It's My Life Tour
Tour by Tin Machine | |||||||
![]() "It's My Life" Promotional Band Image From L to R: David Bowie, Hunt Sales, Reeves Gabrels, Tony Sales | |||||||
Associated album | Tin Machine II | ||||||
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Start date | 5 October 1991 | ||||||
End date | 17 February 1992 | ||||||
Legs | 3 | ||||||
No. of shows | 69 | ||||||
Tin Machine concert chronology | |||||||
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The It's My Life Tour was a concert tour headlined by Anglo-American hard rock band Tin Machine. The tour commenced on 5 October 1991 after two warm-up shows, one press show and three trade-industry shows, visiting twelve countries and concluding after sixty-nine performances, a larger outing than their first tour in 1989. The band purposefully booked intimate venues of a few thousand seats or less so that they could focus on the music without any theatrical trappings, a stark change from Bowie's previous Glass Spider and Sound+Vision tours.[1] Bowie also wanted to avoid playing larger venues and arenas lest his fans show up "hoping I'd be doing old songs or something. We don't want that feeling at all."[2]
Tour details[]
The band rehearsed and warmed up for the tour in Dublin in August 1991.[3] Joined onstage by guitarist Eric Schermerhorn,[4] Tin Machine presented songs from the Tin Machine album and the Tin Machine II album, augmented with cover versions of songs from the Pixies, Neil Young and The Moody Blues.
To start the show at some venues, an old TV was placed on stage, playing old sitcoms while the prelude to Wagner's Tristan and Isolde played over loudspeakers.[4]
Bowie claimed that the setlist for the tour was made on the fly each night, saying "We have no setlist whatsoever. We have a complete list of all our songs on the floor of the stage and we yell it out as we feel it. If you catch us on a bad night, it can be one of the most disastrous shows you've ever seen. But on a good night – and fortunately with this band most nights have been good nights – it really happens.[5]
Their performance on 1 September 1991 at the Los Angeles airport was taped for broadcast in America as part of the ABC In Concert series, and was aired on 6 September 1991.[6] Tin Machine were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live's 17th season on 23 November 1991.[6]
Live recordings[]
The Hamburg Docks performance on 24 October 1991, was filmed and later released on the video, Oy Vey, Baby: Tin Machine Live at the Docks, with the song "Baby Can Dance" from the same performance appearing on the compilation album Best of Grunge Rock. Songs from the Boston, Chicago, New York City, Sapporo and Tokyo performances were recorded and released on the July 1992 album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby.
Contemporary reviews[]
The review of the performance at the trade show at Slim's in San Francisco was not kind: "It's hard to imagine people walking out on a David Bowie show at Slim's, but all you had to do was look around the room Thursday at the end of the appearance by Tin Machine. ... Bowie and his associates gave a more than hour-long display of his latest incarnation, and the music turned out to be nearly unlistenable."[7]
The show in Seattle, Washington was met with positive reviews: "Let it first be said that on every level, Tin Machine is an outstanding band. ... [they] may well represent the next evolutionary step in rock and roll – or just another blind alley. In any event, it is powerful stuff."[4] During the show Bowie played alto and baritone sax and electric, acoustic and 12-string guitar.[4]
The Los Angeles Times had a positive review of the first New York show, complimenting the band on their desire to tinker with songs' arrangements and appreciating Bowie's "theatrical gift" for performing.[8]
Tour band[]
- David Bowie – vocals, guitar, alto & tenor saxophone
- Reeves Gabrels – lead guitar, vocals
- Tony Sales – bass guitar, vocals
- Hunt Sales – drums, vocals
- Eric Schermerhorn – rhythm guitar, vocals
Tour dates[]
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
Tour rehearsals | |||
10 August 1991 | Dublin | Ireland | Factory Studios |
11 August 1991 | |||
12 August 1991 | |||
13 August 1991 | |||
14 August 1991 | |||
15 August 1991 | |||
Warm up shows | |||
16 August 1991 | Dublin | Ireland | The Baggot Inn |
19 August 1991 | The Waterfront | ||
Press show | |||
1 September 1991 | Los Angeles | United States | Rockit Cargo @ LAX Airport |
Trade shows | |||
7 September 1991 | Minneapolis | United States | Marriott |
10 September 1991 | Los Angeles | ||
12 September 1991 | San Francisco | Slim's | |
Europe | |||
5 October 1991 | Milan | Italy | Teatro Smeraldo |
6 October 1991 | |||
8 October 1991 | Florence | Palazzetto Dello Sport | |
9 October 1991 | Rome | Teatro Brancaccio | |
10 October 1991 | |||
12 October 1991 | Munich | Germany | Circus Krone |
14 October 1991 | Offenbach | Stadthalle | |
15 October 1991 | Ludwigsburg | Forum | |
17 October 1991 | Berlin | Neue Welt | |
19 October 1991 | Copenhagen | Denmark | Falkoner Teatret |
21 October 1991 | Stockholm | Sweden | Circus |
22 October 1991 | Oslo | Norway | Oslo Konserthus |
24 October 1991 | Hamburg | Germany | Docks |
25 October 1991 | Hanover | Music Hall | |
26 October 1991 | Cologne | E-Werk | |
28 October 1991 | Utrecht | Netherlands | Muziekcentrum Vredenburg |
29 October 1991 | Paris | France | Olympia |
30 October 1991 | Le Zénith | ||
31 October 1991 | Brussels | Belgium | Ancienne Belgique |
2 November 1991 | Wolverhampton | England | Civic Hall |
3 November 1991 | Manchester | International 2 | |
5 November 1991 | Newcastle upon Tyne | Mayfair | |
6 November 1991 | Liverpool | Royal Court | |
7 November 1991 | Glasgow | Scotland | Barrowlands |
9 November 1991 | Cambridge | England | Corn Exchange |
10 November 1991 | Brixton | Brixton Academy | |
11 November 1991 | |||
North America | |||
15 November 1991 | Philadelphia | United States | Tower Theater |
16 November 1991 | Washington, D.C. | The Citadel | |
17 November 1991 | Philadelphia | Tower Theater | |
19 November 1991 | New Haven | Toad's Place | |
20 November 1991 | Boston | Orpheum Theater | |
24 November 1991 | Providence | New Campus Club | |
25 November 1991 | New Britain | The Sting | |
27 November 1991 | New York City | Academy of Music | |
29 November 1991 | |||
1 December 1991 | Montreal | Canada | La Brique |
2 December 1991 | |||
3 December 1991 | Toronto | ||
4 December 1991 | Detroit | United States | Clubland |
6 December 1991 | Cleveland | Agora Metropolitan | |
7 December 1991 | Chicago | Riviera Theatre | |
9 December 1991 | Dallas | Bronco Bowl | |
10 December 1991 | Houston | Back Alley | |
12 December 1991 | Los Angeles | Hollywood Palladium | |
14 December 1991 | San Diego | Spreckels Theater | |
15 December 1991 | |||
17 December 1991 | San Francisco | The Warfield | |
18 December 1991 | |||
20 December 1991 | Seattle | Paramount Theatre | |
21 December 1991 | Vancouver | Canada | Commodore Ballroom |
Asia | |||
29 January 1992 | Kyoto | Japan | Kaikan Dai Ichi Hall |
30 January 1992 | Osaka | Festival Hall | |
31 January 1992 | |||
2 February 1992 | Fukuoka | Kyusyu Kouseinenkin Kaikan | |
3 February 1992 | Hiroshima | Kouseinenkin Kaikan | |
5 February 1992 | Tokyo | NHK Hall | |
6 February 1992 | |||
7 February 1992 | Yokohama | Bunka Taiikukan | |
10 February 1992 | Sapporo | Kouseinenkin Kaikan | |
11 February 1992 | |||
13 February 1992 | Sendai | Sunplaza Hall | |
14 February 1992 | Omiya | Soniku City Hall | |
17 February 1992 | Tokyo | Budokan Hall |
Songs[]
Notation:
- CD Included on the Oy Vey, Baby album
- VHS/LD Included on the Oy Vey, Baby video album
- CD/VHS/LD Included on both versions of the Oy Vey, Baby album
From Tin Machine
From Tin Machine II
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From Black Tie White Noise
Other songs:
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References[]
- ^ "David Bowie Music Interview" by George Varga for The Star Entertainment Weekly, 1–7 January 1992, pp 2 & 10
- ^ di Perna, Alan (1991), "Ballad of the Tin Men", Creem, 2 (1): 50–59
- ^ Murray, Charles Shaar (October 1991), "And the Singer's Called Dave...", Q magazine, no. 61, pp. 56–64
- ^ a b c d "Bowie, Tin Machine offer what may be rock's new frontier" by Cary Smith, Journal-American, December 1991
- ^ "Beaming Bowie excited about current direction of his life, music" by Patrick MacDonald, The Seattle Times, 20 December 1991
- ^ a b Tin Machine Rockline Interview 1991. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Bowie's Band Unimpressive at Slim's" by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 September 1991, C4
- ^ Pareles, Jon (30 November 1991), "Review/Rock; For Bowie, One More Change of Pace", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 29 October 2013
- Nicholas Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, ISBN 1-903111-73-0
- David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784-X
- 1991 concert tours
- 1992 concert tours
- David Bowie concert tours