David Bowie Tin Machine Newcastle Mayfair Tuesday 5 November 1991
For my concert memory today I’m jumping ahead a few Bowie concerts to the Tin Machine era.
When I heard that David Bowie was coming to Newcastle Mayfair with his new band Tin Machine, I couldn’t believe it. Yes Bowie was stressing that “Tin Machine are a band” and that this was a new project, but hey come on, this was David Bowie coming to the Mayfair Ballroon, which he hadn’t played since the early 70s and pre-Hunky Dory days. The tickets went on sale on a Saturday morning, so I went through early to queue. I got there an hour or so before the box office opened and to my surprise there was hardly anyone there. So I joined the small queue and got my tickets without any problems at all. My daughter Ashleigh came along to the show with me. I hadn’t had the chance to hear the Tin Machine album, so didn’t know any of the songs (which was a mistake). I was hoping that Bowie would through in some classics, but suspected that he might not, and indeed it wasn’t to be. The place was full, and the set was all new Tin Machine stuff, and was thus totally unfamiliar to me. It was great to see David Bowie close up again in a small venue, but to be honest I found the songs weak, wasn’t impressed and we left before the end of the gig. This experience put me off seeing Bowie again for some time, and I missed the next couple of tours out (big mistake). On reflection, like many others I didn’t give Tin Machine a real chance. I had a fixed model in my mind of what David Bowie should be, and Tin Machine was just too much of a departure from his past. I should have gone to that gig with a more opne mind. Setlist was something like: I’ve Been Waiting For You; Goodbye Mr. Ed; Bus Stop; Under The God; A Big Hurt; Shopping for Girls; Stateside; I Can’t Read; Baby Universal; Sacrifice Yourself; Betty Wrong; You Can’t Talk; Go Now; Debaser; If There Is Something; Heaven’s In Here; You Belong in Rock & Roll; Crack City. Tomorrow I’ll go back again to the late 70s and the Low tour which came to Newcastle City Hall in 1978.
Archive for the ‘Tin Machine’ Category
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