Better late than never. In this case, seven years after David Bowie’s
delightful A Reality Tour DVD splashed down comes a double
CD set of the same name featuring music from the same Dublin concerts. The new
CDs, however, are buffed out with three unreleased bonus tracks: “Fall
Dog Bombs The Moon,” “Breaking Glass” and “China Girl.”
The career-spanning A Reality Tour captures the ageless Thin
White Duke at a sprite and productive period, blending a bit of the old with
the new, and backed by a first-rate, six-piece group of musicians and singers.
Bowie knows how to work a crowd, and the best way to hook them is to come out
swinging. The one-two punch of “Rebel Rebel” ropes ‘em in
from the get-go. With its catch-and-release chorus and irresistible, participatory
stomp, the song sets the pace for a double-dose of reality —
“New Killer Star” and “Reality,” from the then-just
released Reality album (hence the reason this was the Reality
tour).
The high-energy continues with a succession of snappy rockers like “Cactus,”
“All The Young Dudes” and “The Man Who Sold the World.”
A couple of seemingly out-of-left-fielders written with Brian Eno — “Fantastic
Voyage” and “Hallo Spaceboy” — eclecticize the restless
crowd. “Under Pressure,” sang with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, resurrects
that feel-goodiness , and we’re still listening to the first CD.
The second disc plays musical chairs with its share of oldies, newbies, rockers,
and the general weirdness that makes David Bowie such a charmer. “Ashes
To Ashes” sways and swiggles; “Loving The Alien” eschews the
sublime for the exotic; “Changes” is simply metaphoric in its urgency;
“I’m Afraid Of Americans” is like a sobering slap in the face.
It’s obvious “Heroes” has become an on-your-feet crowd-pleaser
— its transcendental potion ripened during The Concert for New York
City and has yet to let up.
“Bring Me The Head Of The Disco King,” another one from Reality,
is reason enough Bowie should make another studio album. It’s been much
too long, much longer than “Five Years,” which retroacts the encore
of “Hang On To Yourself” and “Ziggy Stardust.” The three
extras — “Fall Dog Bombs The Moon,” “Breaking Glass”
and “China Girl” — were excluded from the DVD, but they certainly
sweeten the pot here. Either way, the results are in. A Reality Tour,
visually and sonically, is a comprehensive crash-course in all things David
Bowie — back in the day, more recently, and hopefully in the future.
~ Shawn Perry
