Day 132 | Glass Spider

29 years ago I traveled to Toronto to see my first Bowie concert. The show was opened by Duran Duran, who performed a full-concert length set of their own, and followed by what seemed to be an interminable intermission. Finally, when it was time for Bowie to enter, he didn’t just walk on stage—he descended from above, singing into a telephone while seated in a levitating chair. At that point, as I remember it, I realized the stage was designed to be an enormous glass spider. That was the song he opened with, Glass Spider, and that was the name of the tour. This was an excellent and unforgettable first in-person impression of Bowie. I would go on to see Bowie live maybe seven or eight more times, and in retrospect this was not the best concert, but it was an amazing show. The song is essentially silly. After this tour I think Bowie gave up on it and may have never performed it live again, but as a spectacle, taken as a whole, it is tough to forget. Album: Never Let Me Down