FAN CONCERT REPORTS
USA, PA, Pittsburgh
Benedum Center

(Monday 17th May 2004)


Report: Pittsburgh Bowie Concert 5/17/04
From: Dave Berexa (Pittsburgh PA)

I was lucky enough to attend Bowie's Pittsburgh show Monday night.

First of all, the Benedum Center is a grand old concert hall, a perfect venue for any type of musical event.

Bowie and band opened with a slightly subdued version of "Rebel Rebel". Then onto "New Killer Star" from Reality, a song about 9/11. Things got kicked up a notch with The Pixies "Cactus". Two songs later they performed the punky "Hang On To Yourself" from Ziggy Stardust. The entire audience sang along with a spirited version of "All the Young Dudes" which was written originally for Mott The Hoople. "Fame" with its' funky guitar and bass groove sounded as fresh as ever.

A personal highlight was "The Loneliest Guy" from Reality, quite a vocal performance from David. Next was the haunting "The Man Who Sold The World." Complete with flanged vocal effects. Bowie said it was his first song that he had heard played on U.S. radio, and was very proud at the time.

The band launched into a killer version of "Hallo Spaceboy", both new guitarist Gerry Leonard and Bowie veteran Earl Slick complimented the music with their excellent playing. Gail Ann Dorsey and Bowie did a duet on the Queen/Bowie "Under Pressure" she certainly did justice to Freddy Mercury's' vocals.

A few songs later they performed "Ashes To Ashes", which made me think of the MTV video that Bowie had done twenty some years ago. We were then treated to three songs from Hunky Dory. A gorgeous "Quicksand", a nice jazzy piano intro from Mike Garson into "Life On Mars?" and the hit "Changes".

Time has been good to Mr. Bowie. We got a treat with with the rarely played "Station To Station" what a band! "Heroes" was the last song before the encore, always great to hear. Bowie asked the staff if there was a curfew. He had to drop two songs from the encore - "Five Years" and "Suffragette City". But we got a fitting finale with "Ziggy Stardust".

I was about 12 feet away from Bowie for the encore. David Bowie has had a long and varied career, he has tried many types of music, has made some of the greatest albums of the rock era and continues to awe us with his incredible talent.


(A Reality World Tour: North American Leg)