Diary | The Bowie Bible

Glastonbury 2000 diary – part eight

Joe — Sun, 11 Jun 2000 08:00:40 +0000

David Bowie kept an eight-part diary in May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at that year’s Glastonbury Festival. It was first published in Time Out magazine. Here is the final entry. Sunday nights in our house have been monopolised for the last few weeks by a riveting TV series called ‘The Corner’. Based on a book by a white former crime-writer, it tells a story of drudgery, devastating social circumstances and the drug hell-life on an inner city block in Baltimore. What surprises me most though is that it portrays, with huge emotional impact, addicts as real human

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part seven

Joe — Fri, 09 Jun 2000 08:00:33 +0000

David Bowie kept an eight-part diary in May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at that year’s Glastonbury Festival. It was first published in Time Out magazine. Here is the seventh instalment. What crap news! I had my production manager phone England yesterday to ascertain how late into the following morning we could play at Glastonbury only to find that if I dare cross the curfew mark the promoter will be fined twenty thousand pounds a MINUTE if, that is, we survive the probability of the plug being pulled at the bewitching hour. This means I have to drastically

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part six

Joe — Wed, 07 Jun 2000 08:00:00 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at that year’s Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the sixth instalment. I think that one of the things that makes my bands so exhilarating to work with is that although I’m a solo artist I’ve never really had to rely on so-called studio session-men to play behind me. Quite usually, my musicians are artists in their own right and spend huge amounts of time on the road performing live. It gives their playing a different edge than the somewhat

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part five

Joe — Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:00:57 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at that year’s Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the fifth instalment. It has just occurred to me that I don’t know how long I’m expected to play at the festival. A quick look through the contract stipulates a minimum of ninety minutes. No worries then. I found out for the first time that one of my back-up singers, Little Em, plays a mean clarinet. Not to be outdone, my bass player Gail Ann magically produces her own liquorice stick

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part four

Joe — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 08:00:04 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his triumphant appearance at the Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the fourth instalment. Rehearsals begin in enthusiastic but musical abandon. Lots of jamming that gradually becomes a serious attempt to come to grips with so much material. Being British, the main thing on my mind, of course, is wardrobe. Several Brit designers and a French person have offered an item or two, a happily anticipated show tradition for my by now. Trouble is, I’m tempted to wear all of them, at

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part three

Joe — Thu, 25 May 2000 08:00:51 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at the Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the third instalment. We are invited to ‘The Wild Party’, a new production by George Wolfe. George is a friend and a director/producer that I have towering respect for. His direction of ‘Angels Over America’ was quite the most moving, epic time I have spent in a theatre. He also directed ‘Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk’ a riveting ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’ and too many others to mention. Being written

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part two

Joe — Fri, 19 May 2000 08:00:39 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his appearance at that year’s Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the second instalment. Another thing that I had forgotten is that I need a band. One great disadvantage of being a solo artist is that because I tour fairly infrequently and often only for a couple of weeks, stopping just before it gets boring, I have no immediate body of stout hearted fellows, proud and true, who know my songs inside out without the necessity of actually having to learn them.

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Glastonbury 2000 diary – part one

Joe — Mon, 15 May 2000 08:00:39 +0000

In May and June 2000, ahead of his triumphant appearance at the Glastonbury Festival, David Bowie kept an eight-part diary which was published in Time Out magazine. Here is the first instalment. As of 1990 I got through the rest of the 20th century without having to do a big hits show. Yes, yes, I know I did four or five ‘hits’ on the later shows but I really held out pretty well, I thought. And most enjoyable it was too. Now, of course, facing only a one-off show this year I can safely gird up my loins, stand my

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