Live: NEC Arena, Birmingham

David Bowie performed at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, on 13 December 1995, as part of the Outside Tour.

It was the 43rd date of the tour, which began on 14 September in Hartford, USA.

Bowie’s guitarists were Carlos Alomar and Reeves Gabrels. Mike Garson played piano and keyboards, Gail Ann Dorsey was on bass guitar, and Zack Alford was on drums. Peter Schwartz played synthesizer and was the musical director, and George Simms was on backing vocals and keyboards.

This show was billed as the Big Twix Mix Show. The support acts were Alanis Morissette, The Lightning Seeds, and Echobelly.

Bowie’s performances of ‘Under Pressure’ and ‘Moonage Daydream’ were released as b-sides of the ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ single, and also appeared on the 2020 live album Ouvrez Le Chien (Live Dallas 95). The night’s second performance of ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ was also filmed for a proposed video release.

Excerpts from the show were broadcast by the BBC. The entire performance was released in November 2020 as No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95).

Bowie had previously played the NEC on 5 and 6 June 1983 during the Serious Moonlight Tour; on 19 and 20 March 1990 for the Sound+Vision Tour; and 21 November and 13 December 1995 earlier in the Outside Tour.

He returned to the venue on 19 and 20 November 2003 for A Reality Tour.

The setlist

• ‘Look Back In Anger’
• ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’
• ‘The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)’
• ‘The Man Who Sold The World’
• ‘Hallo Spaceboy’
• ‘I Have Not Been To Oxford Town’
• ‘Strangers When We Meet’
• ‘Breaking Glass’
• ‘The Motel’
• ‘Jump They Say’
• ‘Boys Keep Swinging’
• ‘Teenage Wildlife’
• ‘Under Pressure’
• ‘Moonage Daydream’
• ‘We Prick You’
• ‘Hallo Spaceboy’