(UN) REALITY

Many rock fans know David Bowie as a restless creator, an image magician, and a world class stage performer oozing charm and charisma. What is less well known is that Bowie was also an innovative rock ’n’ roll entrepreneur.

In 1997 he created Bowie Bonds, monetising his back catalogue to the tune of $55 million. This enabled him to reclaim the rights to all his music while returning a healthy—if not spectacular—dividend to investors. Bowie was way ahead of the curve in the digital arena too, being one of the first major artists to release a song online (“Telling Lies”), embracing digital distribution years before iTunes or Spotify.

Bowie’s 2003 presentation of his new album Reality combined live performance and technology in one of the first global live cinema transmissions of a rock concert. Broadcast to over 100 cinemas in 22 countries on the same night, it was arguably the largest simultaneous global cinema event of its kind at that time. The set list was in two parts. First, the Reality album was performed live from stem to stern. After an intermission, the band played ten songs from across Bowie’s career, including some fan favourites ("Heroes", "Ashes To Ashes") and a duet with Gail Ann Dorsey on "Under Pressure".

One of the highlights of RSD 2025 was the release of the Reality portion of this concert on  vinyl. On Ready, Set, GO! Bowie is in fine form and the band are hot. The leader’s introductions are sometimes informative, often humorous, occasionally whimsical; the energy is palpable and the sound quality impressive. Opening at speed with "New Killer Star", the zippy pace continues with Jonathan Richman’s "Pablo Picasso". Listening for the first time, I wondered how this setting would impact the more downbeat material… I needn’t have worried. "The Loneliest Guy" drops the pace to melancholy but the atmosphere remains. Few can sell a song like David Bowie. This is a fine example and a reminder of how strong the Reality album really is.

The eleven tracks of Reality cover the first three sides of this 2LP set. Side four has three songs selected from the second part of the concert:

"Hello Spaceboy" (album track, Outside, 1995)

"Cactus" (Pixies cover, recorded for Heathen, 2002)

"Afraid" (album track, Heathen)

This is the first RSD live Bowie album since 2020. The cinema venue—Hammersmith Riverside, 8th September 2003—is both intimate and acoustically sound. With typical Bowie flair, he offers an energetic introduction to the new album a week before its official launch, while presaging the tour to come in a way that a curated playback of selected tracks or an internet leak could never approach. At a meta level it is also classic David Bowie game playing. Fans crowd cinemas around the world, staring avidly at a screen depicting the artist playing live. It’s a reality vs unreality shootout, like so many in Bowie's colourful career.

As a companion piece to the Reality album, this release is first class, while the inclusion of a 60cm x 60cm poster is a fan-pleasing bonus. Serious Bowie followers will want a copy of Ready, Set, GO!*

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* For those wondering about the title, it comes from the opening track, "New Killer Star" (or is that Nuclear Star?)…

I got a better way

I discovered a star

I got a better way

Ready, set go

© Bruce Jenkins—July 2025