History

Bowie announced the tour in June 2003, with the intention of performing for more than one million people across 17 countries. It was promoted as his first major tour since the Outside Tour of 1995. The tour was supported by high-profile media appearances, including primetime television shows such as The Tonight Show and performances on AOL Sessions. With more than 110 shows, it became the longest tour of Bowie’s career.

Performance

The tour was designed as a large-scale stadium and arena production with limited theatrical staging and a strong focus on the musicians themselves. The stage consisted of multiple platforms, several extending into the audience, combined with large video screens projecting artistic visuals and live concert footage, supported by extensive coloured lighting effects.

The stage was typically positioned at one end of the venue, with audience seating either in the stands or on the field area, and a backstage zone located behind the stage structure. The musicians wore casual but colourful outfits, often in coordinated colour variations. Wireless amplification allowed free movement across the stage, with Bowie and Gail Ann Dorsey frequently interacting as part of the live performances.

Each concert opened with a video introduction, during which the band entered the stage and prepared the opening number. After the opener, Bowie traditionally greeted the audience with the line: “Hello, [city name], you crazy bunch of motherfuckers.” The concerts were deliberately informal, featuring spoken interaction with the audience, jokes, band introductions, and occasional spontaneous moments such as “Happy Birthday” performances.

Repertoire

The setlists covered more than thirty years of Bowie’s career, ranging from The Man Who Sold the World (1970) to Reality (2003). The repertoire included collaborations such as Sister Midnight (with Iggy Pop) and Under Pressure (with Queen), as well as short excerpts of classics including Space Oddity and Golden Years.

Greater emphasis was placed on material from albums released after the Earthling World Tour (1997), particularly Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003). The album hours… (1999) was notably excluded. Other albums not represented in the setlists included Space Oddity (1969), Pin Ups (1973), Never Let Me Down (1987), the Tin Machine albums, and Black Tie White Noise (1993).

Tracks from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars were regularly performed as encore material, with Ziggy Stardust almost always serving as the final song of each concert. Songs from Let’s Dance and Tonight were also included, such as Modern Love, Blue Jean, Let’s Dance, China Girl, and a semi-acoustic version of Loving the Alien.

In total, the band rehearsed approximately 60 songs for the tour.

Tour Incidents

Originally planned as a ten-month tour covering 24 countries, the tour was prematurely ended after the Hurricane Festival performance in Scheeßel, Germany on 25 June 2004, following Bowie’s diagnosis of an acutely blocked artery that required angioplasty.

Earlier incidents included a performance interruption at the T-Mobile Arena in Prague on 23 June 2004, when Bowie left the stage believing he had suffered a trapped nerve. On 18 June 2004 in Oslo, Bowie was struck in the left eye by a lollipop thrown from the audience. On 6 May 2004, a concert at the James L. Knight Center in Miami was cancelled after a lighting technician fell to his death prior to Bowie taking the stage.

Live Recordings

The Dublin performances at the Point Theatre in 2003 were released on DVD in 2004 as A Reality Tour. A CD version of the same performances was released in 2010 under the same title.