FAN CONCERT REPORTS
USA, Ohio,
Cleveland State University
Convocation Center
(Wednesday 7th January 2004)
Report: Cleveland Review
From: Gus
The show was played at Cleveland State University basketball arena smack in the center of downtown Cleveland. He only used half of the arena which put the crowd at about 5000 (a guess). There were still a few hundred seats unsold, but other than that it was full.
First off I didn't see a single person under the age of 25 at the show. It seems David hasn't got an influx of younger Clevelanders. The good thing about that was it seemed like everyone was a veteran and they've seen David before. Also, a lot of nice ladies in leather and high boots were all around. Think of Chrissy Hynde (who's from Cleveland) and you'll get a sense on what type of ladies were present!
The crowd was fantastic; before the show started you would have thought David would have a hard time getting this crowd revved up. No such problem, Rebel Rebel immediately got the crowd standing up and in a frenzy. After the second song, David commented on the crowd saying it was as vocal as Uncasville, and thereafter he kept thanking us, saying how happy he was to be back in Cleveland, and commenting on how loud it was. He got huge applause after every song he played. Cleveland really liked David's show a lot. Also, the only time the audience ever sat down was during The Loneliest Guy (Of course I still stood). I was pretty impressed that the audience was standing the whole show, and I sat on the front left side so I could see the whole audience and even the people up at the top were standing the whole time.
The show itself held little surprises until the encore (very similar to other shows so far), no The Motel, Days or Loving The Alien, which saddened me, but it was understandable with the crowd. David played a rock 'n' roll show, which meant no acoustic songs or anything a little off the beaten path which might have disrupted the hectic pace that the band put forth. I could feel this at the beginning of the show: New Killer Star and Reality put the audience in a confused state, both songs were well applauded, but you could tell not much of the audience has purchased Reality. And after starting the show with about 8 hard rockers I knew that we were getting a rock 'n' roll show.
Highlights were All The Young Dudes which had every person in a sing-a-long (remember Mott The Hoople also had a huge following from Cleveland, as Ian wrote the Cleveland Rocks song during his solo career), Fashion rocked, and The Loneliest Guy was very well received. Before The Man Who Sold The World David commented on Cleveland as being the only city to play this song. LOL!, Sunday, Under Pressure and Ashes To Ashes were also well received. Surprisingly Hallo Spaceboy didn't seem to rock as well as the others did. Overall the set held only a few surprises and was very similar to other shows, but its strong point was the all-out fast pace it took.
Now the cream of the show was the encore, seven songs and all excellent. He came out and said he wanted to stay a while if that was OK with everyone, and soon as he started with Afraid I knew it was going to be a long encore. Be My Wife absolutely rocked as did White Light/White Heat. Holy crap did they jam the heck out of that one. It was a perfect song for Cleveland. I was overjoyed at Fantastic Voyage and the Five Years was just fantastic. The whole encore was just amazing for me, and it's what made the show special. Both I and my buddy who have both seen Bowie shows throughout the years were very impressed. We both loved the show and thought it rocked! Also a Bowienetter said the show sounded better than Wembley and MSG, but I don't know if she meant the sound or the quality of the show.
Considering Cleveland was where David kicked off his US Ziggy stardust tour in 1972, and was one of the few supporting cities in the states during 1972/1973, it was fitting that he did 4 songs from Ziggy Stardust, White Light/White Heat, All The Young Dudes and Changes. It just somehow seemed fitting.
BTW, Macy Gray is from Cleveland and her show was well received. Personally I thought it wasn't great but I still liked it and will make the effort to catch her show in Detroit.
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Report: Cleveland
From: KingofAmerica
I just wanted to drop a note and say that I, at 24 years of age, was also at the Cleveland show. I was accompanied by 3 friends of around the same age and we were all blown away. All the Young Dudes and 5 Years stand out especially, not to mention Under Pressure. Just thought I'd let everyone know that there were some younger fans enjoying the show.
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Report: Cleveland
From: Dave
We were also at the show in Cleve last night it was a super show, Bowie still has got it going with a great band, we are all in our 40s.
(A Reality World Tour: North American Leg)
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