Isolar II – The 1978 World Tour
1978 concert tour by David Bowie
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The Isolar II – The 1978 World Tour,[1] more commonly known as The Low / Heroes World Tour or The Stage Tour,[2] was a worldwide concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The tour opened on 29 March 1978 at the San Diego Sports Arena continuing through North America, Europe and Australia before reaching a conclusion at the Nippon Budokan in Japan on 12 December 1978.
- North America
- Europe
- Oceania
- Asia
| Tour by David Bowie | |
Poster to the concerts in Belgium. A similar layout was used for other concert posters. | |
| Location |
|
|---|---|
| Associated albums | |
| Start date | 29 March 1978 |
| End date | 12 December 1978 |
| Legs | 4 |
| No. of shows | 78 |
| David Bowie concert chronology | |
Tour development and song selection
Originally, Brian Eno planned to be a part of the tour band, but had to drop out for health reasons. The band only had two weeks to rehearse for the tour. Carlos Alomar was the tour's band leader and drove the rehearsals.[3]
The set list for the performances consisted of material from the previous year's albums, Low and "Heroes", with the second half of each performance opening with a five-song sequence from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album. Bowie had the band learn the entirety of the Ziggy Stardust album in rehearsals, although most of the songs were never performed live on the tour. The instrumental track "Art Decade" typically followed the Ziggy Stardust tracks, a mellow track to follow the energy of the Ziggy Stardust material.[3] Tracks from the 1976 album Station to Station were the closing numbers. In the late 1980s, Bowie regarded some of the songs he performed live on the tour as a bit "ponderous", referring specifically to some of the long instrumental performances such as "Warszawa."[4]
A short intermission split a typical night's show into two parts,[3] and included an encore, and for the second Bowie wore a snakeskin drapecoat and "huge baggy white pants."[3]
Tour reception and incidents
The show in Marseille was disrupted by a blown PA (coincidentally during the song "Blackout").[3]
The review in New Musical Express of a show in Newcastle was positive, with praise for Bowie, the band ("...the tightest outfit he's ever worked with, and that includes the Spiders..."), and the set, calling the "expressionist banks of white neon strip-lighting" "dazzling".[5]
The Australian leg of the tour included Bowie's first concert performances in Australia and his first large-scale outdoor concerts.[2] For the first two dates, keyboardist Dennis Garcia substituted for Roger Powell, who had a previous commitment with Utopia.
Live recordings
The performances at Providence Civic Center, Boston Garden and Philadelphia Spectrum were recorded for the live album Stage. Tour pianist Sean Mayes recalled that for the show that night, they slowed the tempo down (of most songs) for the recording, the only night such a change was made.[3]
The performance on 10 April 1978 at the Dallas Convention Center was filmed for a television special titled "David Bowie on Stage", where six songs were broadcast: "What in the World", "Blackout", "Sense of Doubt", "Speed of Life", "Hang On to Yourself", and "Ziggy Stardust". The performances at Earls Court in London, England were filmed by David Hemmings, with extracts broadcast on a British TV programme, The London Weekend Show. The film has yet to be released. The performance at the NHK Hall in Tokyo, Japan on 12 December 1978 was filmed and broadcast on Japanese TV's The Young Music Show.
The final night of the Earls Court performance was recorded by the RCA mobile unit with the live performance premiere of the song, "Sound and Vision", later released on the 1995 compilation album, Rarestonebowie. The song was not performed live again until the Sound+Vision Tour in 1990.
Record Store Day on 21 April 2018 saw the release of Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78). It was recorded at Earls Court on 30 June and 1 July 1978.[6][7]
The tour band remembered that "every show was taped" for Bowie's private use, and the tapes were carefully guarded by Alomar.[3]
Setlist
This setlist, from a June 1978 performance at Newcastle City Hall, is representative of the setlist at most shows on the tour:[5]
- Act I
- "Warszawa"
- ""Heroes""
- "Be My Wife"
- "What in the World"
- "Speed of Life"
- "Breaking Glass"
- "The Jean Genie"
- "Blackout"
- "Beauty and the Beast"
- "Sense of Doubt"
- Act II
- "Five Years"
- "Soul Love"
- "Hang On to Yourself"
- "Star"
- "Ziggy Stardust"
- "Suffragette City"
- "Art Decade"
- "Alabama Song"
- "Station to Station"
- Encore
- "Stay"
- "TVC 15"
- "Rebel Rebel"
Tour band
- David Bowie[5] – vocals, chamberlin
- Adrian Belew[5] – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Carlos Alomar[5] – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, music director[8]
- George Murray[5] – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dennis Davis[5] – drums, percussion
- Roger Powell[5] – keyboards, Moog Taurus bass pedals, synthesizer, backing vocals (except 11–14 November 1978)
- Dennis Garcia – keyboards, synthesizer (11–14 November 1978 only)
- Sean Mayes[5] – piano, string ensemble, backing vocals
- Simon House[5] – electric violin
Mgmt & Crew
- Pat Gibbons[5] – Manager
- Eric Barrett[5] – Tour Manager / Lighting Director
- Coco Schwab[5] – David's Personal Asst
- Tony Macia[5] – David's Driver / Security
Live performance personnel
- Jan Michael Alejandro[5] – Tech Drums / Guitars
- Edd Kowlakowski[5] – Tech Piano
- Rob Joyce[5] – Stg Mgr /Tech
- Vern "Moose" Constan[5] –Keyboard Tech/ HeadTech
- Leroy Kerr[5] – Tech
- Buford Jones[5] – FOH mixer
- Townsend Wessinger[5] – Showco sound crew
- Billy King[5] – Showco sound crew
- Randy Marshall[5] – Showco sound crew
- Russell Davis[5] – Showco sound crew
- Glenn George[5] – Showco sound crew
Tour dates
Songs
|
From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
From Aladdin Sane From Diamond Dogs From Young Americans
|
From Station to Station
From Low
From "Heroes"
Other songs:
|