David Bowie's gig at the Lewisham Odeon in May 1973 on his Ziggy Stardust tour was a life changing moment for some of those who were there. Boy George later recalled:
"The first time I saw DAVID BOWIE performing was on THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST, on TV. Everything changed, and that was basically the end of normality for me. I was obsessive about BOWIE. I saw my first ZIGGY STARDUST concert when I was 13 at the Lewisham Odeon - ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS - and followed him to every concert hall and radio gig. Saturdays and Sundays, and sometimes after school, I'd go to Beckenham on the bus and just stand outside his house and hang out with all the other fans. We'd talk about him nonstop, about his latest records. latest outfits, his boots, his hair. One day we were being quite noisy outside his home, and his wife, Angie, opened the window and shouted: 'Will you all fuck off!' It was the highlight of our year; we were all quite chuffed to be acknowledged."
There's an audio recording of part of the soundtrack and gig at Lewisham (the gig starts at about 6:40 with Wild Eyed Boy/All the Young Dudes/Oh you pretty things:
The day after the Lewisham gig, he moved on to the Winter Fardens in Bournemouth. There's a remarkable Nationwide TV report form this which gives a flavour of the time (not sure if there is any Lewisham footage in the video, most of it is from Bournemouth).
"The first time I saw DAVID BOWIE performing was on THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST, on TV. Everything changed, and that was basically the end of normality for me. I was obsessive about BOWIE. I saw my first ZIGGY STARDUST concert when I was 13 at the Lewisham Odeon - ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS - and followed him to every concert hall and radio gig. Saturdays and Sundays, and sometimes after school, I'd go to Beckenham on the bus and just stand outside his house and hang out with all the other fans. We'd talk about him nonstop, about his latest records. latest outfits, his boots, his hair. One day we were being quite noisy outside his home, and his wife, Angie, opened the window and shouted: 'Will you all fuck off!' It was the highlight of our year; we were all quite chuffed to be acknowledged."
There's an audio recording of part of the soundtrack and gig at Lewisham (the gig starts at about 6:40 with Wild Eyed Boy/All the Young Dudes/Oh you pretty things:
The day after the Lewisham gig, he moved on to the Winter Fardens in Bournemouth. There's a remarkable Nationwide TV report form this which gives a flavour of the time (not sure if there is any Lewisham footage in the video, most of it is from Bournemouth).
There's a bootleg of the whole Lewisham gig out there too, the full set list was apparently:
Ode To Joy
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Watch That Man
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/All The Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty Things
Moonage Daydream
Changes
Space Oddity
The Jean Genie
Time Width Of A Circle
Let's Spend The Night Together
Drive In Saturday
Suffragette City
Cracked Actor
Rock'n'Roll Suicide
the nationwide bbctv documentry includes footage of David at Bournemouth 1973 not Lewisham Odeon
ReplyDeleteI lived in Clarendon Rise, Lewisham when Bowie played there in 73. Unfortunately, I was only 12 at the time and wasn't allowed to go but I recall seeing loads of young fans walking past my house with zig-zags painted on their faces as I sat at the window sulking! Thankfully was able to see him at the O2 many years later - unforgettable. RIP David. Hope you're having a great jam with Marc x
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