The Isolar – 1976 TourKevin Cann, David Bowie: A Chronology, Vermilion, 1983, 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, The Station to Station Tour,Pimm Jal de la Parra, David Bowie: The Concert Tapes, P.J. Publishing, 1985, and The White Light Tour.David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999,

History

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.Christopher Sandford, Bowie: Loving the Alien, Warner Books, 1997, 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 Pavillon de Paris shows, and has expressed hope that they might eventually be released.

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.

Title 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."

Set list 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.

"Station to Station" "Suffragette City" "Fame" "Word on a Wing" "Stay" "I'm Waiting for the Man" "Queen Bitch" "Life on Mars? "Five Years" "Panic in Detroit" "Changes" "TVC 15" "Diamond Dogs" Encore "Rebel Rebel" "The Jean Genie"

Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueAttendanceRevenueNorth America2 February 1976VancouverCanadaPacific Coliseum 3 February 1976SeattleUnited StatesSeattle Center Coliseum 4 February 1976PortlandPortland Memorial Coliseum 6 February 1976Daly CityCow Palace 8 February 1976InglewoodThe Forum 9 February 197611 February 197613 February 1976San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena 15 February 1976PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16 February 1976AlbuquerqueAlbuquerque Civic Auditorium 17 February 1976DenverMcNichols Sports Arena 20 February 1976MilwaukeeMECCA Arena 21 February 1976KalamazooWings Stadium 22 February 1976EvansvilleRoberts Municipal Stadium 23 February 1976CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum 25 February 1976MontrealCanadaMontreal Forum 26 February 1976TorontoMaple Leaf Gardens 27 February 1976ClevelandUnited StatesPublic Auditorium 28 February 197629 February 1976DetroitOlympia Stadium 1 March 19763 March 1976ChicagoInternational Amphitheatre 5 March 1976St. LouisKiel Auditorium 6 March 1976MemphisMid-South Coliseum 11,673$85,0157 March 1976NashvilleNashville Municipal Auditorium 7,700$51,0008 March 1976AtlantaOmni Coliseum 9 March 1976JacksonvilleJacksonville Coliseum 11 March 1976PittsburghCivic Arena 12 March 1976NorfolkNorfolk Scope 13 March 1976LandoverCapital Centre 14 March 197615 March 1976PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum 36,000$260,00016 March 197617 March 1976BostonBoston Garden 19 March 1976BuffaloBuffalo Memorial Auditorium 12,000$87,23520 March 1976RochesterRochester Community War Memorial 8,358$58,72021 March 1976SpringfieldSpringfield Civic Center 6,752$46,57222 March 1976New HavenNew Haven Coliseum 23 March 1976UniondaleNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 26 March 1976New York CityMadison Square Garden Europe7 April 1976MunichWest GermanyOlympiahalle 8 April 1976DüsseldorfPhilipshalle 10 April 1976West BerlinDeutschlandhalle 11 April 1976HamburgCongress Center Hamburg 12 April 197613 April 1976FrankfurtFesthalle Frankfurt 14 April 1976LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle 17 April 1976ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadion 24 April 1976HelsinkiFinlandUKK Hall 26 April 1976StockholmSwedenKungliga Tennishallen 27 April 197628 April 1976GothenburgScandinavium 29 April 1976CopenhagenDenmarkFalkonersalen 30 April 19763 May 1976LondonEnglandEmpire Pool 4 May 19765 May 19766 May 19767 May 19768 May 197611 May 1976BrusselsBelgiumForest National 13 May 1976RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy 14 May 197617 May 1976ParisFrancePavillon de Paris 18 May 1976 Total

Cancellations and rescheduled shows 14 April 1976Ludwigshafen, West GermanyFriedrich-Ebert-HalleCancelled.17 April 1976Bern, SwitzerlandFesthalle Bea Bern ExpoRescheduled to Hallenstadion in Zurich.27 April 1976Oslo, NorwayEkeberghallenCancelled.19 May 1976Paris, FrancePavillon de ParisCancelled.

Songs

From Hunky Dory "Changes" "Life on Mars?" "Queen Bitch" From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars "Five Years" "Suffragette City" From Aladdin Sane "Panic in Detroit" "The Jean Genie" From Diamond Dogs "Diamond Dogs" "Rebel Rebel"

From Young Americans "Fame" (Bowie, John Lennon, Carlos Alomar) From Station to Station "Station to Station" "Golden Years" "Word on a Wing" "TVC 15" "Stay" Other songs "I'm Waiting for the Man" (originally from The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) by The Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed; outtake from various Bowie sessions 1966-72) "Sister Midnight" (from The Idiot by Iggy Pop; written by Pop, Bowie and Alomar)

Personnel

Band ("Raw Moon") David Bowie – Vocals, guitar, saxophone Carlos Alomar – Rhythm guitar, music director, backing vocals Stacey Heydon – Lead guitar, backing vocals George Murray – Bass guitar, backing vocals Dennis Davis – Drums, percussion Tony Kaye – Keyboards

Crew Vern Moose Constan, Rob Joyce – Band technicians/personnel Lonnie McKenzie, Leroy Kerr, Lester Burton, Buddy Prewitt, Larry Sizemore – Lighting technicians/personnel Buford Jones, Scott Wadsworth – Sound technicians/personnel

References

Sources