Heathen Tour


The Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie in support of his album, Heathen, and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 Low album.

History

The Low album, not previously performed live in its entirety, was premiered on 11 June 2002 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, together with all the songs from the Heathen album. With other commitments ruling out the possibility of a major concert tour, the Heathen Tour became a mini-concert tour similar to the 1996 Outside Summer Festivals Tour.
On 11 February 2002, it was announced that Bowie had accepted the role of Artistic Director at the Meltdown Festival, an annual music and arts event held at the South Bank complex in
London, England. David Bowie's Meltdown 2002 ran from 14 to 30 June, with a schedule of concerts and events including performances by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Coldplay, The Waterboys and a London Sinfonietta performance of Philip Glass's Low and Heroes symphonies. The closing night was billed as The New Heathens Night with Bowie headlining the event with support by The Dandy Warhols followed by a DJ set from Jonathan Ross.
The Heathen Tour proper began at the Meltdown Festival with Bowie embarking on a series of European performances including a link-up with Moby for the 12-date North America Area:2 Festivals with a return to Europe for a further six performances. Before returning again to North America to perform a final seven shows with the first five in each of New York City's five boroughs, dubbed The New York Marathon Tour by Bowie, who joked "I could get home from all the gigs on roller skates".
File:Heathen_Tour_Beacon_NYC_4.jpg|thumb|270px|The Heathen Tour at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on 20 October 2002. L to R: Earl Slick, Mark Plati, Sterling Campbell, David Bowie, Catherine Russell, Gail Ann Dorsey, Gerry Leonard. Mike Garson is out of shot to the left.

Setlist

The following set list was obtained from the concert held on 11 October 2002 at The Music Hall at Snug Harbour in New York City. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
  1. "Life on Mars?"
  2. "Ashes to Ashes"
  3. "Breaking Glass"
  4. "Cactus"
  5. "China Girl"
  6. "Slip Away"
  7. "Fame"
  8. "I'm Afraid of Americans"
  9. "Speed of Life"
  10. "5:15 The Angels Have Gone"
  11. "I've Been Waiting for You"
  12. "Survive"
  13. "Rebel Rebel"
  14. ""Heroes""
  15. "Heathen "
;Encore:
  2. "Sunday"
  3. "I Would Be Your Slave"
  4. "Afraid"
  5. "Everyone Says 'Hi'"
  6. "Hallo Spaceboy"
  7. "Let's Dance"
  8. "Ziggy Stardust"

    Tour dates

Tour band

  • David Bowie – vocals, guitar, saxophone, harmonica, stylophone
  • Earl Slick – guitar
  • Gerry Leonard – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Mark Plati – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
  • Sterling Campbell – drums, percussion
  • Mike Garson – keyboards
  • Catherine Russell – keyboards, percussion, backing vocals

    Songs

From David Bowie
  • "Space Oddity"
From Hunky Dory
  • "Changes"
  • "Life on Mars?"
  • "The Bewlay Brothers"
From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
  • "Moonage Daydream"
  • "Starman"
  • "Ziggy Stardust"
From Diamond Dogs
  • "Rebel Rebel"
From Young Americans
  • "Fame"
From Station to Station
  • "Stay"
From Low
  • "Speed of Life"
  • "Breaking Glass"
  • "What in the World"
  • "Sound and Vision"
  • "Always Crashing in the Same Car"
  • "Be My Wife"
  • "A New Career in a New Town"
  • "Warszawa"
  • "Art Decade"
  • "Weeping Wall"
  • "Subterraneans"
From "Heroes"
  • ""Heroes""
From Lodger
  • "Look Back in Anger"
From Scary Monsters
  • "Ashes to Ashes"
  • "Fashion"
From Let's Dance
  • "China Girl"
  • "Let's Dance"
From Outside
  • "Hallo Spaceboy"
From Earthling
  • "I'm Afraid of Americans"
From Hours
  • "Survive"
From Heathen
  • "Sunday"
  • "Cactus"
  • "Slip Away"
  • "Slow Burn"
  • "Afraid"
  • "I've Been Waiting for You"
  • "I Would Be Your Slave"
  • "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship"
  • "5:15 the Angels Have Gone"
  • "Everyone Says 'Hi'"
  • "A Better Future"
  • "Heathen "
Other songs:
  • "Absolute Beginners"
  • "Alabama Song" ; originally from Bertolt Brecht's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
  • "I Feel So Bad"
  • "One Night"
  • "White Light/White Heat"