Isolar II – The 1978 World Tour
Tour by David Bowie | |
Location |
|
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Associated album | Low "Heroes" |
Start date | 29 March 1978 |
End date | 12 December 1978 |
Legs | 4 |
No. of shows | 78 |
David Bowie concert chronology |
The Isolar II – The 1978 World Tour,
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, and for the second Bowie wore a snakeskin drapecoat and "huge baggy white pants."[3]
Set design
The stark fluorescent tube lighting approach of the previous Isolar Tour was further developed and expanded to create a large cage of tube lighting, which enclosed the stage with the ability to pulsate moodily during the slower instrumental pieces and flash frantically during the faster songs.
Tour incidents
The show in
The Australian leg of the tour included Bowie's first concert performances in Australia and his first large-scale outdoor concerts.
Live recordings
The performances at
The performance on 10 April 1978 at the
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.[5][6]
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 is the typical setlist for all tour dates except for some dates. Originally, the whole album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was set to be performed in the middle of the setlist.
- "Warszawa"
- ""Heroes""
- "What in the World"
- "Be My Wife"
- "The Jean Genie"
- "Blackout"
- "Sense of Doubt"
- "Speed of Life"
- "Breaking Glass"
- "Beauty and the Beast"
- "Fame"
- "Five Years"
- "Soul Love"
- "Star"
- "Hang On to Yourself"
- "Ziggy Stardust"
- "Suffragette City"
- "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"
- "Art Decade"
- "Station to Station"
- "Stay"
- "TVC 15"
Encore:
Tour band
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
- David Bowie – vocals, chamberlin
- Adrian Belew – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, music director[7]
- George Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dennis Davis – drums, percussion
- Roger Powell – keyboards, Moog Taurus bass pedals, synthesizer, backing vocals (except 11–14 November 1978)
- Dennis Garcia – keyboards, synthesizer (11–14 November 1978 only)
- Sean Mayes – piano, string ensemble, backing vocals
- Simon House – electric violin
Band road management, road crew, showco crew, personal staff
- Jan Michael Alejandro – Band Tech (Pre Jan-Al Cases)
- Vern "Moose" Constan – Band Tech
- Rob Joyce – Stage Manager
- Leroy Kerr – Band Tech
- Rick Browning - Piano and Keyboard Tech ( North America and Europe )
- Edd Kolakowski – Piano and Keyboard Tech (Australia, New Zealand and Japan dates)
- Buford Jones – FOH Mixer
- Townsend Wessinger– Showco Sound Crew
- Billy King– Showco Sound Crew
- Russell Davis– Showco Sound Crew
- Randy Marshall– Showco Sound Crew
- Glenn George– Showco Sound Crew
- Lonnie McKenzie – Showco
- Warren Cunningham – Showco Lighting Crew
- Dirk Arnold - Showco Lighting Crew
- Rick Hunnicuut – Showco Lighting Crew
- John Mitchell – Showco Lighting Crew
- Juan Gonzales – Showco Lighting Crew
- Kevin Di Piazza – Showco Lighting Crew
- Richard Brown– Showco Lighting Crew
- Kevin Randall– Showco Rigging Crew
- J. Smith– Showco Rigging Crew
- Lyle Centola– Showco Rigging Crew
- Morris Lyda – Production Consultant/ Advance Mgr
- David Bernstein – Cargo Guru (Pre Rock-it Cargo)
- Mike Brady – Mr Bowie's Driver / Bodyguard
- George, Stuart (Stuey) -Mr Bowie's Bodyguard
- Eric "B" Barrett –Tour Manager / Lighting Designer
- Ronn Roberts – Asst To The Tour Manager
- Pat Gibbons – Tour Manager / Accountant
- Truck Drivers (Europe) Richard Boote & Gwyn Lawrence
- Coco Schwab – Mr Bowie's Personal Assistant
Tour dates
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2023) |
Date | City | Country | Venue | Attendance | Revenue |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | |||||
29 March 1978 | San Diego |
United States | San Diego Sports Arena
|
9,837 | $93,286[8] |
30 March 1978 | Phoenix | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |||
2 April 1978 | Fresno | Selland Arena | 4,953 | $42,592[8] | |
3 April 1978 | Inglewood | The Forum
|
44,415 | $402,307[9] | |
4 April 1978 | |||||
5 April 1978 | Oakland | Oakland–-Alameda County Coliseum
|
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6 April 1978 | Inglewood | The Forum
|
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9 April 1978 | Houston | The Summit
|
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10 April 1978 | Dallas | Dallas Convention Center
|
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11 April 1978 | Baton Rouge | LSU Assembly Center | |||
13 April 1978 | Nashville | Municipal Auditorium | 7,096 | $59,749[10] | |
14 April 1978 | Memphis | Mid-South Coliseum | |||
15 April 1978 | Kansas City | Municipal Auditorium
|
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17 April 1978 | Chicago | Arie Crown Theatre
|
8,555 | $87,022[11] | |
18 April 1978 | |||||
20 April 1978 | Detroit | Cobo Arena
|
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21 April 1978 | |||||
22 April 1978 | Richfield | Richfield Coliseum | |||
24 April 1978 | Milwaukee | MECCA Arena
|
7,015 | $50,691[12] | |
26 April 1978 | Pittsburgh |
Civic Arena | |||
27 April 1978 | Landover | Capital Centre | |||
28 April 1978 | Philadelphia | The Spectrum | |||
29 April 1978 | |||||
1 May 1978 | Toronto | Canada | Maple Leaf Gardens | ||
2 May 1978 | Ottawa | Ottawa Civic Centre
|
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3 May 1978 | Montreal | Montreal Forum | |||
5 May 1978 | Providence | United States | Providence Civic Center
|
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6 May 1978 | Boston | Boston Garden | |||
7 May 1978 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | |||
8 May 1978 | |||||
9 May 1978 | |||||
Europe | |||||
14 May 1978 | Frankfurt | West Germany | Festhalle Frankfurt | ||
15 May 1978 | Hamburg | Congress-Centrum | |||
16 May 1978 | Philipshalle |
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West Berlin | Deutschlandhalle | ||||
18 May 1978 | Essen | Grugahalle | |||
19 May 1978 | Cologne | Sporthalle | |||
20 May 1978 | Munich | Olympiahalle | |||
21 May 1978 | Bremen | Musikladen | |||
22 May 1978 | Vienna | Austria | Wiener Stadthalle | ||
24 May 1978 | Paris | France | Pavillon de Paris | ||
25 May 1978 | |||||
26 May 1978 | Lyon | Palais des Sports de Gerland | |||
27 May 1978 | Marseille | ||||
Palais des Sports de Marseille | |||||
31 May 1978 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Folketeatret | ||
1 June 1978 | |||||
2 June 1978 | Stockholm | Sweden | |||
Kungliga Tennishallen
|
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4 June 1978 | Gothenburg | Scandinavium | |||
5 June 1978 | Oslo | Norway | Ekeberghallen | ||
7 June 1978 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Rotterdam Ahoy | ||
8 June 1978 | |||||
9 June 1978 | |||||
11 June 1978 | Brussels | Belgium | Forest National | ||
12 June 1978 | |||||
14 June 1978 | Newcastle upon Tyne | England | Newcastle City Hall | ||
15 June 1978 | |||||
16 June 1978 | |||||
19 June 1978 | Glasgow | Scotland | The Apollo
|
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20 June 1978 | |||||
21 June 1978 | |||||
22 June 1978 | |||||
24 June 1978 | Stafford | England | New Bingley Hall
|
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25 June 1978 | |||||
26 June 1978 | |||||
29 June 1978 | London | Earl's Court | |||
30 June 1978 | |||||
1 July 1978 | |||||
Oceania | |||||
11 November 1978 | Adelaide | Australia | Adelaide Oval | ||
14 November 1978 | Perth | Perth Entertainment Centre | |||
15 November 1978 | |||||
18 November 1978 | Melbourne | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||
21 November 1978 | Brisbane | Lang Park | |||
24 November 1978 | Sydney | RAS Showgrounds | |||
25 November 1978 | |||||
29 November 1978 | Christchurch | New Zealand | Queen Elizabeth II Park | ||
2 December 1978 | Auckland | Western Springs Stadium | |||
Asia | |||||
6 December 1978 | Osaka | Japan | Koseinenkin Kaikan | ||
7 December 1978 | |||||
9 December 1978 | Suita | Expo Commemoration Park | |||
11 December 1978 | Tokyo | Nippon Budokan | |||
12 December 1978 | NHK Hall | ||||
Total |
Songs
From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
From Aladdin Sane From Diamond Dogs From
|
From Station to Station
From Low
From "Heroes"
Other songs:
|
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-897783-17-7
- ^ ISBN 1-903111-73-0
- ^ ISBN 0-7119-0685-8
- ^ Isler, Scott (August 1987), "David Bowie Opens Up – A Little", Musician: 60–73
- ^ "Three Bowie discs for RSD 2018 - David Bowie Latest News". Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
- ^ "Rare and unreleased David Bowie albums set for Record Store Day 2018 - NME". NME. 1 March 2018.
- ^ Jones, Dylan (2017), David Bowie: A Life, Crown/Archetype
- ^ a b "Billboard Box Office 15 April 1978" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard Box Office 22 April 1978" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard Box Office 29 April 1978" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard Box Office 6 May 1978" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard Box Office 13 May 1978" (PDF).
References
- Pimm Jal de la Parra, David Bowie: The Concert Tapes, P.J. Publishing, 1985, ISBN 90-900100-5-X
- Kevin Cann, David Bowie: A Chronology, Vermilion, 1983, ISBN 0-09-153831-9
- David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784-X