"It's nice to do a club show," David Bowie said after taking the stage Friday night at the sold-out Joint. For the audience though, it was more than nice to see the legend up close. From the moment he launched into "Hang onto Yourself" from Ziggy Stardust, it was spectacular.
At 56, Bowie proved he is still the prettiest star: trim, tan and effortlessly charismatic. Best of all, his voice is in extraordinary shape, with a thick bottom; a powerful, sensuous middle; and, when needed, a ragged growl. Performing a remarkable 23 songs drawn from throughout his four-decade-long career, Bowie was well served by a band able to adapt to the various phases and stages of rock's greatest chameleon.
Gail Ann Dorsey ably undertook the late Freddie Mercury's vocal part on "Under Pressure," and in his intro to "Life On Mars," keyboardist Mike Garson teased out the melodic associations with "My Way" for the Vegas audience. In addition to his own songs, Bowie continued his 30-year-long crusade to sell the world on the Velvet Underground with his take on "White Light White Heat." He also covered the Pixies' "Cactus," and urged the audience to go out and purchase discs by both bands.
Unlike those long-gone bands though, Bowie does have a new disc, Reality, and his version of its title track, and of "New Killer Star," smoked the studio versions. Bowie is never predictable, and a killer version of "Hallo Spaceboy" clearly caught some older fans off guard with its metallic crunch. "That's for '90s people," Bowie joked, "Now we will go back to stuff for you '70s and '80s people."
This he did, keeping the sold-out crowd on its feet with a string of decades-old classics until closing out the concert with "Heroes," "Rebel, Rebel" "Suffragette City" and, of course, "Ziggy Stardust." It is very rare for a veteran of countless tours like Bowie to be performing with this much fire, and rarer still to get a second shot at seeing it. Bowie's "Reality" tour will be back Friday and if you have extra tickets, please call me!