070690 David Bowie, Ottawa, ON

On July 6th, 1990 I saw David Bowie at the Civic Centre.  I suspect I bought the tickets on a bit of a  lark.  My high school girlfriend was visiting from Moncton and I was probably looking for something Big City for us to do.  I know I was only the most proletariat of Bowie fans at the time – I barely even knew the hits – and I think Kristie was in the same boat.

Today it stands as the only time I saw the late, great David Bowie (1947-2016) so I sure am glad I went, whatever the reason.  

It was his Sound + Vision tour – basically a greatest hits tour – and I recall Bowie saying in an interview that it was the last time he was going to play all his big songs, so I guess in that regard it was the perfect show for me to see.  

He certainly played all the songs of his I was familiar with and a hundred more that I should have been familiar with; the man commanded the stage like a prince and it was a great show.  The band featured Adrian Belew on guitar, a player I was familiar enough with to be looking forward to, but to be honest I don’t really think his style blended with Bowie’s very well.  I remember lots of behind-the-nut string bends and similar trickery that didn’t really add much to the vibe of the show, or maybe I was just disappointed that he was taking liberties where I was hoping for familiarity…either way my attention kept bouncing back and forth between Bowie and his sideman and in my mind from one style to another, something I doubt they were going for.

But that’s easy to push aside; I just thank ye gawds that I have this Bowie experience in my memory banks.  The day after his last album Black Star came out I heard two tracks and knew I was going to do whatever I could to see the next Bowie tour, then he died the next day.  

You just never know.