David Bowie

Look At The Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97)

ISO/PARLOPHONE Bowie Trojan-horses his drumand-bass flirtation between hefty hits.

1997 was a peculiar year for Bowie. His gigs in support of Earthling

often saw token hits followed by unfocused jam sessions, which either experimented boldly with electronica or jumped on the drum-and-bass bandwagon, depending on your generosity.

At Phoenix, he knew he had to lean into crowd-pleasing, and this better-than-remembered set offers accessible anthems aplenty, wrapped around the ‘challenging’ bits; warm, vibrant takes on Quicksand, Fashion and

Fame seduce one into being more kindly disposed towards Battle For Britain or Little Wonder.

So it’s a blast, and slightly shaming to recall how picky we critics were during that era. Bowie’s voice is ridiculously great – if he’s bored with trotting out Stay it doesn’t show – and his exuberant shout of “Look at the moon!” during The Jean Genie is a pop moment for the ages. A nine-minute jungle version of Laurie Anderson’s

O Superman? We didn’t know our luck.

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