He’d on the reflective box for Big Brother, he’d be lowered during Chant, and it would to reveal him in a sequined-hand for Time.

I always thought that jelly sound was because he was singing inside a Perspex egg and after the first verse it opened to reveal him.

I think I can provide some insight to your question. I saw the Diamond Dogs show in June 1974 (about a month before David Live was recorded) at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. It was my first concert — age 14 and done up in the best glam look I could muster at the time. I’ll never forget the thrill of seeing live and in the flesh the beautifully strange creature that had graced the album covers that had so fascinated me, not to mention the sheer theatrical spectacle of the show.

The opening sounds you’re referring to are dog yelps uttered, I believe, by Warren Peace and Guy Dellasandro, Bowie’s backup singers. They were heard after the house lights had dimmed and the theater was in complete darkness. Then, during the opening to 1984, Warren and Guy wandered around the stage in the dark aiming flashlights onto the set and into the audience as a sort of excitement builder. When Bowie starts singing 1984, he was not visible on stage. He sang the first verse and first chorus in the dark with just the flashlights beaming around. If you listen to 1984 on David Live, after the first chorus, at 01:08, you’ll hear the audience cheer – that’s when the spotlight came on and revealed David center stage, dressed in a blue sweater, baggy grey high-waisted “zoot suit” slacks, pocket watch chain, red suspenders and ballet slippers. (Inspired by the Gouster look.) I was shocked that he didn’t have the signature hair style he had sported on Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups and Diamond Dogs – the now classic mullet, but his hair was still the same carrot red and blazed like a fire in the spotlight.

My favorite set piece was the bridge with lighted lamp posts that descended to the stage with Bowie, wrapped in a trench coat, on board singing Sweet Thing/Candidate. Mechanized concert stages are almost de rigueur now, but such a thing was WAY ahead of its time in 1974. I can recall thinking at the time “the music doesn’t sound the same as the album tracks.” This was partly due to the loser, live sound, to which I was not accustomed as this was my first concert, but more so to how Bowie and Michael Kamen had given the songs different arrangements.

I saw Bowie again a few months later (Nov ’74) on the Philly Dogs portion of the tour (at a larger arena in Pittsburgh but without the sets), as well as on the ISOLAR/Station to Station tour in ’76, the Serious Moonlight tour in ’83, and lastly on the same bill with Moby on the Area 2 tour in ’02. Sound wise, the band was never tighter than on the Station to Station tour (shout out to Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis and George Murray!), but nothing will ever beat or be as memorable to me as that 1974 Diamond Dogs show! So glad I had an older brother who said, “Wanna go see David Bowie?” (The ticket cost $7.50!)

Yes and that was “corrected” on TV’s remastered release.

I agree, I think this album has gotten a bad rep. Perfect, it’s not. But if you weren’t old enough or otherwise able to see a show on that tour, it provides an extraordinary visceral experience, especially when played loud. And what a setlist!

– Scratched Vinyl, Barrington