David Bowie/London,UK 1999 & more

From Bowie’s short tour of 1999’s Hours, which consisted of only eight shows, to the Astoria performance on December 2nd in London, this album is fully recorded with a crisp soundboard that could easily be used as a live album. From songs performed with arrangements unique to this period to songs from Hours that were only performed on this tour, Bowie’s performance with his 1990s Kimutaku-like hairstyle is recorded with vivid sound images. The bonus track also includes a live studio performance from a television appearance in 1999, making this a representative album of this tour. Bowie never toured for each album in his career, but since the 1990s, he has toured almost exclusively with albums. The tour in 1999 was for the album Hours, and the tour title was the Hours Tour. Bowie made many television appearances around this time to promote his albums, but this Hours Tour was the least number of tours in Bowie’s career. It’s not really a tour, with only eight shows. This is unusual for Bowie, and the truth is that he had no plans to tour, but decided on a short schedule at the request of the promotion side. October 9, 1999 London October 10, 1999 Dublin October 14, 1999 Paris October 17, 1999 Vienna November 19, 1999 New York December 2, 1999 London December 4, 1999 Milan December 7, 1999 Copenhagen This work is a complete recording of the Astoria performance in London on December 2, 1999, from the short Hours Tour of only eight shows, with a crisp soundboard. The sound quality is high enough to pass for a live album as it is, and it is not only representative of this tour, but also boasts one of the best sound quality among Bowie’s collector’s items. The vocals are especially vivid, so vivid that you get the illusion that Bowie is singing right there. For those who collect the tours, this album will be enough for the Hours Tour. The concert opens with a quiet “Life On Mars”. The beautiful piano intro instantly transforms the noise in the venue into a refined frenzy. This opening, which is far from flashy, is also tasteful and wonderful. In particular, the lyrics “she’s lived it ten times or more” are sung slowly as if climbing up, which is just irresistible. And the key “Lyphonma~♪”, which was sung lower on the 1990 tour, is sung properly higher, which is a big plus. Moreover, the backing is a simple performance with only piano, and the occasional piano hits as accents create a classical atmosphere. What’s surprising is that at first, only Bowie is singing, but then the whole venue starts singing together from the second verse, “Cause Lennon’s on sale again”. Perhaps because of the mix, it is a very effective and moving take. And the second song is “Word On A Wing”. This beautiful and grand song, which seems to fly across the sky with wings spread wide, was suddenly performed in 1999. This song is one of Bowie’s best songs, and is a rare number that was only performed on the 1976 tour, VH1’s Storyteller one-off, and this Hours Tour. The arrangement is almost close to the original, and the female chorus is also included. Bowie sings a little lower, but it does not diminish the charm of the song. The unfortunate thing is that the performance puts the guitar at the forefront instead of the piano. There is no impressive piano that was in the original, so it is hard to say that it surpasses the studio version, but the fact that Bowie re-performed it on stage a quarter century after its release is enough to move me. “Ashes To Ashes” does not fade out and ends properly. The floating feeling is also perfectly reproduced, making it a simple yet tasteful performance. “China Girl” is performed with a heavy arrangement that makes the bass roar. It’s interesting that it has been reborn as a hard rock with a sense of speed, completely different from the original version, which had an oriental atmosphere. It feels like a lead bass. Next, an acoustic intro is played. For a moment, the melody makes you think it’s “I Can Read” by TIN MACHINE, but surprisingly, it’s “Always Crashing In The Same Car” that is being played. The audience didn’t know what song it was at first, and only cheered when the lyrics began. “Drive In Saturday” is a song that Bowie liked to sing on stage since the Ziggy era, and it is a rare song where you can listen to different arrangements on each tour. The 1999 version is a slow rock number mainly featuring female chorus and guitar. And “Stay” is the song that I wanted to play consecutively with “Word On A Wing”, which was originally played as the second song. Apart from the guitar in the intro phrase, the lead guitar plays an eerie sound that is significantly different from the original, and the part where Bowie counts out “One! Two! Three! Four!” between the intros is incredibly cool. A long bass and guitar solo are added to the second half of the song. “Changes” is a Bowie classic where you can hear the whole venue singing along. Then “Rebel Rebel” begins with a medley of the ending piano. Bowie seems a little overwhelmed by the distorted guitar riff that repeats in the background. The last song of the concert is “I’m Afraid Of Americans”. You can’t tell unless you listen to it at the venue, but it’s a song that overwhelms the audience with a very bass-heavy arrangement that resonates in the stomachs of the people in the seats. Here too, the drums are perfectly recorded reinforcing the powerful and thick bass sound in the chorus. And from the new album “Hours” that the tour supports, they played six songs, more than half of the album, which shows that they are active artists. The songs on “Hours” have not been played on any subsequent tours except for “Survive” which was performed on the Heather tour, so all of them can be said to be rare songs only for this tour. As expected of a recent album, there are no major changes to the arrangements and they are perfectly reproduced. The opening number of the album, “Thursday Child”, features a beautiful glittering acoustic guitar. Just like the album, there is a faint female chorus. For this reason, the female chorus was introduced on stage, and it can be said that this is also utilized in the arrangements of other old songs. “Survive” and “Seven” are also slow ballads of the same genre. Perhaps because they are from the same album, there is no denying the similar atmosphere. However, “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” is a complete change of pace, with Bowie’s unique vocals placed lightly on top of the galloping drums. The singing is a little nasal. As mentioned at the beginning, following the release of “Hours” in 1999, they made many TV appearances in parallel with the tour for promotion, and the second half of Disc 2 contains live studio performances from TV appearances during this period. First, “Something In The Air” performance on the David Letterman Show on October 4, 1999. This was the only song performed that day. Next, on October 9, 1999, this was not a TV performance, but a soundboard recording from “NetAid” held at Wembley Stadium in London as part of a regular tour. Six songs broadcast from the complete set list performed in the main part are recorded. Next, “Thursday’s Child” and “China Girl”, two songs performed on the Rosie O’Donnell Show on November 17, 1999. When time is limited, they often play new songs that double as promotional material and past representative songs that are popular with the audience, and this time was no exception, with a combination of new songs and old songs. The last one was their appearance at Jools Holland on December 4th. They performed four songs on this show, with the old songs “Ashes To Ashes” and “Cracked Actor” sandwiched between the new songs “Somethin In The Air” and “Survive”. I would have liked them to play the new songs that they didn’t play at the actual concert in a live studio performance on TV, but I guess it was a promotion for the tour as well as the album. THE ASTORIA LONDON U.K. December 2, 1999 DISC ONE 01. Life On Mars? 02. Word On A Wing 03. Thursday’s Child 04. Ashes To Ashes 05. Survive 06. Can’t Help Thinking About Me 07. China Girl 08. Always Crashing In The Same Car 09. Something In The Air 10. Drive In Saturday 11. Stay 12. Seven 13 Changes 14. Rebel Rebel 15. Repetition DISC TWO 01. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell 02. Cracked Actor 03. I’m Afraid Of Americans DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW October 4, 1999 04. Something In The Air NETAID WEMBLEY STADIUM October 9, 1999 05. Life On Mars? 06. Survive 07. China Girl 08. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell 09. Drive In Saturday 10. Rebel Rebel ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW November 17, 1999 11. Thursday’s Child 12. China Girl LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND December 4, 1999 13. Ashes To Ashes 14. Something In The Air 15. Survive 16. Cracked Actor