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Glass Spider Tour
Rock am Ring - 7 June 1987
Tour by David Bowie
Locations	Europe North America Australia New Zealand
Supporting album	Never Let Me Down
Start date	30 May 1987
End date	28 November 1987
Legs	3
Shows	86
David Bowie tour chronology
Serious Moonlight Tour (1983)	Glass Spider Tour (1987)	Sound and Vision Tour (1990)
Tin Machine tour chronology
		Tin Machine Tour (1989)

In 1987, David Bowie embarked on the The Glass Spider Tour in support of the album Never Let Me Down. The concert tour was the most ambitious by David Bowie surpassing the previous Serious Moonlight Tour in terms of audience figures and number of performances. It has been estimated by the conclusion of the tour a total of three million people had attended beating his previous record set on the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour^[1].

Tour development and history

Bowie indicated that he had two goals for this tour: to return to theatrics like he'd performed during his short-lived 1974 Diamond Dogs tour^[2], and to play lesser-well known songs. When he compared his 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour in 1987, Bowie stated:

"The promoters were coming around and saying, 'Listen David, we moved you from this 10,000 seater up to this 30,000-seater' ... and it grew and grew and there were 60,000-seaters coming up. ... Let's trim back on the theatrics and really go for giving them songs that they've heard on the radio for the last 15 years or so - songs they probably didn't realize when added up are a great body of work coming from this guy. ... Whereas with [The Glass Spider] tour coming up, I feel I've established that. What I now want to do is have the songs work for the performance. ... Certainly there will be obscure songs on it, at least for the general public. There will be songs from albums that weren't huge albums, but now those particular songs actually fit a section of the show. So when you put three songs together, you can create a vignette that works. It has a beginning and a conclusion and deals with one subject."^[3]

In announcing the concert tour, David Bowie embarked on a series of promotional press shows, in which the tour details were announced together with a live performance of songs from the Never Let Me Down album.

The European performances were not without incident with a lighting engineer, Michael Clark, being tragically killed at the Stadio Comunale - Florence after falling from the scaffolding before the show commenced^[4].

The performances at Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia on 7 & 9 November 1987 were filmed and released on video, Glass Spider, in 1988 with a DVD release in 2007 including an audio recording of the 30 August 1987 performance at the Olympic Stadium - Montreal, QB. The 6 June 1987 Platz der Republik (Reichstag - City Of Berlin Festival) - Berlin performance was broadcast on FM Radio.

Promotional Press Shows

• 17/03/1987 Diamond Club - Toronto, ON
• 18/03/1987 Cat Club - New York, NY
• 20/03/1987 Player's Theatre - London, England
• 21/03/1987 La Locomotive - Paris, France
• 24/03/1987 Halquera Plateaux - Madrid, Spain
• 25/03/1987 Piper - Rome, Italy
• 26/03/1987 Parkcafe Lowenbrau - Munich, Germany
• 28/03/1987 Ritz - Stockholm, Sweden
• 30/03/1987 Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tour Band

• David Bowie - vocals, guitar
• Peter Frampton - guitar, vocals
• Carlos Alomar - guitar
• Carmine Rojas - bass guitar
• Alan Childs - drums
• Erdal Kizilcay - keyboards, trumpet, congas, violin
• Richard Cottle - keyboards, saxophone

The Dancers;

• Melissa Hurley
• Constance Marie
• Spazz Attack (Craig Allen Rothwell)
• Viktor Manoel
• Stephen Nichols

Tour Dates

Europe

• 30/05/1987 Stadion Feijenoord - Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 31/05/1987 Stadion Feijenoord - Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 02/06/1987 Festival Terrein - Werchter, Belgium
• 06/06/1987 Platz der Republik (Reichstag - City Of Berlin Festival) - Berlin, Germany
• 07/06/1987 Rock am Ring - Nürburgring, Germany
• 09/06/1987 Stadio Comunale - Florence, Italy
• 10/06/1987 Stadio San Siro - Milan, Italy
• 13/06/1987 Festwiese Am Stadtpark - Hamburg, Germany
• 15/06/1987 Stadio Flaminio - Rome, Italy
• 16/06/1987 Stadio Flaminio - Rome, Italy
• 19/06/1987 Wembley Stadium - London, England
• 20/06/1987 Wembley Stadium - London, England
• 21/06/1987 Cardiff Arms Park - Cardiff, Wales
• 23/06/1987 Roker Park - Sunderland, England
• 27/06/1987 (Cancelled) Ullevi Stadium - Gothenburg, Sweden
• 27/06/1987 Eriksbergsvarvet - Hisingen, Sweden
• 28/06/1987 Stade de Gerland - Lyon, France
• 01/07/1987 Praterstadion - Vienna, Austria
• 03/07/1987 Parc départemental de La Courneuve - Paris, France
• 04/07/1987 Stadium Municipal de Toulouse - Toulouse, France
• 06/07/1987 Vicente Calderón Stadium - Madrid, Spain
• 07/07/1987 Ministadio C.F. - Barcelona, Spain
• 08/07/1987 Ministadio C.F. - Barcelona, Spain
• 11/07/1987 Slane Castle - County Meath, Ireland
• 14/07/1987 Maine Road Football Ground - Manchester, England
• 15/07/1987 Maine Road Football Ground - Manchester, England
• 17/07/1987 Stade De L'Ouest - Nice, France
• 18/07/1987 Stadio Comunale di Torino - Turin, Italy

North America

• 30/07/1987 Veterans Stadium - Philadelphia, PA
• 31/07/1987 Veterans Stadium - Philadelphia, PA
• 02/08/1987 Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ
• 03/08/1987 Giants Stadium - East Rutherford, NJ
• 07/08/1987 Spartan Stadium - San Jose, CA
• 08/08/1987 Anaheim Stadium - Anaheim, CA
• 09/08/1987 Anaheim Stadium - Anaheim, CA
• 12/08/1987 Mile High Stadium - Denver, CO
• 14/08/1987 Civic Stadium - Portland, OR
• 15/08/1987 BC Place Stadium - Vancouver, BC
• 17/08/1987 Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton, AB
• 19/08/1987 Winnipeg Stadium Winnipeg, MB
• 21/08/1987 Rosemont Horizon - Rosemont, IL
• 22/08/1987 Rosemont Horizon - Rosemont, IL
• 24/08/1987 Canadian National Exhibition Stadium - Toronto, ON
• 25/08/1987 Canadian National Exhibition Stadium - Toronto, ON
• 28/08/1987 Frank Clair Stadium - Ottawa, ON
• 30/08/1987 Olympic Stadium - Montreal, QB
• 01/09/1987 Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
• 02/09/1987 Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
• 03/09/1987 Sullivan Stadium - Foxborough, MA
• 06/09/1987 Dean Smith Center - Chapel Hill, NC
• 07/09/1987 Dean Smith Center - Chapel Hill, NC
• 10/09/1987 Marcus Amphitheater - Milwaukee, WI
• 11/09/1987 Marcus Amphitheater - Milwaukee, WI
• 12/09/1987 Pontiac Silverdome - Pontiac, MI
• 14/09/1987 Rupp Arena - Lexington, KY
• 18/09/1987 Miami Orange Bowl - Miami, FL
• 19/09/1987 Tampa Stadium - Tampa, FL
• 21/09/1987 Omni Coliseum - Atlanta, GA
• 22/09/1987 Omni Coliseum - Atlanta, GA
• 25/09/1987 Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT
• 28/09/1987 Capital Centre - Landover, MD
• 29/09/1987 Capital Centre - Landover, MD
• 01/10/1987 St. Paul Civic Center - St. Paul, MN
• 02/10/1987 St. Paul Civic Center - St. Paul, MN
• 04/10/1987 Kemper Arena - Kansas City, MO
• 06/10/1987 Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, LA
• 07/10/1987 The Summit - Houston, TX
• 08/10/1987 The Summit - Houston, TX
• 10/10/1987 Reunion Arena - Dallas, TX
• 11/10/1987 Reunion Arena - Dallas, TX
• 13/10/1987 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA
• 14/10/1987 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA

Australia

• 29/10/1987 Boondall Entertainment Centre - Brisbane, Australia
• 30/10/1987 Boondall Entertainment Centre - Brisbane, Australia
• 03/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 04/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 06/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 07/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 09/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 10/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 13/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 14/11/1987 Sydney Entertainment Centre - Sydney, Australia
• 18/11/1987 Kooyong Stadium - Melbourne Australia
• 20/11/1987 Kooyong Stadium - Melbourne Australia
• 21/11/1987 Kooyong Stadium - Melbourne Australia
• 23/11/1987 Kooyong Stadium - Melbourne Australia

New Zealand

• 28/11/1987 Western Springs Stadium - Auckland, New Zealand

The Songs

From The Man Who Sold the World

• "All the Madmen"

From Aladdin Sane

• "Time"
• "The Jean Genie"

From Diamond Dogs

• "Rebel Rebel"
• "Big Brother"

From Young Americans

• "Fame" (Bowie, John Lennon, Carlos Alomar)
• "Young Americans"

From "Heroes"

• ""Heroes"" (Bowie, Brian Eno)
• "Sons of the Silent Age"

From Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

• "Up the Hill Backwards"
• "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
• "Fashion"

From Let's Dance

• "Modern Love"
• "China Girl" (originally from The Idiot by Iggy Pop, written by Pop and Bowie)
• "Let's Dance"

From Tonight

• "Loving the Alien"
• "Blue Jean"
• "Dancing With the Big Boys" (Bowie, Pop, Carlos Alomar)

From Never Let Me Down

• "Day-In Day-Out"
• "Time Will Crawl"
• "Beat of Your Drum"
• "Never Let Me Down" (Bowie, Alomar)
• "Zeroes"
• "Glass Spider"
• "New York's in Love"
• "'87 and Cry"
• "Bang Bang" (Bowie, Ivan Kral)

Other songs:

• "Absolute Beginners" from Absolute Beginners: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, written by Bowie)
• "All the Young Dudes" (from All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople, written by Bowie)
• "Dancing in the Street" (non-album single by Bowie and Mick Jagger, originally a single by Martha and the Vandellas, written by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Marvin Gaye)
• "I Wanna Be Your Dog" (from The Stooges by The Stooges, written by Pop, Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton and Scott Asheton)
• "Lavender's Blue" (traditional)
• "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (traditional)
• "White Light/White Heat" (from White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed)

Rehearsed, but not performed:^[5]

• "Shining Star" (from Never Let Me Down)
• "Because You're Young" (from Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)))
• "Scream Like A Baby" (from Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)))

Notes

References

• David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784X