Flashback: David Bowie Performs ‘Heroes’ in 2003
Now that we’ve all had time to digest the shocking news that David Bowie is releasing a new album in March, there’s one obvious question: Will he support it with a tour? Bowie hasn’t done a concert since a massive heart attack abruptly shortened his 2003/04 Reality world tour, and he hasn’t sung a single song in public since 2006. That said, people often forget just how amazing he was on that last tour. Check out this performance of “Heroes” in Dublin.
Bowie famously pledged to stop playing the hits after his 1990 Sound+Vision world tour, but by the end of the 1990s, he got tired of pissing off audiences. His 1995 co-headlining tour with Nine Inch Nails was particularly challenging, and he went back on his pledge a few years later. On the Reality tour, he embraced all parts of his career, from “Space Oddity” to “Modern Love” and even a bunch of songs from his widely-maligned 1995 album Outside. They were amazing shows.
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Needless to say, rumors are flying now about Bowie appearing at Coachella or Bonnaroo. Whatever happens, it’s likely that Bowie won’t return to the stage unless he feels he can at least equal the last tour. It’ll be tough, but this is a man who has risen from the ashes many times before. Many called him a one-hit wonder after “Space Oddity.” They thought he’d never survive when he took off the Ziggy Stardust costume. They thought the Glass Spiders tour debacle would end his career, and he nearly proved them right with Tin Machine and a bunch of subpar albums in the 1990s. However, he came back roaring in the early 2000s with Heathen and Reality, and he can do it again.