Bowie in LA, pt 3

The Wiltern Theatre

Sad evening since my best friend Randy was too ill to attend the performance. He tried to make it, and we actually went to the theater, but before we went in he started feeling bad and we had to cut it short. He took me back home and I hurried back to the theater for the show.

Luckily the second ticket didn’t go to waste since I was able to drag my friend Mark out of bed for his second Bowie show. Poor Mark was deathly ill on Monday night and he wasn’t much better last night. He was lying on the couch watching a movie when I showed up on his doorstep. At first he said he was too sick to go, but he changed his mind after a few minutes. It too good an opportunity to pass up!

The Wiltern is a nice theater, but it’s been renovated to be a club instead of an actual theater. Therefore, the floor is all general admission and it’s standing only, no seats. Because we were so late getting to the theater, the place was packed and we were stuck in the back of the house by the bar. At least we were raised slightly higher than the crowd so we could see a little bit, but it wasn’t as nice a view as the Shrine.

Bowie and the band seemed a little tired to me. His repartee was more subdued than the previous two shows and he seemed to struggle vocally a couple of times. The mood was still quite cheerful, however, and the audience was very appreciative. There were a few minor technical problems, including some bad feedback at least three times during the performance and a few glitches with the rear video projection. In fact, the stage was so small that the raised side platforms were missing as well as the overhead video screens.

Bowie sang another variety of songs not included in previous shows. “Rebel Rebel” opened as usual but went next into “Pablo Picasso” from Reality instead of the typical “New Killer Star.”

01 Rebel Rebel
02 Pablo Picasso
03 New Killer Star
04 Fantastic Voyage
05 Blue Jean
06 Reality
07 Looking For Water
08 Fame
09 Cactus
10 All The Young Dudes
11 China Girl
12 A New Career In A New Town
13 The Loneliest Guy
14 The Man Who Sold The World
15 Heathen (The Rays)
16 Hallo Spaceboy
17 Under Pressure
18 Life On Mars?
19 Be My Wife
20 Days
21 Ashes To Ashes
22 Hang Onto Yourself
23 I'm Afraid Of Americans
24 "Heroes"

(encore)
25 White Light, White Heat
26 Five Years
27 Suffragette City
28 Ziggy Stardust