Hours Tour

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Lore & Background

Bowie released his album *Hours* in October 1999, and embarked on a short, mostly-promotional set of shows to promote the album. Prior to the album's release, on 21 August, Bowie and his band performed tracks for UK's *Top of the Pops*, and two days later on 23 August, they appeared on VH1's *Storytellers*, released in 2009 as *VH1 Storytellers*. For the rest of the shows, guitarist Page Hamilton, founding member of Helmet, was drafted to replace Reeves Gabrels whose final performance and association with Bowie ended with the *Storytellers* performance. Rumours of a split were initially denied by both parties until a few months later when Gabrels admitted that he and Bowie had drifted apart. In October, Bowie appeared on the 25th season of *Saturday Night Live* and played "Thursday's Child" and "Rebel Rebel". The Libro Music Hall, Vienna, performance on 17 October 1999, coinciding with the launch of BowieNet Europe, was made available as a live webcast. Tracks from the *Top of the Pops* performance on 21 August 1999 were made available in 2024 as part of *Hours'* 25th anniversary, as were official video recordings from Bowie's performance on *Later... with Jools Holland* from 4 December 1999.

In Their Own Story

The Elysée Montmartre performance on 14 October 1999 was filmed and recorded with three songs later appearing on the CD single of "Survive"; the full concert was eventually released in 2020 as *Something in the Air (Live Paris 99)*. The concert is notable for being recorded one day after Bowie received the rank of Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his contributions to art and music. *Something in the Air* was released on CD and vinyl for the first time in early 2021, part of the live series *Brilliant Live Adventures*. In November 1999, Bowie performed a concert at the small Kit Kat Klub in New York to invitees and contest winners. This show was filmed as part of the American Express Blue Concert series transmitted on 7 December 1999, in addition to a simulcast radio broadcast by SFX Radio network on the same date, and eventually released on a promotional-only CD-R that pared the setlist down to 12 songs. The webcast, reportedly one of the first live streams of a concert, was fraught with issues and was described as going "not particularly smooth." This live release, sourced from the same promotional CD-R released in late 1999/early 2000, was announced on 17 March 2021 and released on 2 April 2021.

Reader's Guide

The tour band consisted of David Bowie on vocals and acoustic guitar; Reeves Gabrels on lead guitar for the 23 August 1999 show only; Page Hamilton on lead guitar from 9 October onwards; Mark Plati on rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals, and as music director; Gail Ann Dorsey on bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and backing vocals; Sterling Campbell on drums and percussion; Mike Garson on keyboards and piano; Holly Palmer on backing vocals and percussion; and Emm Gryner on backing vocals. The *Something in the Air (Live Paris 99)* track listing includes: "Life on Mars?", "Thursday's Child", "Something in the Air", "Word on a Wing", "Can't Help Thinking About Me", "China Girl", "Always Crashing in the Same Car", "Survive", "Drive-In Saturday", "Changes", "Seven", "Repetition", "I Can't Read", "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell", and "Rebel Rebel". Live versions of "Thursday's Child", "Survive" and "Seven" from this show were previously released as b-sides to Bowie's 2000 single release of "Survive". *Something in the Air* reached #16 on the UK album charts. The *David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99)* track listing includes: "Life on Mars?", "Thursday's Child", "Something in the Air", "China Girl", "Can't Help Thinking About Me", "Always Crashing in the Same Car", "Survive", "Drive-In Saturday", "Stay", "Seven", "Changes", "Cracked Actor", "Ashes to Ashes", "Repetition", "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell", "Rebel Rebel", and "I'm Afraid of Americans". *Live at the Kit Kat Klub* reached #20 in the UK and #93 in Ireland upon its release.

Did You Know?

• The Elysée Montmartre concert on 14 October 1999 was recorded one day after Bowie received the rank of Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
• The webcast of the Kit Kat Klub show, reportedly one of the first live streams of a concert, was described as going 'not particularly smooth.'
• Reeves Gabrels' final performance with Bowie ended with the VH1 Storytellers appearance on 23 August 1999; Page Hamilton replaced him from 9 October onwards.
• Tracks from the Top of the Pops performance on 21 August 1999 were made available in 2024 as part of Hours' 25th anniversary.
• Live versions of 'Thursday's Child', 'Survive' and 'Seven' from the Paris show were previously released as b-sides to Bowie's 2000 single release of 'Survive'.