David Bowie
The Joint
Hard Rock Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
February 6, 2004

Source: DPA 4060 => Sony TCD-D100 DAT
Transfer: Tascam DA-20mkII DAT => Tascam DR-680

Track listing:

CD1 (67:26):
(1) Band entrance (0:18)
(2) New Killer Star (5:01)
(3) Looking For Water (3:50)
(4) I've Been Waiting For You (3:42)
(5) Band introductions (1:02)
(6) Let's Dance (7:06)
(7) Fame (4:22)
(8) Cactus (2:49)
(9) All The Young Dudes (3:39)
(10) Pablo Picasso (4:16)
(11) Banter (1:50)
(12) Under Pressure (4:31)
(13) Life on Mars? (4:57)
(14) The Man Who Sold The World (3:59)
(15) Rebel Rebel (3:25)
(16) Fashion (4:02)
(17) China Girl (4:49)
(18) Days (3:39)

CD2 (42:20):
(1) Changes (3:53)
(2) Sound + Vision (4:37)
(3) Ashes to Ashes (5:57)
(4) White Light/White Heat (4:12)
(5) I'm Afraid of Americans (5:31)
(6) "Heroes" (5:57)
(7) Five Years (4:17)
(8) Suffragette City (3:47)
(9) Ziggy Stardust (3:37)
(10) Outro (0:26)

There are no fades applied to this recording; if you choose to burn to CD, the above splits are just a suggestion.

Comments: David Bowie embarked on his worldwide "Sound + Vision" tour in 1990 as a means of satisfying the demand of his broad but casual fan base to hear "the hits" one last time. After that time, he released a series of artistically ambitious but commercially less successful albums that diverted from the formula that had generated so many top-40 hits. He continued to tour sporadically with setlists that featured the new songs alongside what were often new arrangements of his earlier material.

His final 2003-2004 tour, in support of the album "Reality," was in that mold. The first hour of the set features newer material before diverted into the classics for the final third of the set. I'll admit that I had lost interest in David Bowie post-1990, but in tracking this out I found myself really enjoying the unfamiliar material and the overall vibe of the set. One gets the sense that he is having more fun in a low-pressure, small venue than he did during his years of superstardom. If you (like me) hadn't heard anything from David Bowie in his final years of touring, this may be worth a listen.

Not sure where the taper was located, but this is a really solid audience recording that captures the full dynamics of the band with minimal audience interference. The Joint is a small (~2000 capacity) venue with great acoustics, which comes through on this recording.

Check out the samples in the comments if in doubt.

Many thanks to TallTaper for taping and sharing. I was just the helper who EQ'd and tracked it.