Isolar – 1976 Tour

Isolar – 1976 Tour
Tour by David Bowie
Location
  • North America
  • Europe
Associated albumStation to Station
Start date2 February 1976
End date18 May 1976
Legs2
No. of shows65 (66 scheduled)
David Bowie concert chronology

The Isolar – 1976 Tour[1] was a concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, in support of the album Station to Station. It opened on 2 February 1976 at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, and continued through North America and Europe, concluding at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, France, on 18 May 1976. The tour is commonly referred to as Thin White Duke Tour,[2] The Station to Station Tour,[3] and The White Light Tour.[4]

History[edit]

Bowie performs at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, 26 February 1976.

The performances began without introduction with a showing of the 1928 surrealist film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, Un Chien Andalou, which includes a famous section of a razor blade cutting into a woman's eyeball.[5] Bowie appeared on stage immediately as the film finished, while the audience was still disoriented. The visual element of the performances incorporated banks of fluorescent white light set against black backdrops creating a stark spectacle on a stage largely devoid of props or other visual distractions.

The Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio performance on 28 February 1976 was recorded by a concert-goer and released as the bootleg entitled NeoExpressionism on the TSP (The Swingin' Pig) label. It would be digitally re-mastered in 2007 and the entire set released on 2 CDs. The only song not done at this performance is "Sister Midnight."

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, performance on 23 March 1976 was recorded by RCA Records with extracts broadcast by The King Biscuit Radio Network. Two songs from the performance were later included on the 1991 Rykodisc re-issue of the Station to Station album. The entire Nassau performance is available on the 2010 deluxe edition of Station to Station as well as the 2016 box set Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976). It was released separately on LP, CD and digitally in February 2017 as Live Nassau Coliseum '76.

Tour keyboardist Tony Kaye has soundboard recordings of the 26 March 1976 Madison Square Garden and 17-18 May Pavillion de Paris shows, and has expressed hope that they might eventually be released.[6]

Bowie took friend and fellow musician Iggy Pop along as his companion on the tour. Following a March 21, 1976, show, Bowie and Pop were arrested together for marijuana possession in Rochester, New York, although charges were later dropped.[7]

Title[edit]

The tour has been described under numerous different names. Although officially referred to as the Isolar tour, it has also been given the names the Thin White Duke tour, the Station to Station tour, and the White Light Tour. According to biographer Nicholas Pegg, the word "Isolar" is an anagram of "sailor", one of Bowie's favourite words. Isolar also derives from the company Bowie launched to handle music publishing after his acrimonious split with MainMan Publishing. Bowie himself later clarified: "Isola is Italian for island. Isolation plus Solar equals Isolar. If I remember correctly, I was stoned."[2]

Set list[edit]

This set list is representative of the performance on 7 May 1976 in London, UK, at Empire Pool. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.

  1. "Station to Station"
  2. "Suffragette City"
  3. "Fame"
  4. "Word on a Wing"
  5. "Stay"
  6. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
  7. "Queen Bitch"
  8. "Life on Mars?
  9. "Five Years"
  10. "Panic in Detroit"
  11. "Changes"
  12. "TVC 15"
  13. "Diamond Dogs"
Encore
  2. "Rebel Rebel"
  3. "The Jean Genie"

Tour dates[edit]

Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue
North America
2 February 1976 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
3 February 1976 Seattle United States Seattle Center Coliseum
4 February 1976 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum
6 February 1976 Daly City Cow Palace
8 February 1976 Inglewood The Forum
9 February 1976
11 February 1976
13 February 1976 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
15 February 1976 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
16 February 1976 Albuquerque Albuquerque Civic Auditorium
17 February 1976 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
20 February 1976 Milwaukee MECCA Arena
21 February 1976 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium
22 February 1976 Evansville Roberts Municipal Stadium
23 February 1976 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
25 February 1976 Montreal Canada Montreal Forum
26 February 1976 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens
27 February 1976 Cleveland United States Public Auditorium
28 February 1976
29 February 1976 Detroit Olympia Stadium
1 March 1976
3 March 1976 Chicago International Amphitheatre
5 March 1976 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium
6 March 1976 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum 11,673 $85,015[8]
7 March 1976 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium 7,700 $51,000[8]
8 March 1976 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
9 March 1976 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum
11 March 1976 Pittsburgh Civic Arena
12 March 1976 Norfolk Norfolk Scope
13 March 1976 Landover Capital Centre
14 March 1976
15 March 1976 Philadelphia The Spectrum 36,000 $260,000[9]
16 March 1976
17 March 1976 Boston Boston Garden
19 March 1976 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 12,000 $87,235[9]
20 March 1976 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial 8,358 $58,720[9]
21 March 1976 Springfield Springfield Civic Center 6,752 $46,572[9]
22 March 1976 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
23 March 1976 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
26 March 1976 New York City Madison Square Garden
Europe
7 April 1976 Munich West Germany Olympiahalle
8 April 1976 Düsseldorf Philipshalle
10 April 1976 West Berlin Deutschlandhalle
11 April 1976 Hamburg Congress Center Hamburg
12 April 1976
13 April 1976 Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
14 April 1976 Ludwigshafen Friedrich-Ebert-Halle
17 April 1976 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
24 April 1976 Helsinki Finland UKK Hall
26 April 1976 Stockholm Sweden Kungliga Tennishallen
27 April 1976
28 April 1976 Gothenburg Scandinavium
29 April 1976 Copenhagen Denmark Falkonersalen
30 April 1976
3 May 1976 London England Empire Pool
4 May 1976
5 May 1976
6 May 1976
7 May 1976
8 May 1976
11 May 1976 Brussels Belgium Forest National
13 May 1976 Rotterdam Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy
14 May 1976
17 May 1976 Paris France Pavillon de Paris
18 May 1976
Total

Cancellations and rescheduled shows[edit]

14 April 1976 Ludwigshafen, West Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Halle Cancelled.
17 April 1976 Bern, Switzerland Festhalle Bea Bern Expo Rescheduled to Hallenstadion in Zurich.
27 April 1976 Oslo, Norway Ekeberghallen Cancelled.
19 May 1976 Paris, France Pavillon de Paris Cancelled.

Songs[edit]

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kevin Cann, David Bowie: A Chronology, Vermilion, 1983, ISBN 0-09-153831-9
  2. ^ a b Pegg 2016, p. 566.
  3. ^ Pimm Jal de la Parra, David Bowie: The Concert Tapes, P.J. Publishing, 1985, ISBN 90-900100-5-X
  4. ^ David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784-X
  5. ^ Christopher Sandford, Bowie: Loving the Alien, Warner Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7515-1924-3
  6. ^ Thodoris (20 September 2021). "Interview: Tony Kaye (solo, Yes, David Bowie, Badger)". Hit Channel. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  7. ^ "When Rochester arrested David Bowie". Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Billboard Box Office 20/3/1976" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b c d "Billboard Box Office 3 April 1976" (PDF).
  10. ^ Jones, Dylan (2017), David Bowie: A Life, Crown/Archetype

Sources[edit]

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