Earthling Tour
The Earthling Tour was a concert tour by British musician David Bowie, in promotion of his album "Earthling", released in 1997, The tour started on 7 June 1997 at Flughafen Blankensee in Lübeck, Germany, continuing through Europe, North America before reaching a conclusion in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 7 November 1997. History. Bowie first publicly performed "Earthling" material 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, he hosted a concert at Madison Square Garden for his 50th birthday. A month later , "Earthling" was released and Bowie promoted it with appearances on "Saturday Night Live" (8 February) and "The Tonight Show" (11 February), followed by a Pay-Per-View broadcast of the birthday concert on 8 March. Bowie and his band began rehearsing for the tour in April 1997, and expected the tour to last "from May through Christmas" (1997). Bowie predicted a "really extensive, a long, long tour". 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 EP "Is It Any Wonder?" The original concept was to perform two sets: one regular and one dance-oriented, incorporating drum and bass. This idea was abandoned, owing to the antipathy of critics and audiences. After the performance at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht, on 11 June 1997, elements of each were incorporated into one set. "He hated playing things just like the record," recalled guitarist Reeves Gabrels. "He wanted me to dress songs up in the clothes we're wearing now." The 14 October  1997 show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York – broadcast on MTV's "Live from the 10 Spot" – was added at short notice due to cancellation by The Rolling Stones. The following show on 15 October 1997 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York was part of the GQ Awards. The setlist included Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" (from "Big Science" (1982)) with lead vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey. Tour publicist Tony Michaelides handled press, radio & television for Bowie. A live album from the European leg of the tour made it to the  mixing stage- Bowie, Gabrels and Mark Plati were all involved- but Virgin, the band's label, cancelled the release. The release was eventually made available, albeit with a different track listing than originally envisioned, to BowieNet subscribers as the release "LiveAndWell.com", which was re-released in 2021. Tao Jones Index. 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. "Tao Jones Index" was a pun based on Bowie's real name, David Jones, and the 1997 Bowie Bond issue (Tao is pronounced "Dow", as  in Dow Jones Index from the US stock market). According to Gabrels, drummer Zachary Alford likely came up with the name, 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. The sets were, according to Gabrels, less strictly drum and bass so much as "dance remixes": "We were inspired by the various remixes of "Earthling" songs to reclaim & remake them as a live band." The band played their normal instruments, but without amplifiers, and Alford  played electronic drums. 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). 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 1997 Phoenix Festival; their performance in the BBC Radio 1 dance tent preceded the regular performance on the main stage the following day. Section::::"Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97)". The band's performance on 20 July 1997, recorded at Long Marston, England during  the Phoenix Festival, was released in a live album entitled "Look at the Moon!" in February 2021. The concert was released in two limited editions: a 2 CD-set or a 3-LP set. This live album was the fourth in the 6-concert series "Brilliant Live Adventures". "Look at the Moon!" reached number 16 on the UK albums chart, and number 92 in Ireland. Songs. From Space Oddity From The Man Who Sold the World From Hunky Dory From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars From Aladdin Sane From Live Santa Monica '72  From From Young Americans From Station to Station From Low From "Heroes" From Lodger From Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) From Let's Dance From Tin Machine From Black Tie White Noise From Outside From Earthling Other songs: