Earthling Tour

Bowie first publicly performed Earthling material in late 1996, playing "Telling Lies" and sometimes "Little Wonder" at shows on the US East Coast in September and October. On 9 January 1997, he hosted a concert at Madison Square Garden for his 50th birthday. A month later, Earthling was released and Bowie promoted it with appearances on Saturday Night Live (8 February) and The Tonight Show (11 February), followed by a Pay-Per-View broadcast of the birthday concert on 8 March.[1]

Bowie and his band began rehearsing for the tour in April 1997, and expected the tour to last "from May through Christmas" (1997). Bowie predicted a "really extensive, a long, long tour".[2] During rehearsals for the tour, Bowie re-recorded updated versions of some of his older songs, including "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Stay". These updated versions were performed during the tour, though the latter wouldn't be officially released until 2020 as part of the EP Is It Any Wonder?[3]

The original concept was to perform two sets: one regular and one dance-oriented, incorporating drum and bass.[4] This idea was abandoned, owing to the antipathy of critics and audiences.[5] After the performance at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht, on 11 June 1997, elements of each were incorporated into one set.

"He hated playing things just like the record," recalled guitarist Reeves Gabrels. "He wanted me to dress songs up in the clothes we're wearing now."[6]

The 14 October 1997 show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York – broadcast on MTV's Live from the 10 Spot – was added at short notice due to cancellation by The Rolling Stones. The following show on 15 October 1997 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York was part of the GQ Awards.

The setlist included Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" (from Big Science (1982)) with lead vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey.

Tour publicist Tony Michaelides handled press, radio & television for Bowie.

A live album from the European leg of the tour made it to the mixing stage- Bowie, Gabrels and Mark Plati were all involved- but Virgin, the band's label, cancelled the release.[5] The release was eventually made available, albeit with a different track listing than originally envisioned, to BowieNet subscribers as the release LiveAndWell.com, which was re-released in 2021.[5]

Bowie and the band performed a small number of "secret" shows under the name "Tao Jones Index", deliberately playing without people knowing who they were.[7] "Tao Jones Index" was a pun based on Bowie's real name, David Jones, and the 1997 Bowie Bond issue (Tao is pronounced "Dow", as in Dow Jones Index from the US stock market).[8] According to Gabrels, drummer Zachary Alford likely came up with the name,[9] and they only played as Tao Jones Index "a half dozen [times] or fewer", eventually wearying of the project as fans began to recognize Bowie and call out for him to play his hits.[10] The sets were, according to Gabrels, less strictly drum and bass so much as "dance remixes": "We were inspired by the various remixes of Earthling songs to reclaim & remake them as a live band."[11] The band played their normal instruments, but without amplifiers, and Alford played electronic drums.[12] There was only one official release from any of the Tao Jones Index's performances: a 12" single of "Pallas Athena" and "V-2 Schneider" (1997).[13]

One live performance was 10 June 1997, from which the live versions of "Pallas Athena" and "V2-Schneider" were recorded; another live performance was on 19 July 1997 Phoenix Festival; their performance in the BBC Radio 1 dance tent preceded the regular performance on the main stage the following day.

The band's performance on 20 July 1997, recorded at Long Marston, England during the Phoenix Festival, was released in a live album entitled Look at the Moon! in February 2021.[14] The concert was released in two limited editions: a 2 CD-set or a 3-LP set.[14] This live album was the fourth in the 6-concert series Brilliant Live Adventures.[15]

• David Bowie – vocals, guitar, alto & baritone saxophone
• Reeves Gabrels – guitar, backing vocals
• Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Zack Alford [16] – drums, percussion
• Mike Garson – keyboards, backing vocals

• David Buckley, Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie, Virgin Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85227-784-X