David Bowie/CA,USA 4.16.2004

A new masterpiece live album that conveys the final stage of Bowie’s last world tour “A REALITY TOUR 2003-2004″ is now available. This work includes “April 16, 2004 Berkeley Performance”. This is a superb audience recording that records the whole story. When you say “2004” or “Berkeley”, the masterpiece live album “BCT 04” also comes to mind, but this work is a different performance. A show is being held in Berkeley for two consecutive days, and this work is the performance the day before “BCT 04”. I suddenly listed them as “masterpiece” and “the day before,” but this is just to avoid confusion, and this work is a unique masterpiece. Before touching on the contents, let’s first check the position of the show from the schedule at that time. August 19, 2003: Warm-up gig [“REALITY” released on September 16] October 7-December 20: Europe #1 (35 performances) ← *Official January 7, 2004 – February 7th: North America #1 (18 performances) February 14th – March 14th: Oceania/Asia (13 performances) – March 29th – June 5th: North America #2 (39 performances) ← ★Coco★・June 11th – June 25th: Europe #2 (7 performances) [June 25th: Emergency transport due to aneurysm] This is Bowie in 2003/2004. This tour is symbolized by the official edition “A REALITY TOUR”, which recorded the early 2003 edition. On the other hand, the Berkeley performance of this work was the 11th concert of “North America #2” in the final stage. This work recorded at such a show is a crisp and beautiful recording. Anyway, it’s clear and transparent, and even the smallest details are very vivid. If you listen closely with headphones, you will notice the presence of hall noise, but it is unusually small and does not obscure or cloud the details. What’s even more interesting is the wide sense of space. This does not mean distance. A stereo effect that pans violently left and right. Normally, when recording an audience, you get a stereo feeling due to the position of the PA, but it doesn’t move left or right very often. However, in this work, the guitars of Earl Slick and Jerry Leonard, who interact with each other, fly left and right, and are intertwined three-dimensionally with Mike Garson’s piano and Gail Ann Dorsey’s bass. What’s even more interesting is how far away the audience noise is. If it’s just that the performance is closer, you can record by positioning yourself close to the PA, but if you do that, you won’t get a wide stereo feeling. On the other hand, if you record from a seat far from the PA, you can get a sense of space, but you will sacrifice clarity and have to pick up a large amount of audience noise. This work is a superb sound with a mysterious feeling that is neither of those. What is depicted with such clear and three-dimensional sound is a full show filled with a variety of famous songs. Perhaps because the Berkeley performance is a two-day performance, the set changes significantly between the first and second day. Normally, we would use the official version “A REALITY TOUR” as the standard, but here we will organize it while comparing it with the masterpiece “BCT 04” from the second day. 70’s (10 songs) ・The Man Who Sold The World ・Hunky Dory: Quicksand/Changes (★) ・Ziggy Stardust: Suffragette City/Ziggy Stardust ・Others: Rebel, Rebel “Diamond” Inu” / Fame (★) “Young Americans” / “Heroes” “Hero Yumikatari” / All The Young Dudes 80s/90s (8 songs) Scary Monsters: Fashion (★) / Ashes To Ashes ・Let’s Dance: China Girl/Modern Love (★)・Earthling: Battle for Britain (The Letter) (★)/I’m Afraid of Americans (★)・Others: Hallo Spaceboy (★) “Outside”/Under Pressure 2000s (9 Song)・Heathen: Cactus/Sunday/Heathen (The Rays)/Afraid(★)/Slip Away(★)・Reality: New Killer Star/Never Get Old(★)/The Loneliest Guy/Days *Note: “★” The marked songs are songs that cannot be heard on the second day’s album “BCT 04”. …and it looks like this. A repertoire of 27 songs will be played in this work, but 9 songs, or 1/3 of them, are different from “BCT 04”. You can enjoy five songs that can’t be heard on the official version of “A REALITY TOUR”: “Fashion,” “The Supermen,” “Modern Love,” “Quicksand,” and “Suffragette City.” Also, the guests are a highlight of this show. THE POLYPHONIC SPREE appears in “Slip Away”, which is played at the end of the show. They were a 23-member symphony rock group and a favorite of Bowie. He has appeared as a guest on “A REALITY TOUR” several times, and on this day you can enjoy a valuable collaboration with the best sound. This is a live album that allows you to fully experience the final stages of “A REALITY TOUR” with the freshness and vividness of an official work. This work itself is a masterpiece of musical work, but if you combine it with “BCT 04”, which was performed at the same venue and at a different location, you can enjoy a huge repertoire of 38 different songs. This is also underground, so it is a rich way to enjoy only the best audience recording. Live at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA, USA 16th April 2004 TRULY PERFECT SOUND Disc 1 (66:58) 1. Intro 2. Rebel Rebel 3. New Killer Star 4. Battle for Britain (The Letter) 5. Fame 6. Cactus 7. Fashion 8. All the Young Dudes 9. China Girl 10. The Supermen 11. Never Get Old 12. The Loneliest Guy 13. Modern Love 14. The Man Who Sold the World 15. Hallo Spaceboy Disc 2 (77:11 ) 1. Sunday 2. Heathen (The Rays) 3. Band Introductions 4. Under Pressure 5. Days 6. Afraid 7. Ashes to Ashes 8. Quicksand 9. I’m Afraid of Americans 10. “Heroes” 11. Slip Away (with The Polyphonic Spree) 12. Changes 13. Suffragette City 14. Ziggy Stardust