The Man Who Fell to Earth: David Bowie tries to fly, fails, 1973

06.21.2019
02:25 pm
Topics:
Amusing
Music
Tags:
David Bowie
1973
Salisbury City Hall

David Bowie getting up close with his fans on stage at Salisbury City Hall in Salisbury, England on June 14th, 1973.

“I thought, “This guy thinks he can fly.” There may be some acrobats could have handled that. He’s a pretty rubbery guy, but I know it was too high. He went flying past me at the piano and just wiped out.”

—Long-time Bowie pianist/keyboard player Mike Garson on Ziggy’s failed attempt at flying in 1973 (noted in the 2015 book David Bowie: The Golden Years).

The lucky souls in attendance for David Bowie’s performance at Salisbury City Hall on June 14th, 1973 would get to see him with the Spiders from Mars a few weeks before Bowie pulled the plug on his most famous alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust. They would also get to see Bowie attempt to take flight when he jumped from a speaker five feet above the stage, only to faceplant on the stage itself leaving a breathless audience wondering if the he was going to get up again.

Before the show, fans started arriving in glammed-out getups, and Ziggy-a-like hairdos. Those who got there early enough apparently got to sneak a look at Bowie hanging out in the foyer of the theater clad in a purple suit. As excitement was building for Bowie’s performance, an announcement boomed over the PA asking the rabble-rousing question “ARE YOU READY FOR BOWIE?” to which the already amped-up crowd answered “YEAH!” As Bowie and The Spiders from Mars were about to take the stage, they were given one more announcement from the announcer:

“Welcome to the fantastic and successful world tour including the United States of America, Japan, and now, his home country of the United Kingdom—David Bowie!”

During the show Bowie would, of course, make various costume changes including several designs created by Kansai Yamamoto, such as his asymmetric knitted, one-leg bodysuit (pictured above) and an elaborate cloak decorated with kanji characters which Bowie would also wear during the Aladdin Sane tour. Under the massive cloak, Bowie had yet another surprise for his fans—Yamamoto’s famous “Woodland Creatures” bodysuit which, when he wasn’t facing the crowd, gave the audience a look at his thin, white butt cheeks. After a short break, so fans could go scoop up merch (after spending a mere £2.50p per ticket mind you), Bowie and The Spiders would return and whip through a few more jams including a cover of the Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” At some point during this part of the show, Bowie climbed to the top of a PA stack on stage. According to one fan who was there, Bowie stood momentarily on the top of the PA’s with his arms outstretched and, perhaps channeling his pal Iggy Pop, or a bird, lept to the stage. As noted by piano player Mike Garson, for a few short moments it did appear as though David Bowie was flying until he hit the stage. As Bowie was always pretty much an actual superhero in real life, he would continue the show with a limp before exiting once more before the encore.

When he returned to the stage to chants of “WE WANT DAVID” Bowie brought a chair as he could no longer stand after his flying/stage diving mishap before kicking into two more covers: the Velvet Underground’s “White Light White Heat,” and Chuck Berry’s “Round & Round.” As he was introducing the Berry cover, he gave his fans an update about his injuries:

“Personally I think I’ve broken my ankle. No, not really, but it hurts a bit. If you wanna make this next one work, you’ve gotta work together, ‘cause I’m gonna do this one sitting down. This is an old one by Chuck Berry, and it’s called “Round & Round.”

You can hear some really, really rough audio of the show below, though it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly what’s happening or when Bowie’s short flight came to an end.

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