David Bowie/Canada 2002 & more

“HEATHEN TOUR 2002” made the “Bowie revival” known to the whole world. The superb stereo soundboard album is here. Perhaps because it was the first world tour in five years, this era was a bumper crop of soundboards. We have reported on many of the tour’s No. 1 masterpieces, including “OLYMPIA 2002”, “MONTREUX 2002”, “BBC LIVE 2002”, “BERLIN 2002”, and others. This work is a live album that compiles soundboards that are the best, even though they are not included in such masterpieces. [Superb soundboard supervised by members] However, it is not just a “leftover”. In fact, this work was supervised by the band member at the time, Mark Plati. He is a producer/musician who participated in “EARTHLING” to “REALITY”, and a talented person who played rhythm guitar/bass/keyboard/chorus in “HEATHEN TOUR 2002”. Unlike just a related person, it is a master selected and released by a person who entered the core. Three types of sound boards are recorded in this work, but the main one is “Toronto performance on August 5, 2002”, which accounts for 12 of the total 17 songs in this work. Let’s check the position of the show from the overall picture of “HEATHEN TOUR 2002”.・June 11: Warm-up show (1 performance in NY) ・June 15: TV appearance performance ・June 29: TOTAL MELTDOWN (1 performance in London) ・July 1-18: Europe #1 (9 performances) ・July 28-August 16: North America #1 (12 performances) ←★Here★ ・September 22-October 2: Europe #2 (6 performances) ・October 11-23: North America #2 (7 performances) The above is an overview of “HEATHEN TOUR 2002”. All of the sound boards/pro shots mentioned above were in Europe, but this work is “North America #1”. This is the sixth performance of the concert. The greatest thing about this sound board is the quality. Unfortunately, it is an incomplete version of about half of the show due to the broadcast frame, but the sound is perfect and official. It is not just a straight-forward sound board, but also has a precise mix, and the balance of each instrument is perfect, with even the slightest echo on the vocals. The timing of the cheers is perfectly calculated, and it is a super-excellent sound board that is perfectly “work-like”, as expected from the members. The quality was such that it could be officially released even with the master released as it was, but this work is even more polished because of the high quality sound. The slightly muddy midrange has been sorted out and the sound is even clearer and more transparent. The show depicted with that quality is also wonderful. This tour is famous for the New York and London performances with the theme of completely reproducing “LOW” and “HEATHEN”, but it was from “Europe #1” that the set became a regular concert format. The Toronto performance of this work is when the ensemble has been refined by doing a lot of things from there, and the band’s engine is at full throttle. You can enjoy a show that truly shows its true potential. [A magnificent bonus that complements the main story] Following such a Toronto performance, there are two types of studio live. These are two songs from BBC’s famous program “MICHAEL PARKINSON SHOW”, “Everone Says “Hi”” and “Life On Mars?”, and three songs from “TOP OF THE POPS 2”, “Slow Burn”, “Fame” and “I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship”. This was also supervised by Mark Plati, and I wanted to say that it was as perfect as expected, but the master released online had a very slight scratch. The basic quality is superb, not inferior to the Toronto performance, but there were some skips in several places and the sound pressure of each sound source was also different. It was released as it was. The sound pressure may not be a problem when listening in a loudness-normalized environment, but the skips are severe. This work is a live album as a “work” to the last, and it was pressed permanently in a perfectly corrected state. It is actually the choice of sound source that makes you feel the dignity of the members’ supervision more than such quality. These two broadcasts do not overlap at all with the main Toronto performance, and are more than just a bonus, they are a “complementary edition”. Of course, the mood is different from the stage because it is a studio live at a broadcasting station, but the same songs do not come out in many patterns throughout the album. Particularly delicious are “Slow Burn” and “I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship” from “TOP OF THE POPS 2”. Both are new songs from “HEATHEN”, but the stage performances were very limited, and they are rare numbers that could not be heard even on the great albums “OLYMPIA 2002” and “MONTREUX 2002”. As a result, this work contains live versions of 8 of the 12 songs from “HEATHEN”, and you can feel the “aesthetics” of the members who were active with Bowie at the time. It is not simply beautiful, but it is also a superb stereo soundboard album that is not simply a collection. Supervised by Mark Plati, the sound and composition have a “work-like” elegance. This is one of the closest to the official existence of “HEATHEN TOUR 2002”, which did not leave an official live album. Since it is not a full show, it does not destroy the stronghold of “OLYMPIA 2002”. However, that one album cannot fully explain “Bowie’s 2002”. Including the precious “Slow Burn” and “I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship”, it is the best live album both as a work and as a subtext. Area 2 Festival, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON. Canada 5th August 2002 STEREO SBD Area 2 Festival, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON. Canada 5th August 2002 Taken from CBC Radio 3 broadcast mixed by Mark Plati (75:46) 1. Introduction 2. Ashes To Ashes 3. Breaking Glass 4. Cactus 5. Slip Away 6. China Girl 7. I’ve Been Waiting For You 8. Band Introductions 9. 5:15 The Angels Have Gone 10. Heathen (The Rays) 11. Fashion 12. Let’s Dance 13. Ziggy Stardust Michael Parkinson Show (Broadcast on 21st September 2002) 14. Everone Says “Hi” 15. Life On Mars?　Top Of The Pops 2 (recorded at Kaufman Studios, New New York, USA on 2nd June 2002) 16. Slow Burn (Broadcast on 7th June 2002) 17. Fame (Broadcast on 18th June 2002) 18. I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship (Broadcast on 19th June 2002)