Isolar – 1976 Tour


The David Bowie Isolar – 1976 Tour was a concert tour 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, and The White Light Tour.

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. 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 label. It would be digitally re-mastered in 2007 and the entire set released on 2 CD's. 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? . It was released separately on LP, CD and digitally in February 2017 as Live Nassau Coliseum '76.
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.

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.
  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

Cancellations and rescheduled shows

Songs

From Hunky Dory
From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
From Aladdin Sane
From Live Santa Monica '72
From Diamond Dogs
From Young Americans
From Station to Station
Other songs
;Band
;Crew