The Diamond Dogs Tour was a concert tour by David Bowie in North America in 1974 to promote the studio album Diamond Dogs (1974). The end of the tour was also called The Soul Tour, which included some songs from the forthcoming album Young Americans (1975).
Contents[]
[hide] *1 Tour preparation and details
Tour preparation and details[edit][]
[1][2]Bowie during Diamond Dogs Tour on 5 July 1974 at Charlotte Park Center
Two months of rehearsals were required to get the tour ready, in part due to the elaborate set & props required for the show (reported to cost $275,000 per set,[1] or about $1,320,000 today).[2] Originally the tour was planned to appear in a city for 5 nights before moving on to the next city, but that plan was abandoned early on. The tour started in June 1974 in Montreal, Canada as the "Diamond Dogs Tour" (although producer Tony DeFries demanded the tour be referred to as "The Year of the Diamond Dogs" when speaking with the press). Bowie recorded radio and television commercials for the tour, which played in advance of the tour's arrival in each city.[3] The tour took the month of August 1974 off, during which time Bowie began recording his follow-up studio album, Young Americans. On 10 October 1974, after the tour had resumed, Bowie abandoned the extravagant theatrical set and re-branded the tour "The Soul Tour," which would continue through the end of the North American leg in December.[1]
In 1987, Bowie recalled how difficult the tour was early on before changing it into the 'Soul Tour', saying "I was in a bad state of mind to have attempted that. It was pretty exciting, but I was so blocked [laughs], so stoned during the entire thing that I'm amazed I lasted with it even that one trip across America before I ditched it."[4]
Set design[edit][]
The set for the theatrical "Diamond Dogs" tour, which was built to resemble a city (called "Hunger City"),[3] weighed 6 tons and was incorporated over 20,000 moving parts including a variety of props (such as streetlamps, chairs and catwalks). The props themselves weren't ready for use until a mere 6 days before the show opened, which led to a variety of technical problems during the tour: a movable catwalk collapsed once during the tour with Bowie on it.[3] In 1990, while preparing for this Sound+Vision Tour, Bowie recalled the difficulties faced by the show, saying it "was good fun and dangerous, with the equipment breaking down and the bridges falling apart on stage. I kept getting stuck out over the audience's heads, on the hydraulic cherry picker, after the finish of 'Space Oddity.'"[5]
Other props worked as expected: for the song "Big Brother", Bowie sang from inside a multi-mirrored glass "asylum," emerging during the next song ("Time") from a giant hand.[1]
The show in Tampa, FL, was performed without any of the stage props because the truck driver driving those components was delayed after being stung by a bee.[1]
In 1987, while preparing for the Glass Spider Tour (which picked up theatrically where the Diamond Dogs Tour left off), Bowie recalled about the extraordinary nature of the set he used during the Diamond Dogs tour, saying "We had four skyscrapers on stage, with bridges that went backwards and forward and would go up and down. The whole things was built on a city pretext. I had dancers working with me and it was choreographed and was a real fantastic musical event. I thoroughly enjoyed working like that.[6]
Live recordings[edit][]
Main article: David Live
A live album was culled from July 1974 performances at the Tower Theater, Philadelphia. It has been said that Bowie's refusal to pay the musicians more than scale wages led to a revolt by the band, who refused to play until they were paid $5000 a piece. Bowie acquiesced only 20 minutes before curtain time.[3]
Band[edit][]
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June–July:
September:
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"The Soul/Philly Dogs Tour" - October–December:
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Tour dates[edit][]
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 June 1974 | Montreal, Quebec | Canada | Montreal Forum |
| 15 June 1974 | Ottawa, Ontario | Ottawa Civic Centre | |
| 16 June 1974 | Toronto, Ontario | O'Keefe Centre (Two shows) | |
| 17 June 1974 | Rochester, New York | United States | Rochester Community War Memorial |
| 18 June 1974 | Cleveland, Ohio | Public Auditorium | |
| 19 June 1974 | |||
| 20 June 1974 | Toledo, Ohio | Toledo Sports Arena | |
| 22 June 1974 | Detroit, Michigan | Cobo Hall | |
| 24 June 1974 | Dayton, Ohio | Hara Arena | |
| 26 June 1974 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Syria Mosque | |
| 27 June 1974 | |||
| 28 June 1974 | Charleston, West Virginia | Charleston Civic Center | |
| 29 June 1974 | Nashville, Tennessee | Municipal Auditorium | |
| 30 June 1974 | Memphis, Tennessee | Mid-South Coliseum | |
| 1 July 1974 | Atlanta, Georgia | Fox Theater | |
| 2 July 1974 | Tampa, Florida | Curtis Hixon Hall | |
| 3 July 1974 | Casselberry, Florida | Seminole Jai-Alai Fronton | |
| 5 July 1974 | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Coliseum | |
| 6 July 1974 | Greensboro, North Carolina | Greensboro Coliseum | |
| 7 July 1974 | Norfolk, Virginia | Norfolk Scope | |
| 8 July 1974 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Tower Theater | |
| 9 July 1974 | |||
| 10 July 1974 | |||
| 11 July 1974 | |||
| 12 July 1974 | |||
| 13 July 1974 | |||
| 14 July 1974 | New Haven, Connecticut | New Haven Coliseum | |
| 16 July 1974 | Boston, Massachusetts | Music Hall | |
| 19 July 1974 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | |
| 20 July 1974 | |||
| 2 September 1974 | Los Angeles, California | Universal Amphitheatre | |
| 3 September 1974 | |||
| 4 September 1974 | |||
| 5 September 1974 | |||
| 6 September 1974 | |||
| 7 September 1974 | |||
| 8 September 1974 | |||
| 11 September 1974 | San Diego, California | San Diego Sports Arena | |
| 13 September 1974 | Tucson, Arizona | Tucson Convention Center | |
| 14 September 1974 | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |
| 15 September 1974 | Anaheim, California | Anaheim Convention Center | |
| 16 September 1974 | |||
| 5 October 1974 | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Saint Paul Civic Center | |
| 8 October 1974 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Indiana Convention Center | |
| 11 October 1974 | Madison, Wisconsin | Dane County Coliseum | |
| 13 October 1974 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | MECCA Arena | |
| 15 October 1974 | Detroit, Michigan | Michigan Palace Theater | |
| 16 October 1974 | |||
| 17 October 1974 | |||
| 19 October 1974 | |||
| 20 October 1974 | |||
| 22 October 1974 | Chicago, Illinois | Arie Crown Theater | |
| 23 October 1974 | |||
| 28 October 1974 | New York City | Radio City Music Hall | |
| 29 October 1974 | |||
| 30 October 1974 | |||
| 31 October 1974 | |||
| 1 November 1974 | |||
| 2 November 1974 | |||
| 3 November 1974 | |||
| 6 November 1974 | Cleveland, Ohio | Public Auditorium | |
| 8 November 1974 | Buffalo, New York | War Memorial Auditorium | |
| 11 November 1974 | Washington D.C. | Capital Centre | |
| 14 November 1974 | Boston, Massachusetts | Music Hall | |
| 15 November 1974 | |||
| 16 November 1974 | |||
| 18 November 1974 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | |
| 19 November 1974 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Civic Arena | |
| 25 November 1974 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Spectrum | |
| 28 November 1974 | Memphis, Tennessee | Mid-South Coliseum | |
| 30 November 1974 | Nashville, Tennessee | Municipal Auditorium | |
| 1 December 1974 | Atlanta, Georgia | The Omni |
Songs[edit][]
|
From Space Oddity
From The Man Who Sold the World
From Hunky Dory
From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
From Aladdin Sane
From Pinups
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From Diamond Dogs
From Young Americans
Other songs
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