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Simon Says Quicksand

Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia on 21 February 2004

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Track Listing

Gail Ann Dorsey - Annandale Hotel on 19 February 2004 ¹

Excerpts from BowieNet:

It all seems so long ago... *

David Bowie has just come off stage after the first of two shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in NSW. He played a similar set to the Brisbane show, except that he dropped Be My Wife and Always Crashing In The Same Car in favour of the very welcome return of 5:15 The Angels Have Gone, Fantastic Voyage and I've Been Waiting For You.
Our BowieNetter reporter in Oz, the very professional Charly, tells me that DB was again "very chatty", and she's currently on her way to an internet cafe to get her account of the evening down for your reading pleasure. Pop back a little later on to see what she has to say.

UPDATE: Here's more from Charly via the magic of electronic mail...

Crutches and Hairdryers. By Charly.

So, it was cool being at Sydney Entertainment Centre to start with. Just one of those places I'd always wanted to be. David started again tonight with Rebel Rebel and New Killer Star as is fairly normal these days. A fairly enthusiastic response was echoed around Sydney Entertainment Centre. I was quite over-awed by it all, seeing Bowie live in Sydney - WOW! It's an amazing city. After he'd finished with Reality, Fame and Cactus he brought in 5.15 The Angels Have Gone which was a welcome return to the set. Been a while since I'd heard that one live.
He then did All The Young Dudes which concluded with many arms waving in the air. David started talking about sticks, saying "let's see the stick". A little way behind me, someone was waving a crutch in the air and Bowie thought this was amusing enough to banter a little - "It's a wonderful summer's evening and the crutches are waving in the air. What an extraordinary country. I've got a bunch of crutches outside my window, and they're all brown." Nutter.
China Girl followed with rapturous applause echoing around the room. Bowie sang "Oh baby, just you shut your mouth - she says just shut the fuck up" Then, after the song he said, "it's that time of the evening you've all been waiting for - yes, it's the instrumental. This lead into my favourite track from Low, A New Career In A New Town.
He followed this by suggesting that "it was always a good idea to follow an instrumental with a song so slow you forget to breathe" - The Loneliest Guy! Afterwards the crowd cheered loudly and he said "go and get a copy, it's really good. If you can't get a copy I'll come round your house and sing it again!" Hmmm...... like that's gonna happen!
TMWSTW, Hallo Spaceboy and Sunday brought the show on a little further where David decided to introduce the band by saying "People ask, you know, who are these guys that work with you on stage, and I say, you know why don't you mind your own business." Ha ha. The band intro ensued with David telling us all the different things Kat played, including the 'hairdryer'!!!!
Under Pressure and Life On Mars caused great pleasure amongst the throng and Looking For Water was great to hear again, as was Fantastic Voyage. I love that one live. Excellent. He continued with Days and White Light White Heat, saying "I had to get that off my chest" after the latter. Ashes through to Heroes ended the show on a great high. So far so good....
The first encore was Waiting For You, not heard that one in a while. The final three songs were the usual show enders, but I still never tire of any of them. All Ziggy material and all bloody excellent. Bring it on for tomorrow.
Thanx yet again Charly. We'll be hearing more from her after the second show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre tomorrow, Saturday 21st.
* This lyric quote may be a little misleading... it was actually less than an hour ago!

Of dream Reality...

David Bowie has just completed the second of two triumphant shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in NSW. Charly, our lovely lady reporter in Oz, has managed to get the set list to me, even before the final notes of Ziggy Stardust have decayed into the ether.

The big surprise at this show was the inclusion of one of my own particular favourites, Quicksand. Off the top of my head, I think that's the first time that one's been performed since '97, and it's certainly the first performance on this tour. I know somebody will correct me on that if I've got it wrong.

As ever, pop back a little later on to see what Charly has to say about the show itself. (See previous news items for updates she has already sent in.)

In the meantime, here's the 28-song set list, that I know some of the message board users simply have to have, before they can even begin to function properly, and attempt to make it through the day:

 

UPDATE: Here's another of Charly's reports... we're gonna miss you when the tour gets to Perth, girl!

Hobbits and Professors. By Charly.

So, this show started the same as last night's with Rebel and New Killer Star. No Reality, but Afraid instead, followed by Fame. David then said "let's have some names (looking down at the front) - Meren! Any other Merens in tonight?...... A lot of blokes answered that!"

After Cactus, David shouted "that was a song about a dress. You wait 'til I start songs about women!" Panic In Detroit was a welcome newcomer, only performed in the US so far. Pablo Picasso also returned and tonight's rendition was excellent, even though he fluffed the words slightly.

During All The Young Dudes he did one of his kicks as he sang "we can love" raising a small cheer from the somewhat subdued audience. Again, he praised our singing and suggested we do China Girl on our own... as ever, he wasn't impressed with our attempt!

The guy who untangles David's microphone cable was attending to his task and Bowie said "This is Tristan. Tristan is a hobbit, I bought him in New Zealand!" A New Career In A New Town through to Sunday then followed and the band intro caused a little merriment. "On keyboards - Mike Garson. He looks a dream in padded shoulders and stack heeled boots!"...... "Kat Russell, a professor.... Gerry Leonard, a professor..... what a bunch of shit I'm talking!" You said it David.

Life on Mars was excellent tonight, as usual. On it's conclusion he said: "Thank you, I'll give you a Eurovision kiss" and proceeded to swing his arms across as if doing just that. Looking For Water was bouncy and then a great surprise which David said they hadn't done on this tour yet - Quicksand. He did mumble one line a little but pretty much sang it perfectly. Not bad considering he doesn't use his lyric book anymore.

He again dedicated Days to his stool and then reintroduced Let's Dance into the set saying that this one had connections with Sydney. Suppose that was an apt one to sing then, and it has been a while. The set ended as usual before Bring Me The Disco King as the first encore. No Suffragette City tonight, but Hang On To Yourself instead.