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Ziggy Stardust Tour

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Ziggy Stardust Tour
Tour by David Bowie
Bowie in character as Ziggy Stardust during the tour
Location
  • United Kingdom
  • North America
  • Asia
Associated albums
Start date29 January 1972
End date3 July 1973
Legs6
No. of shows191 (196 scheduled)
David Bowie concert chronology

The Ziggy Stardust Tour was a 1972–73 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, to promote the studio albums Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Aladdin Sane. Bowie was accompanied by his backing group, the Spiders from Mars, and integrated choreography, costumes and make-up into the live shows to make them a wider entertainment package. The tour generated significant press coverage, drawing positive reviews and launching Bowie to stardom.

The tour covered the UK, the US and Japan. It moved from small pub and club gigs at the beginning, to highly publicised sold-out shows at the end. At the tour's last gig at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973, Bowie shocked fans by announcing that it was the last show he would do with the Spiders from Mars.

Itinerary

[edit]

The tour lasted a year and a half and included three legs in the UK, two in the US and one in Japan.[1]

1972

[edit]

The first show was on 29 January 1972 at the Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, and featured Bowie with his backing group the Spiders from Mars: guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey.[2] Audio engineer Robin Mayhew had started working on the PA and sound equipment since the end of the previous year, and was the principal sound engineer for the entire tour.[3]

Unlike typical rock concerts at the time, the shows featured a theatrical element with a rough storyline, and several make-up and costume changes.[4] Bowie wanted the shows to be entertainment and to be outrageous, which the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had been at one time, and collaborated with mime artist Lindsay Kemp with the on-stage choreography.[5] Looking for a change of image, Bowie asked local hairdresser Suzi Fussey to cut his long blond hair, later dyeing it red.[6][7] Some group members were unsure about the stage clothes Bowie asked them to wear, but quickly changed their minds after they realised the attention it gave them with female fans.[8]

David Bowie, as Ziggy Stardust, performing at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972

The second show was at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth on 10 February, where Bowie unveiled his "Ziggy Stardust" persona for the first time in front of an audience of around 60.[9][10] Early shows had a similar attendance, but this increased as the tour progressed. The 20 April show at the Manchester Free Trade Hall was only attended by a few hundred people, but at the end of the show, Bowie was carried out into the audience by fans.[11] At the 17 June show at Oxford Town Hall, Bowie simulated fellatio on Ronson's guitar. The scene was photographed by Mick Rock and was published on the front cover of Melody Maker, greatly raising Bowie's profile in the UK.[12] On the 25 June at the Greyhound, Croydon, Bowie was supported by Roxy Music and Trapeze.[13]

The 15 July show at the Friars Aylesbury included several US music journalists in the audience, including Dave Marsh and Lillian Roxon. Bowie's management spent $25,000 (about $182,000 in today's dollars)[14] to fly them, along with US representatives of their record label RCA Records, to preview his live work before starting a major US tour that autumn.[15][8]

After several months on the road, Bowie took a break to revisit and re-rehearse the live show, to include greater theatrics and costume changes.[15][16] Rehearsals took place at the Stratford Royal Theatre.[17] The first concert after this was at the Rainbow Theatre on 19 August, where Bowie was simply billed as "Ziggy Stardust".[16] A second show was added for the following day after the first one sold out.[15] Pianist Nicky Graham was added to the band line-up for these shows.[18]

The first leg in the US began in September 1972. Bowie travelled there by boat as he did not like flying.[19] Bowie and the Spiders from Mars played their first US show in the Cleveland Music Hall on 22 September. It was also pianist Mike Garson's debut. Six days later, Bowie played a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall. The concerts drew rave reviews from the press and led to the tour being extended for a further two months.[20] A concert on 20 October at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was broadcast on radio, and heavily bootlegged before finally being released semi-officially in 1994 as Santa Monica '72 and officially in 2008 as Live Santa Monica '72.[21] The press coverage of the tour turned Bowie into a star in the US and he was featured on the front cover of Rolling Stone.[22]

The year ended with a short UK leg, which carried over into the start of 1973. Bowie played two shows at the Rainbow just before Christmas, and asked the audience to bring toys along to the concert that could be redistributed to children. The mid-show acoustic set that had been part of all the gigs until then was discarded, and Bowie with the Spiders played just an electric set.[23]

1973

[edit]

At the start of 1973, Bowie called his friend Geoffrey MacCormack, saying he wanted to expand the musical line-up on stage, and asked if he would be a backing vocalist and travel with him.[24] Another friend, John Hutchinson was recruited as an additional rhythm guitarist; the pair had previously collaborated on the demo of "Space Oddity".[25]

The second US leg began in early 1973 with a sell-out show at the Radio City Music Hall, New York, on 14 February, which saw fans queuing at 2:30 pm for an evening show.[26] Bowie's costumes were designed by Kansai Yamamoto. During the end of set, he collapsed and had to be assisted.[27] The tour subsequently moved to Japan.[28] Bowie then travelled by ferry across the Sea of Japan to Vladivostok, and travelled on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow in order to get back to Britain.[24][29] During this time, the Spiders from Mars complained they were still on the same wages as when they had started playing with Bowie despite multiple sold-out shows. They re-negotiated their fees with Bowie's manager Tony Defries, but this caused a rift in the band.[30]

The final leg of the tour covered the UK and began on 12 May 1973 with a concert at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in front of an audience of 18,000. Police forced the show to stop for 15 minutes while they battled with fans trying to storm the stage. Mick and Bianca Jagger attended the show.[31] The concert was fraught with technical difficulties and an inadequate PA system, leading to disgruntled fans.[32]

The last performance at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July was filmed by D. A. Pennebaker.[33] Woodmansey recalled the show was one of the best the band had played, because it was close to their London base and almost the end of an exhausting tour.[34] Towards the end of the show, Bowie announced "not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do".[1][35] Ronson had been told in advance by Bowie that the Spiders from Mars would split, but the announcement took Bolder and Woodmansey by surprise.[30]

Aftermath

[edit]

By the end of the final leg, Bowie had grown weary of playing Ziggy Stardust, saying "I had an awful lot of fun doing [Ziggy] ... but my performance on stage reached a peak. I felt I couldn't go on stage in the same context again ... if I'm tired with what I'm doing wouldn't it be long before the audience realised."[36] Bowie went to France to record his covers album Pin Ups in the second half of 1973, and then his album Diamond Dogs in early 1974. Bowie's next tour, a solo tour without the Spiders, was his Diamond Dogs Tour of 1974.[37]

Personnel

[edit]

According to biographer Nicholas Pegg:[38]

The Spiders from Mars

Other musicians

Other musicians on the 1973 legs

  • John Hutchinson – rhythm guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar
  • Warren Peace – backing vocals, percussion
  • Ken Fordham – saxophone
  • Brian Wilshaw – saxophone, flute

Timeline

[edit]

Tour dates

[edit]

According to Kevin Cann:[40]

1972

[edit]
List of tour dates with date, city, country and venue
Date City Country Venue
Europe
29 January Aylesbury England Borough Assembly Hall
10 February London Tolworth, Toby Jug
11 February Wycombe Wycombe Town Hall
12 February London Imperial College London
14 February Brighton Brighton Dome
18 February Sheffield University Rag
23 February Chichester Chichester College
24 February London Wallington, Public Hall
25 February Eltham, Avery Hill College
26 February Sutton Coldfield Belfry Hotel
28 February
(cancelled)		 Glasgow Scotland Glasgow City Halls
29 February Sunderland England Locarno Ballroom
1 March Bristol Bristol University
4 March Portsmouth South Parade Pier, Southsea
7 March Yeovil Yeovil College
11 March Southampton Southampton Guildhall
14 March Bournemouth Chelsea Village
18 March Birmingham Birmingham Town Hall
24 March Newcastle upon Tyne Mayfair Ballroom
17 April
(cancelled)		 Gravesend New Lord's Club
20 April Harlow The Playhouse
21 April Manchester Free Trade Hall
29 April High Wycombe Wycombe Town Hall
30 April Plymouth Plymouth Guildhall
3 May Aberystwyth Wales Aberystwyth University
6 May London England Kingston Polytechnic
7 May Hemel Hempstead Pavilion
11 May Worthing Worthing Assembly Hall
12 May London Polytechnic of Central London
13 May Slough Slough Technical College
16 May London Unknown venue
19 May Oxford Oxford Polytechnic
20 May
25 May Bournemouth Chelsea Village
27 May Epsom Ebbisham
2 June Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle City Hall
3 June Liverpool Liverpool Stadium
4 June Preston Preston Public Hall
6 June Bradford St George's Hall
7 June Sheffield Sheffield City Hall
8 June Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Town Hall
10 June
(cancelled)		 Leicester Leicester Polytechnic
13 June Bristol Colston Hall
16 June Torquay Torquay Town Hall
17 June Oxford Oxford Town Hall
19 June Southampton Southampton Guildhall
21 June Dunstable Dunstable Civic Hall
24 June Guildford Guildford Civic Hall
25 June Croydon Greyhound
30 June
(cancelled)		 High Wycombe Royal Grammar School
1 July Weston-super-Mare Winter Gardens Pavilion
2 July Torquay Rainbow Pavilion
8 July London Royal Festival Hall
14 July King's Cross Cinema
15 July Aylesbury Friar's Club
19 August London Rainbow Theatre
20 August
27 August Bristol Locarno Electric Village
30 August London Rainbow Theatre
31 August Boscombe Royal Ballroom
1 September Doncaster Top Rank Suite
2 September Manchester Hard Rock
3 September
4 September Liverpool Top Rank Suite
5 September Sunderland Top Rank Suite
6 September Sheffield Top Rank Suite
7 September Hanley Top Rank Suite
North America
22 September Cleveland United States Cleveland Music Hall
24 September Memphis Ellis Auditorium
28 September New York City Carnegie Hall
1 October Boston Boston Music Hall[a]
7 October Chicago Auditorium Theatre
8 October Detroit Fisher Theater
10 October St. Louis Kiel Auditorium
11 October
15 October Kansas City Memorial Hall
20 October Santa Monica Santa Monica Civic Auditorium[b]
21 October
27 October San Francisco Winterland Ballroom
28 October
31 October Seattle Paramount Theatre
1 November
4 November Phoenix Celebrity Theatre
5 November
11 November Dallas Majestic Theater
12 November Houston Houston Music Hall
14 November New Orleans Loyola University
17 November Dania Pirates World
20 November Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
22 November New Orleans The Warehouse
25 November Cleveland Public Auditorium[a]
26 November
28 November Pittsburgh Stanley Theatre
30 November Upper Darby Township Tower Theater
1 December
2 December
Europe
23 December London England Rainbow Theatre
24 December
28 December Manchester Hard Rock
29 December

1973

[edit]
List of tour dates with date, city, country and venue
Date City Country Venue
5 January Glasgow Scotland Green's Playhouse
6 January Edinburgh Empire Theatre
7 January Newcastle upon Tyne England Newcastle City Hall
9 January Preston Guild Hall
North America
14 February New York City United States Radio City Music Hall
15 February
16 February Upper Darby Tower Theater
17 February
(2 shows)
18 February
(2 shows)
19 February
(2 shows)
23 February Nashville War Memorial Auditorium
26 February
(2 shows)		 Memphis Ellis Auditorium
1 March Detroit Detroit Masonic Temple
2 March
4 March Chicago Aragon Ballroom
10 March Long Beach Long Beach Arena
12 March West Hollywood Hollywood Palladium
Asia
8 April Tokyo Japan Shinjuku Koseinenkin Kaikan
10 April
11 April
12 April Nagoya Kokaido
14 April Hiroshima Yubin Chokin Kaikan
16 April Kobe Kobe Kokusai Kaikan
17 April Osaka Koseinenkin Kaikan
18 April Tokyo Shibuya Kokaido
20 April
Europe
12 May London England Earl's Court
16 May Aberdeen Scotland Aberdeen Music Hall
17 May Dundee Caird Hall
18 May
(2 shows)		 Glasgow Green's Playhouse
19 May Edinburgh Empire Theatre
21 May
(2 shows)		 Norwich England Theatre Royal
22 May Romford Odeon Theatre
23 May Brighton Brighton Dome
24 May Lewisham Lewisham Odeon
25 May Bournemouth Bournemouth Winter Gardens
27 May
(2 shows)		 Guildford Guildford Civic Hall
28 May Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Civic Hall
29 May Hanley Victoria Hall
31 May Blackburn King George's Hall
1 June Bradford St George's Hall
2 June
(cancelled)		 Leeds University of Leeds
(rescheduled to Rolarena 29 June)
3 June Coventry New Theatre Coventry
4 June Worcester Gaumont Theatre
6 June
(2 shows)		 Sheffield Sheffield City Hall
7 June
(2 shows)		 Manchester Free Trade Hall
8 June
(2 shows)		 Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle City Hall
9 June Preston Preston Guild Hall
10 June
(2 shows)		 Liverpool Liverpool Empire Theatre
11 June Leicester De Montfort Hall
12 June
(2 shows)		 Chatham Central Hall
13 June Kilburn Gaumont Theatre
14 June Salisbury Salisbury City Hall
15 June
(2 shows)		 Taunton Taunton Odeon
16 June
(2 shows)		 Torquay Torquay Town Hall
18 June
(2 shows)		 Bristol Colston Hall
19 June Southampton Southampton Guildhall
21 June
(2 shows)		 Birmingham Birmingham Town Hall
22 June
(2 shows)
23 June
(cancelled)		 Boston Gliderdrome
24 June
(2 shows)		 Croydon Fairfield Halls
25 June
(2 shows)		 Oxford New Theatre Oxford
26 June
27 June Doncaster Top Rank Suite
28 June Bridlington Spa Ballroom
29 June Leeds Rolarena
2 July London Hammersmith Odeon[c]
3 July

Songs

[edit]

Bowie varied his setlist throughout the tour. A setlist from the tour would include any of the following songs:[41]

References

[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Recordings released on the 2003 Aladdin Sane bonus disc.
  2. ^ Show released on Santa Monica '72 (1994) and Live Santa Monica '72 (2008).
  3. ^ Show released on Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture.

Citations

  1. ^ a b Auslander, Philip (2013). Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time. Ashgate. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-409-49354-9.
  2. ^ "Bowie at Earl's Court 45 Years Ago". davidbowie.com. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Ambition". Robin Mayhew. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. ^ The History of Live Music in Britain, Volume II, 1968–1984: From Hyde Park to the Hacienda. Routledge. 2019. p. 339. ISBN 978-1-317-02883-3.
  5. ^ Charlesworth & Charlesworth 2013, pp. 31, 38.
  6. ^ Leigh 2016, p. 114.
  7. ^ "David Bowie: his style story, 1972–1973". The Guardian. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Ziggy Stardust revealed to the world – Friars Aylesbury 1972". Friars Aylesbury. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  9. ^ Woodmansey 2016, p. 300.
  10. ^ "Plan B: The town that fell to Earth". The Planner. Royal Town Planning Institute. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Memories Of Ziggy Live, 30 Years Ago Today!". davidbowie.com. 21 April 2002. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  12. ^ Leigh 2016, pp. 114–115.
  13. ^ Cann 2010, p. 257.
  14. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  15. ^ a b c Woodmansey 2016, p. 145.
  16. ^ a b Charlesworth & Charlesworth 2013, p. 38.
  17. ^ Woodmansey 2016, p. 147.
  18. ^ Woodmansey 2016, p. 128.
  19. ^ Leigh 2016, p. 121.
  20. ^ Lifton, Dave (22 September 2015). "When David Bowie launched his US "Ziggy Startdust" tour". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  21. ^ Ziggy Stardust Tour at AllMusic
  22. ^ Leigh 2016, p. 127.
  23. ^ "Bowie at the Rainbow – 45 years ago tonight". davidbowie.com. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  24. ^ a b "'How happy he was': candid David Bowie photographs by his childhood friend". The guardian. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Spider From Mars John Hutchison on the 50th-anniversary edition of Space Oddity and The Mercury Demos". 22 June 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Inside Track". Billboard. 24 February 1973. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  27. ^ Eoin Devereux; Aileen Dillane; Martin Power, eds. (2015). David Bowie: Critical Perspectives. Routledge. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-317-75449-7.
  28. ^ "Kansai Yamamoto on designing for David Bowie in 1973". Fashion Telegraph. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  29. ^ Eden, Caroline (31 July 2018). "Bowie, Buddhists and sunken cities: 10 things you didn't know about the Trans-Siberian Railway". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  30. ^ a b Swanson, Dave (25 June 2012). "Original Spider from Mars talks about split with Bowie". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  31. ^ Leigh 2016, p. 131.
  32. ^ Kent, Nick (19 May 1973). "Aladdin Distress". New Musical Express.
  33. ^ "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars". phfilms.com. Pennebaker Hegedus Films. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  34. ^ Woodmansey 2016, p. 217.
  35. ^ "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best David Bowie Deep Cuts". Rolling Stone. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  36. ^ Miles (1980), p. 54
  37. ^ Kamp, Thomas (1985), David Bowie: The Wild-Eyed Boy 1964–1984 (1st ed.), O'Sullivan, Woodside & Co.
  38. ^ Pegg 2016, pp. 539–555.
  39. ^ Woodmansey 2016, p. 155.
  40. ^ Cann 2010, p. 327.
  41. ^ Pegg 2016, pp. 539–548.
  42. ^ Thompson, Dave (2006). Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie. Ecw Press. p. 59. ISBN 9781554902712.

Sources

  • Cann, Kevin (2010). Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974. Croydon, Surrey: Adelita. ISBN 978-0-9552017-7-6.
  • Charlesworth, Mike; Charlesworth, Chris (2013). David Bowie Black Book. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-783-23026-6.
  • Leigh, Wendy (2016). Bowie: The Biography. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-476-76709-3.
  • Miles, Barry (1980). David Bowie Black Book. London, New York: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0860018083.
  • Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The complete David Bowie (Expanded and updated seventh ed.). London: Titan Books. ISBN 978-1785653650.
  • Woodmansey, Mick (2016). Spider from Mars: My Life with Bowie. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-283-07274-1.
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