On the Road

Ziggy Stardust Comes Home
2 October 2002

"'This has got to be one of the great venues in London. It should be a thrill to play it again,' David Bowie, September 2002.

To celebrate the launch of the new Carling Apollo, Hammersmith, Carlinglive are bringing one of rock 'n' roll's leading icons, David Bowie, back to perform at the very place where Ziggy last played guitar.

On 3rd July 1973, at the climax of one of the most spectacular and innovative live tours to date, Ziggy Stardust shocked his ecstatic crowd announcing that, 'tonight will be the last live show' that the Spiders would ever play.

Wednesday 2nd October marks the date that Bowie returns, for one night only, to play the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith."

- From Carlinglive.com

CARLING LIVE PRESENTS
DAVID BOWIE
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH SOLO
CARLING APOLLO HAMMERSMITH
QUEEN CAROLINE STREET W6
WED 02-OCT-02 20:00

Seating Information:
SECTION BLK5, ROW P, SEATS 27 TO 27
- From Ticketmaster.co.uk

"Sorry, but all David Bowie tickets for the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith, gig have now sold out. We had thousands of Bowie fans coming to the site this morning to try and buy some of the 250 tickets available. Some users may not have been able to access the relevant pages to try to buy the tickets, this was due to the sheer volume of traffic already on the site.

Apologies if you weren't able to get tickets, but as there were only a very limited number available only a few people were lucky enough to get the chance to buy them.

All tickets need to be picked up at the Carling Apollo Hammersmith Box Office on Wednesday 2nd October. This will be open from 4pm on Wednesday - please get there as soon as you can.

Please also be aware that there is a tube strike on Wednesday.

Doors open at 7pm - the gig starts at 8pm."
- From Carlinglive.com
Yeah. I enjoy the hype. This was quite the gig to hype, too. All but 250 tickets were sold through the box office on Saturday, 28 September. Those 250 remaining tickets were sold online on Tuesday, October 1, and were swiped up quickly. They were put on sale at 10 am London time, 11 am in The Hague. At 2:30 that afternoon, I was to be on a plane, taking off for London. Even with an arse-kicking cold, a tube strike, the expectation of a disastrous day at the London office on Wednesday, 2 October, and hustling to get ready to catch that plane, I had to seize the opportunity. I had to keep hittin' the "Refresh" button.

And I'm glad I did. I always wanted to see Bowie and it was a bummer he toured the U.S. this past summer with Moby while I was abroad (no, no... don't cry for me, Mattopia).

Bowie put on quite a show - and now I have a far greater appreciation for his older work, like Changes, Ziggy Stardust, Fashion, Heroes, Starman... Great stuff. China Girl, Let's Dance, and Fame all had extra punch. The songs 5:15 The Angels Have Gone, Everyone Says 'Hi,' and his cover of Cactus were so well done, they prompted me to pick up his new album, Heathen.

The man performed for nearly three hours and he was playful with the audience, who, in return, provided the Thin White Duke with a rapturous greeting.

Even Boy George was in the crowd. He was no doubt down in the front, rattling his jewelry, while I was at the back, clapping my hands.

You know you've been "out there" too long when you spend a week in London and your three hours of greatest clarity are during a David Bowie concert.

As for that tube strike, HA! The hotel we moved to at the last minute in anticipation of the tube strike wound up being a 30-minute walk from the office in one direction and a 20-minute walk in the other direction (down the Chiswick High Road) to the Apollo Hammersmith. Yes! I can honestly say I took the High Road to see David Bowie!

- more to follow -

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