Rebel Rebel closes the show and works largely on its familiarity, but is always best when DB allows himself to have fun with it, and here he clearly is - sing a song 1000 times, you have to find the joy in there somewhere or just let go of that balloon. Check some of those drum fills… ridiculous. Sterling Campbell again here with the drums. #Bowie something in the air fullThe Pretty Things Are Going To Hell is a nice and thick slab of rock and roll with Bowie in full Omikron vocal mode, set back in the mix and all sass and tude. David always treated his old material as elastic and that takes a remarkable confidence in your foundational work to pull that off with as few failures as he had. This floating and hovering torch-song version of I Can’t Read is a favorite, especially with those altered chord voicings in the chorus… exquisite. I love how this track just drops a heaping pile of dissonance and oddity and ripples up an otherwise pretty placid and calm surface.ĭavid’s “I’m just testing you” as he announces a Tin Machine song with typical self-deprecating humor and proceeds to play Width Of A Circle is classic DB. Beautiful backing vocals - my favorite performance from Emm and Holly on the record, and Frippesque guitar lines make for a beautiful singsong and peaceful performance. Seven is introduced as a “gentle” track and it’s delivered as such. Of course we now know how the Bowie story plays out, so it’s beyond potent to hear him sing these words.ĭrive-in Saturday spins itself into a surprisingly thick soup for such a skeletal band, Changes is dutifully Hoursified and is so obviously a perfect fit for this show and this period of his career. He introduces it as a new song and after it’s over expresses his pleasure with the track and playing the new material live. What a treat to hear.įor me, the album’s centerpiece and soul is the lead-off second album track, Survive. Far removed from the Low aesthetic, DB’s vocal is amazing and Sterling Campbell’s choice of rimshots in the verses and full snare in the choruses is perfect. The side closes with an almost unrecognizable Always Crashing In The Same Car. China Girl is uptempo and guitar chugging, stomping through a new arrangement with tinkling piano keys and breathy background vocals. DB’s vocals are so extraordinary here that it’s easy to miss how great the guitars are on this song… Mark Plati, Page Hamilton & Gail Dorsey play a wonderful arrangement.Īfter all that seriousness, Can’t Help Thinking About Me is just one big plucky smile and it works great - DB rocks it, adopts the accents, and Sterling Campbell delivers a fantastic drum performance. Thursday’s Child has a bump of joy in it… the drums jump and there is a tiny bit more “swing” - overall, both interpretations are really nice.īowie wonders into the microphone why he placed all the “hard ones” to sing at the front end of the show, and then effortlessly glides through Word On A Wing like he’s singing while simultaneously making you a green bell pepper and sausage omelette that he’s sure you’ll love. They are delivered more full-throated and resonate than on their album counterparts and SITA has only hints of the vocal effect used on the Hours album version. Thursday’s Child & Something In The Air follow and are both very interesting vocally. I guess it’s as simple as a great composition combined with a great voice, but Bowie always makes it feel like more than just that classic combination. For a song that is so well known and has been heard and performed ad nauseam, I’m always surprised how Bowie can continue to mine a wealth of emotion and sense of the new and novel right out of it - this time, with his heart on a platter. The record opens with a wonderfully tender and reverently quiet rendition of Life On Mars. From the Brilliant Live Adventures box set
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