14 October 1997	Port Chester, New York		Capitol Theatre (MTV 10-Spot)
15 October 1997	New York City		Radio City Music Hall (GQ Awards)
17 October 1997	Chicago		Aragon Ballroom
18 October 1997	St. Paul, Minnesota		Roy Wilkins Auditorium
23 October 1997	Mexico City	Mexico	Foro Sol
South America
31 October 1997	Curitiba	Brazil	Paulo Leminski Concert and Entertainment Hall
1 November 1997	São Paulo		Ibirapuera Arena
2 November 1997	Rio de Janeiro		Citibank Hall
5 November 1997	Santiago	Chile	Estadio Nacional de Chile
7 November 1997	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverri

Songs

From Space Oddity "Space Oddity" From The Man Who Sold the World "The Man Who Sold the World" "The Supermen" From Hunky Dory "Quicksand" "Queen Bitch" From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars "Moonage Daydream" "Lady Stardust" From Aladdin Sane "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)" "Panic in Detroit" "The Jean Genie" From Live Santa Monica '72 "My Death" (originally from La Valse à Mille Temps (1959) by Jacques Brel; written by Brel & Mort Shuman) "I'm Waiting for the Man" (originally from The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) by The Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed; outtake from various Bowie sessions 1966-72) From Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture "White Light/White Heat" (originally from White Light/White Heat (1968) by The Velvet Underground; written by Lou Reed) From Young Americans "Young Americans" "Fame" (Bowie, John Lennon, Carlos Alomar) From Station to Station "Stay" From Low "Always Crashing in the Same Car" From "Heroes" ""Heroes"" (Bowie, Brian Eno) "V-2 Schneider" From Lodger "Look Back in Anger" (Bowie, Eno)

From Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) "Ashes To Ashes" "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" "Fashion" From Let's Dance "Let's Dance" "China Girl" From Tin Machine "I Can't Read" (Bowie, Reeves Gabrels) From Black Tie White Noise "Pallas Athena" (Tao Jones Index version) From Outside "Outside" (Bowie, Kevin Armstrong) "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels, Mike Garson, Erdal Kızılçay, Sterling Campbell) "Hallo Spaceboy" (Bowie, Eno) "The Motel" (Bowie, Eno) "The Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as Beauty)" (Bowie, Eno, Gabrels) "I'm Deranged" (Bowie, Eno) "Strangers When We Meet" From Earthling "Little Wonder" (Bowie, Gabrels, Mark Plati) "Looking for Satellites" (Bowie, Gabrels, Plati) "Battle for Britain (The Letter)" (Bowie, Gabrels, Plati) "Seven Years in Tibet" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Dead Man Walking" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Dead Man Walking (Moby Mix)" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Telling Lies" "The Last Thing You Should Do" (Bowie, Gabrels, Plati) "I'm Afraid of Americans" (Bowie, Eno) Other songs: "Can't Help Thinking About Me" (early non-album single (1966)) "All the Young Dudes" (from All the Young Dudes (1972) by Mott the Hoople; written by Bowie) "Under Pressure" (originally a single (1981) by Bowie and Queen later found on Hot Space the following year; written by Bowie, John Deacon, Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor) "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" (a single by Domenico Modugno, Bowie cover on Absolute Beginners; written by Modugno and Franco Migliacci) "Is It Any Wonder?" (Instrumental jam based on "Fame", reworked as "Fun" for a BowieNet release) "O Superman (For Massenet)" (from Big Science (1982) by Laurie Anderson; written by Anderson)

References

1. David Bowie Launches New Album 'earthling' With Network Television Appearances, A Pay-per-view Concert, A National Radio Broadcast, And Star On Hollywood Blvd's Walk Of Fame, 30 January 1997, archived from the original on 9 January 2014, retrieved 5 July 2013
2. Laban, Linda (13 February 1997), "Bowie Hits a Fab 50", The Seattle Times: E3
3. "David Bowie Is it Any Wonder? Streaming EP of unreleased & rare material". 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
4. "David Bowie: The FI Interview" by J.D. Considine, Fi magazine, October 1997, pp 36-41
5. Nicholas Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, ISBN 1-903111-73-0
6. DeMain, Bill (April 2018). "Reeves Gabrels talks about David Bowie". Classic Rock. No. 247. p. 58.
7. Discogs – Zachary Alford – Profile & Discography
8. Discogs – Song & Dance – 1997 unOfficial 2CD, Dancing Horse (DH-017) Japan ~ Live at Hanover Grand Theatre, June 1997
9. Discogs – Live in Vienna Arena 1997 unOfficial 2CD, Phantom Private Records (WADB01/02) Germany ~ Live at Sommer Arena, Vienna, 24 June 1997
10. Discogs – The Chaos Girls – 1998 unOfficial 2CD, Montserrat Records (BRCD 2900/1) Germany
11. Discogs – Jungle Fever – 1998 unOfficial 2CD, Montserrat Records (BRCD 2902/03) Germany ~ the CFNY Studios, Toronto 1997-09-26th
12. Discogs – Adventures in Cyberspace – 1997 unOfficial 2CD, Dancing Horse (DH-020) ~ Boston's Orpheum Theatre, 1 October 1997 Cybercast

References

• David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784-X