Earthling Tour

Tour byDavid Bowie
Poster to the concert in Malmö, Sweden. A similar layout was used for other concert posters.
Location	Europe North America South America
Associated album	Earthling
Start date	7 June 1997
End date	7 November 1997
Legs	3
No. of shows	83
David Bowie concert chronology
Outside Tour (1995–96) Earthling Tour (1997) Hours Tour (1999)

TheEarthling Tour was a 1997 concert tour by English musicianDavid Bowie, in promotion of his albumEarthling. The tour started on 7 June 1997 atFlughafen Blankensee inLübeck, Germany, continuing through Europe and the Americas before concluding inBuenos Aires,Argentina on 7 November 1997.

Immediately following his 1995-96Outside Tour, Bowie went into the studio with his live band to recordEarthling (1997) in mid-1996.^[1] Bowie first publicly performed new material from these sessions in late 1996, playing "Telling Lies" and sometimes "Little Wonder" at shows on the US East Coast in September and October. On 9 January 1997, the day after he turned 50, Bowie held a 50th birthday concert for himself, performing tracks off the album, as well as a selection of songs from his back catalogue, playing to nearly 15,000 fans at New York'sMadison Square Garden.^[2] Bowie was joined onstage by artists includingBilly Corgan,Foo Fighters,Sonic Youth,Black Francis,Robert Smith andLou Reed, to perform many of his songs.^[2][3] Other non-performing guests includedBeck,Moby,Julian Schnabel,Prince,Charlie Sexton,Fred Schneider,Christopher Walken,Matt Dillon and Bowie's wifeIman. ArtistTony Oursler designed some of the artwork for the video backdrop that played behind the band onstage. The event was recorded for apay-per-view special commemorating the event,^[4][5] and a portion of the proceeds from the event were donated to the charitySave the Children.^[2]Tim Pope, who had previously worked with Bowie directing his 1987 video for "Time Will Crawl", directed the 50th Anniversary video,^[6] andDuncan Jones, Bowie's son, was one of the camera operators at the event.^[7] A month later on 3 February,Earthling was released and Bowie promoted it with appearances onSaturday Night Live (8 February) andThe Tonight Show (11 February). The Pay-Per-View broadcast of the birthday concert followed on 8 March.^[8]

Bowie and his band began rehearsing for the tour in April 1997, and expected the tour to last through the end of the year, calling it a "really extensive, a long, long tour" in an interview with the press in February that year.^[9] During rehearsals for the tour, Bowie re-recorded updated studio versions of some of his older songs, including "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Stay". These updated versions were performed during the tour, though the latter wouldn't be officially released until 2020 as part of the EPIs It Any Wonder?^[10]

The original concept was to perform two sets: one regular and one dance-oriented, incorporatingdrum and bass.^[11] This idea was abandoned, owing to the antipathy of critics and audiences.^[6] After the performance at theMuziekcentrum Vredenburg inUtrecht, on 11 June 1997, elements of each were incorporated into one set. "He hated playing things just like the record," recalled guitaristReeves Gabrels. "He wanted me to dress songs up in the clothes we're wearing now."^[12]

The 14 October 1997 show at theCapitol Theatre inPort Chester, New York – broadcast onMTV'sLive from the 10 Spot – was added at short notice due to cancellation byThe Rolling Stones. The following show on 15 October 1997 at theRadio City Music Hall in New York City, New York was part of theGQ Awards. Bowie and the band also performed atKROQ's "Almost Acoustic Christmas" show in December 1997.^[13]

A live album from the European leg of the tour made it to the mixing stage- Bowie, Gabrels andMark Plati were all involved- but Virgin, the band's label, cancelled the release.^[6] The release was eventually made available, albeit with a different track listing than originally envisioned, toBowieNet subscribers as the releaseLiveAndWell.com, which was re-released in 2021.^[6]

For some shows on the tour, Bowie wore outfits designed byDonna Karan.^[14]

Bowie and the band performed a small number of "secret" shows under the name "Tao Jones Index", deliberately playing without people knowing who they were.^[15] "Tao Jones Index" was a pun based on Bowie's real name, David Jones, and the 1997Bowie Bond issue (Tao is pronounced "Dow", as inDow Jones Index from the US stock market).^[16] According to Gabrels, drummer Zachary Alford likely came up with the name,^[17] and they only played as Tao Jones Index "a half dozen [times] or fewer", eventually wearying of the project as fans began to recognize Bowie and call out for him to play his hits.^[18] The sets were, according to Gabrels, less strictly drum and bass so much as "dance remixes": "We were inspired by the various remixes ofEarthling songs to reclaim & remake them as a live band."^[19] The band played their normal instruments, but without amplifiers, and Alford played electronic drums.^[20] There was only one official release from any of the Tao Jones Index's performances: a 12" single of "Pallas Athena" and "V-2 Schneider" (1997).^[21]

One live performance was 10 June 1997, from which the live versions of "Pallas Athena" and "V2-Schneider" were recorded; another live performance was on 19 July 1997Phoenix Festival; their performance in theBBC Radio 1 dance tent preceded the regular performance on the main stage the following day.

TheSan Francisco Examiner had praise for the tour, saying "The chameleon can rock".^[22] TheLos Angeles Times complimented his artistic reinvigoration.^[23]

Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97)
Live album by David Bowie
Released	12 February 2021
Recorded	20 July 1997
Venue	Long Marston, England
Label	Parlophone
David Bowie chronology
LiveAndWell.com (2021) Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97) (2021) Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) (2021)

The band's performance on 20 July 1997, recorded at Long Marston, England during thePhoenix Festival, was released in a live album entitledLook at the Moon! in February 2021.^[24] The concert was released in two limited editions: a 2 CD-set or a 3-LP set.^[24] This live album was the fourth in the 6-concert seriesBrilliant Live Adventures.^[25]Look at the Moon! reached number 16 on the UK albums chart,^[26] and number 92 in Ireland.^[27]

1. "Quicksand"
2. "The Man Who Sold the World"
3. "Driftin' Blues"/"The Jean Genie"
4. "I'm Afraid of Americans"
5. "Battle for Britain (The Letter)"
6. "Fashion"
7. "Seven Years in Tibet"
8. "Fame"
9. "Looking for Satellites"
10. "Under Pressure"
11. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson"
12. "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
13. "Hallo Spaceboy"
14. "Little Wonder"
15. "Dead Man Walking"
16. "White Light/White Heat"
17. "O Superman"
18. "Stay"

• David Bowie – vocals, guitar, alto & baritone saxophone
• Reeves Gabrels – guitar, backing vocals
• Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Zack Alford^[28] – drums, percussion
• Mike Garson – keyboards, backing vocals

Notes

Songs performed in snippet for the intro of "The Jean Genie":

• "Driftin' Blues"
• "Baby What You Want to Do"
• "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl"

• Buckley, David (2005) [1999].Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story. London:Virgin Books.ISBN 978-0-75351-002-5.
• Pegg, Nicholas (2016).The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updated ed.). London:Titan Books.ISBN 978-1-78565-365-0.

• David Bowie concert tours
• 1997 concert tours
• Concert tours of the Netherlands
• Concert tours of Germany
• Concert tours of Austria
• Concert tours of the Czech Republic
• Concert tours of Norway
• Concert tours of Finland
• Concert tours of Croatia
• Concert tours of Belgium
• Concert tours of Denmark
• Concert tours of Italy
• Concert tours of Switzerland
• Concert tours of Spain
• Concert tours of Sweden
• Concert tours of France
• Concert tours of Ireland
• Concert tours of the United Kingdom
• Concert tours of Hungary
• Concert tours of Canada
• Concert tours of the United States
• Concert tours of Mexico
• Concert tours of Brazil
• Concert tours of Chile
• Concert tours of Argentina

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