Bowie Fans Outside a David Bowie Concert, Including a Young Sid Vicious, at Earls Court, London, 1973

Following UK dates at the start of the year, The David Bowie Tour 1973 revisited the USA in February and Japan for the first time in April.

h/t: vintag.es

Returning to the UK, the fourth leg of the tour had an auspicious opening at London’s Earls Court on May 12, 1973. This was the first Rock concert to be staged at the venue and unfortunately it didn’t seem the logistics of putting on a show there had been fully worked out.

Reviews pointed out the poor visibility (the stage was on ground level), and an inadequate sound system unable to fill the cavernous hall. However, those that could see and hear enjoyed a superb setlist by Bowie and The Spiders, augmented by the expanded band.

The new outfits given to David by Kansai Yamamoto, along with the kabuki influenced make up and the state of the art light show, made for an incredible spectacle. Things settled down at smaller venues for the rest of the tour, as witnessed in the Ziggy Stardust Motion Picture filmed at the last show of the tour at Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd.