h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I can see another Topic of the Week beckoning here: What's the best board game you've ever played with a musical legend?

Perhaps you've enjoyed a bout of Scrabble with Nena?

I must say my contribution would be limited - I know Scott Walker and Death had a game of chess but that's about it...

Still

Thanks for giving us your account! I must say it did nothing to lessen my however. Nothing at all...

I have stood outside waiting to see him and maybe get an autograph 4 times, and the closest I got was to see him ushered quickly onto a bus wearing sun glasses about 20 feet away. Not to mention that it was freezing cold with snow on the ground and I was in short sleeves!

And all some people have to do is go for a walk to end up playing chess and drinking coffee with the man!!!

well, we all try to be in the Right Place at the Right Time, but all too often are Unavoidably Detained......or 20 feet too far away.

Guess who is playing at a club in my town this week? Uh-huh. Guess who's not old enough to attend a fershlugginer 21+ show? Uh-huh. SUCK.

I'm gonna be pouting for YEARS.
-Rivaine

I spoke to Bowie when he was in my home town on the last tour he did before he got widely known in England. He was with Angie looking for the way in to the theatre. I really was not impressed with his manner and, having never heard his music at that time, ignored my brother's advice to go and see him. The very small theatre (350 seats) was only 1/3 full but my brother has never stopped talking about it ever since. He still has the ticket stub - the cost was 7/6 (approximately 37.5 pence).

I have seen him about 8 times and had not been for quite a long time when he announced his return to the (ex) Hammersmith Odeon where he hadn't played since the last Ziggy concert. It was my best friend's 50th birthday on the day of the concert so we slept on the pavement and got tickets - well she had never seen him before. He was (as always) good value for money and played for about 3 hours in total! Definitely worth sleeping out for a night!

I think my personal favourite concert was during Low/Heroes time when he gave an interview to the BBC saying that he was only touring for the money (which was a real wind up - nobody tours for the MONEY). About half an hour into the second half I got this sudden urge to run down to the front so I did. I ended up standing on a chair in the 5th row with four other people. He played about 5 more songs from Low/Heroes etc and then treated us to about an hour of old favourites and there is NO WAY he was doing that for the money! He was having a real blast and I don't think he would perform in public if he didn't enjoy the risk of live shows!

Serious Moonlight was a laugh too - Milton Keynes Bowl (toilet bowl more like)! Bowie played so well that we went back the next night which was also the very last night of the tour with no tickets - well you could see the big screens and hear perfectly too from across the major road next to the gig. When he had done 3 songs we took a stroll around the outside and met a couple of ticket touts (aka scum of the earth). The gig had been a whole day and Bowie played last. To cut a long story short, they just wanted SOME return on the tickets so they gave them to us for a fiver! Best £5 I've ever spent ... well we wont go into how much I paid to see the Beatles at the (ex) Finsbury Park Astoria .....

Rivaine, DAVID BOWIE IS PLAYING AT A CLUB IN YOUR TOWN?!?!!?! That is so unbelievably unfair. Lucky you! Even though you aren't old enough to get in. My advice? Sneak in the back, or get yourself a fake ID. Fast! That is what I would do, as I am not old enough either.

What town is that by the way? I didn't know he was performing at all right now. But maybe just playing at a club doesn't count? At least you can stand outside on the sidewalk and shoot evil looks at all the 21+ folks. Maybe you will even see Bowie arrive!

Okay, get this for an annoying turn of events. I read that David Bowie was playing off a flyer someone put up at work, and of course the entire staff was all thrilled. Then someone comes in from reading the marquee up on the club they said he was at, and they said, "You need to look at that again." So we looked at the marquee. DAVID BOWIE, it says really really big. Then, in tiny tiny print right at the bottom corner: "Tribute Band."

ARGH. On the one hand, it means I won't miss seeing him. On the other hand, what a letdown!
-Rivaine

Ouch! That's terrible.

Some tribute bands are good but a PINK FLOYD one just played home recently and cost more for a ticket(no i didn't go)then pink floyd did for their "DELICATE SOUND OF THUNDER " tour.Bet it wasn't as good either.

On top of all that, the Beatles at the (ex-)Finsbury Park Astoria?!!

Stop it Nitpicker, or I will have the most almighty sulk!

Sorry to offend! I can't help being lucky enough to have been the Beatles' EXACT target audience - just be grateful you are younger than me! There are plenty of other things I could tell about but I wont rub it in ..... unless you want to know in which case just go to my page and pose the question which I will answer from there OK?

I'm a Bowie veteran too. I turn 45 on Friday, and bought my first Bowie records in the early 1970s. But the nearest I've gotten to the great man was a few feet away, when he played Bradford St. George's Hall with Tin Machine in 1989 - though I saw him at Milton Keynes Bowl on the Serious Moonlight tour too!

I am delighted to see that there are two more fans of the amazing 'Heathen' on this thread. It is a truly superb album, as I have already said at inordinate length in the 'High points and low points' thread. It's a real shame that so many people were put off Bowie by Tin Machine or by some of the other iffy stuff he did in the Eighties, and don't give his new music a chance. They're really missing out.

Natalie, you mentioned the great bassline on 'Boys Keep Swinging'. Do you know the thing about that bassline? It was played by Bowie's drummer, Dennis Davis! As an experiment, Bowie had his band swap instruments for that track. The drums on 'Boys...' were played by his guitarist, Carlos Alomar!

As for the 'year of comedy acting', I can't help wondering if this is a rumour that has grown out of proportion. It could have its origin in the fact that Eric Idle's film 'Rutles 2 - Can't Buy Me Lunch', in which Bowie makes an appearance, is finally being released on video. But the film was made in 2000 - it's just taken ages to get released.

funny, i jusy finished eric idle's 'greedy bastard tour' book about a north-american tour, and eric had pages about george harrison, with a brief note about bowie's appearance in the movie.