| Submitted by: Andreas Monique (utside@ksc.th.com) This 2 reviews are my piece for the first virtual CD on the Net. In 1997 I was still living in Sydney and as I heard that David is on tour and playing in Holland I booked right away 2 airplane ticket to Amsterdam. Oh boy, I was in trouble with my girlfriend, first she had to listen for the past 6 years to your music then she sees many Dollar exchanging to Bootlegs and in 1996 we went also from Sydney to St. Poelten and the next day to Rotterdam to see you live. I told her this was your last tour! (Telling lies) But she liked both concerts so I was fine and promised to get a bit more normal in the future. Yeah right!! So when we where sitting on the plane again in 1997 I was praying to get tickets. The funny thing is I don't like even so much to go to your concerts because I'm skinny like you and look a lot like you. All your fans keep always starring at me before the concerts which doesn't work out after a nice afternoon in Amsterdam. De de deranged Anyhow, we wrote this 2 reviews for our good friend Stefan Bassman and his excellent Page. All the best Andreas Trying our luck we arrived in Amsterdam yesterday afternoon where the stairs of the Paradiso where crowded already with quite a few fans. Bowie was inside loudly working on his set. Since Paradiso is rather small, the concert sold out within 7 minutes and many of us missed out on tickets (including ourselves as you know). ...... There were a few tickets going around on the blackmarket for about 250 guilders, but a few fans where selling tickets to fans for a 100. I think we really got lucky realizing that the crowd was coming from all over the world. The doors were opened at around 8.30, everybody expected the supporting act to start at 9.00 but that never happened (it might have been the d.j. playing the loudest rave and jungle.) ...... Bowie appeared at 10.00 on stage, announcing 2 sets of songs, as expected really dressed like "magic daddy", starting of with I'M DERANGED, apparently having some difficulties with the technical equipment but quickly recovered. The audience was a bit startled as he continued with an almost 15 minutes version of PALLAS ATTHENA, which to us was the best song of the drum and bass set. In the background there was big "screen" which projected (I believe) space, time and "eyes". It really overall had quite a spacey sound and even some classical tones to it. Which I found was a pleasant combination. Next song a strong V2 SCHNEIDER and a original version of DEAD MAN WALKING. Gail Ann Dorsey gave a stunning performance on O SUPERMAN, which is an old Laurie Anderson song, and the set ended with THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD DO and a unrecognizable FAME. ...... After a 20 minute break Bowie came back on stage for a acoustic QUICKSAND and for the first time the audience gave a great response. Followed by THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD, BATTLE FOR BRITAIN ,White Light, Afraid of Americans, Seven years in Tibet, Fashion and again Fame. The quality of his voice was superb and sounded almost like 10 years ago during sound and vision , by the way he looks younger than he did back then too. There was a fantastic atmosphere during Looking for satellites and our favourite song of the 2nd set was definitely Telling lies. Reeves was going for it and the whole stage was vibrating. Under Pressure, Hallo spaceboy and a long intro for Jean Genie. During the whole performance of the 2nd set he had a lot of audience contact and cracked jokes like my father told me to fight fire with fire and that he wanted my mother to dress up as a nurse, followed by a big whooo from the audience, and then he send her off to work. Queen bitch, followed by Bowie's own favorite lovesong for the desperate, The Motel, at least that's what he said, beautifully performed. The gig ended with Scary Monsters, Stay and an excellent Little wonder. ...... All in all he played for about 2.5 hours and he looks and sounds younger as ever, there sure is a new wave and it still is David Bowie. By Monique Andreas Review 11.06.97 UTRECHT Musiccentre Next day, different place, bigger venue. About 1800 fans were waiting in Utrecht for the doors to open. Quite some recognition of people that were there the night before in Amsterdam for the Paradiso concert. The musiccentre in Utrecht is not setting for such intimacy as in paradiso but with a larger anxious crowd like that , the atmosphere was still very good. As the night before there was no supporting act against everybodies expectations and the people were welcomed with about 1.5 hrs. of loud drumm and bass before Bowie appeared on stage with his band. Both Gail and Bowie dressed in lime green this time and they looked fabulous. The first set of song were started of with I'M DERANGED and PALLAS ATHENA, in wich Bowie graps both alt and sopran sax making it a very new and different experience. Followed by V2 SCHNEIDER and again a marvallous O SUPERMAN by Gail. Wich left Bowie with some time for his first cigarette!. There were no changes in the bass and drumm set to the night before, but the acoustic and sound was of much higher quality and more enjoyable. The crowds reaction was still a bit hisitant though. On the moment when Bowie came back on stage after the break for the 2nd set with his acoustic gitar and started the first lines of Quicksand, the hisitation vanished and he slipped back into his role as rock and roll star. Again there was not that much change in the set of songs except that he performed STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET and DEAD MAN WALKING was played twice, after a disappionting first version. (according to david it did'nt work out the first time) Since the Utrecht show was set in a much bigger venue, the lightshow and videoscreens had a much bigger affect and impect then it had the night before and it really does compliment the show. Nice footage of previous tours, sound and vision with Louise Chevallier, Davids eyes and mouth were projected on 3 screens side by side and I even noticed some cuttings out of a X rated movie during FASHION. It really is worth not only looking at David perform but to enjoy everything that is going on around him aswell. Highlight of the evening was delinitely SCARY MONSTERS, FAME and I personally loved JEAN GENIE with a beautifull blueslike intro. Again it was a great show and we wouldn't have missed one for the world. Anybody who still is planning on going, keep your mind open for the new sound of Bowie 97. The past lies way behind him. Monique Andreas
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