Just got back from seeing Bowie at the Apollo Hammersmith. Fantastic gig. He played a two and three quarter hour set and played a lot of hits, all but one of the tracks off of Heathen, plus some obscure stuff for the hardcore fans. The only problem was the crowd wasn't great.

Anyway, onto the reason for the post. Here's some info for those going later today (eeek, just realised I'll be there in a few hours again!).

Driving - If you're driving there, there are loads of side streets off of the one-way system (particularly heading towards Putney). These all had pay-and-display spaces. The parking restrictions end at 6:30 and you can get a max 2 hour ticket, so if you get there for 4:30 you'll be ok. It's £1 for every 30 minutes, but that might vary a bit depending how close to Hammersmith you get.

Venue - They seem to have done a lot of work on the place, and it's much better than when I was there a few years back (when it was still the Hammersmith Odeon). The tix I had for tonight were row V and even though they were near the back, I still had an excellent view and even with my bad eyesight could still make out Bowie's facial expressions and see everything that was happening on stage. So those of us lucky enough to have Fanclub tickets are gonna have a fantastic view, wherever we are in the first few rows. And for those of you who'll be further back, keep 50p handy 'cos they have those old-style thatre binoculars attached to the seats if you want to get close-ups (worth the 50p). There are two bars outside the seating area, and you were allowed to take the drinks inside. There were loads of people taking photographs all throughout the show, but doubt anyone will be allowed to for Prince. If you're upstairs in the stalls, it didn't look to me like you were allowed to stand up .

Can't wait! Only 19 hours to go!

I am frothing... thanx for the info, will have my 50p for sure man!!! I am so excited, never seen him b4, and loved his ass off for 18 years!! Thanx so much for your report. Im in row 25, so I'm sure to see fuck all (??) But your report about the bino's is most welcome!! My friend went to that gig tonight. I'm sure she loved it!

Cheers again, good thread.

Therapy said:

WOW RICO
i just got back from the bowie gig also,the crowd was great.im sorry you didnt really understand the importance of some of the tracks he played,but to say some obscured tracks,,,you are talking ground breaking song writing from the early seventies,stuff that inspired prince.from your comments you obviously didnt grasp the events importance to bowie fans,,,this was david bowie at the hammersmith odeon,,the place he killed off ziggy stardust,,the place bowie and the spiders reached an absolute perfected performance of rock history.havent you ever seen the video,,,bowie and mick ronson in 1972,thrashing out music and tunes that have inspired and influence more artist and musicians more than anyone ,with the probable exeption of lennon and mc,cartney.THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS...was the PURPLE RAIN.. of the seventies...and if you havent got..HUNKY DORY by bowie,,ill send you a copy,this is still one of the most perfectly written albums of all time...one the so called,,(by you)obscure tracks was THE BEWLEY BROTHERS...and bowie performed it so perfect and amazingly,bowie performed for 2 hours 45 mins and it was stunningly brilliant,the crowd was great,they where just stunned,no one expected DAVID BOWIE..1 55 years verteran of the bussiness to come out on stage and do what he did,im a massive PRINCE fan,see him 8 times over the years,love his music,love his performances,but i dont want to get in any arguments here,i want to go and see PRINCE in manchester,desperately,but BOWIE will always be my main man,history is proving that,PRINCE is a genius,PRINCE could be as good as BOWIE.
and believe me,if PRINCE could perform 1/2 as good as BOWIE as tonight,then we are in for a treat,i will be at manchester,i will be there to support PRINCE all the way.as we all know ,being a PRINCE fan is hard,trying to justify his funny behaviour,trying to explain to people that he is a genius,top musician,dancer,i worship them both,but BOWIE,helped pave the way for artist like PRINCE...RICO..i dont know how old you are,,im 40.my musical taste vary across the board,but ive been into bowie since i was 11 yrs old ,im not going to argue with you,but take my advice,go get the early bowie from the 70,s..listen to them,they was well ahead of their time,and still are.BOWIE,S writting in the seventies is like PRINCE,S in the 80,s,but tonight,,02/10/02 at hammersmith odeon ,london.DAVID BOWIE..proved once again he is still a living legend,an icon and he doesnt just live up to the hype,he surpasses it ,and keeps setting the music industry new levels of achievement,i have not at any point in the above said anything to upset any genuine PRINCE fan,,i love them both for their work and talent,i have this saying ill post it below,it aplies to me and my tastes in music,but ive seen all three artist serveral times and BOWIE is still heads and shoulders above the other 2.good luck to everyone going to a PRINCE gig,i will be at manchester on tuesday,i will enjoy it,and i hope prince has heard about the BOWIE gig.see you all soon.

BOWIE IS THE FATHER,PRINCE IS THE SON AND SPRINGSTEEN THE HOLLY GHOST.

That was SO HARD to read, ever heard of full stops and new paragraphs.

To the person who thinks they will see "f**k all" being in row 25, erm, why don't you read the first post again, he was in row V which was probably row 22 or thereabouts so if he can get a good view in 22 why shouldn't you get a good view in row 25.

Sometimes I just dont understand

xbowie said:

Well Ihave seen Bowie 12 times on stage mate and I'm sorry but I have never seen Bowie reaching Prince performances. Bowie had his very bad moments too on stage...I'm telling you. If you had seen Prince back in 1886/87/88 you wouldn't think the same way at all. Moreover how many aftershows of Prince have you attended? Because it is just something else.

Now Bowie is in best era for a long time. Good on him.

You cannot compare the two guys. Prince is a great musician. Bowie is a crap guitar, piano and sax player. A few years back I was a yard from him when he was with Tin Machine he played the guiytar and the sax in front of my eyes and I felt sorry for him.

jesus 'xbowie' how elitist are you when it comes to bowie???...hope you're not going be like that with prince or you will be a prize bloody bore to be sat next to...

i thought the original review was good and gave a good guide - the 'xbowie' response seemed to suggest the person who wrote it was not a 'real fan'...c'mon!

anyway, off to hammersmith in just a few hours - congrats if you caught bowie - here's hoping prince wipes the floor with him though!!!

I too got back from the Bowie gig, managed 2 get ticks thru the secondary market, all I got 2 say is wow, what a concert, lots of songs from Low and lots of old favorites (moonage daydream, ziggy stardust, absiolute beginners etc) the man still is unbelievable on stage!!
2nite gonna c Prince there

Have fun yall

Thanks Rico

Just to clear one thing up, I loved the Bowie gig! All I thought was that the crowd at the back of the Apollo didn't seem interested in the gig as, from what I understand, only about 200 tickets went to fan club members, and the rest were box office/competition winners/etc, and you could tell. About 20 people around the section I was in left after a couple of hours!

I was with a BowieNet member, and she told me (more than once ) the significance of some of the songs, and it was amazing and I'm honoured to be able to say that I was there.

As for row 25, I reckon you'll still get a pretty good view, and an even better view with the binocs! Remember, this was a cinema, so the seats are designed in such a way that you can see in between the seats in front.

I am getting sooo excited now!

VINCENT said:

1886!!! wow you are a long-time fan...

oops LOL yep I'm a very old man ya know