Hours Tour

The Hours Tour was a small-scale promotional concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie comprising a handful of live performances and numerous television appearances in support of the album Hours in late 1999. Several live songs from the tour were included as b-sides to singles from the album, and concert recordings from the tour were released in 2020 as Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) and in 2021 with David Bowie At The Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99).

Hours Tour

Tour by David Bowie
Location	Europe North America
Associated album	Hours
Start date	9 October 1999
End date	7 December 1999
Legs	1
No. of shows	9
David Bowie concert chronology
Earthling Tour (1997) Hours Tour (1999) Mini Tour (2000)

Background

Bowie had released his album Hours in October 1999, and embarked on a short, mostly-promotional set of shows to promote the album. On 23 August, prior to the album's release, he appeared on VH1's Storytellers, released in 2009 as VH1 Storytellers. For the rest of the shows, guitarist Page Hamilton, founding member of Helmet, was drafted to replace Reeves Gabrels whose final performance and association with Bowie ended with the Storytellers performance. Rumours of a split were initially denied by both parties until a few months later when Gabrels guitarist admitted that he and Bowie had drifted apart.^[1]

In October, Bowie appeared on the 25th season of Saturday Night Live and played "Thursday's Child" and "Rebel Rebel".^[2]

The Libro Music Hall, Vienna, performance on 17 October 1999, coinciding with the launch of BowieNet Europe was made available as a live webcast.

Something in the Air (Live Paris 99)

Something in the Air (Live Paris 99)
Live album by David Bowie
Released	12 March 2021 (physical) 14 August 2020 (streaming)
Recorded	14 October 1999
Venue	Élysée Montmartre, Paris, France
Label	Parlophone
David Bowie chronology
Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97) (2021) Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) (2021) David Bowie Live at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99) (2021)

The Elysée Montmartre performance on 14 October 1999 was filmed and recorded with three songs later appearing on the CD single of "Survive"; the full concert was eventually released in 2020 as Something in the Air (Live Paris 99).^[3] The concert is notable for being recorded one day after Bowie received the rank of Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his contributions to art and music.^[4][5] Something in the Air was released on CD and vinyl for the first time in early 2021, part of the live series Brilliant Live Adventures.^[6]

Track listing

1. "Life on Mars?"
2. "Thursday's Child"
3. "Something in the Air"
4. "Word on a Wing"
5. "Can't Help Thinking About Me"
6. "China Girl"
7. "Always Crashing in the Same Car"
8. "Survive"
9. "Drive-In Saturday"
10. "Changes"
11. "Seven"
12. "Repetition"
13. "I Can't Read"
14. "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"
15. "Rebel Rebel"

These live versions of "Thursday's Child", "Survive" and "Seven" were previously released as b-sides to Bowie's 2000 single release of "Survive".^[6] Something in the Air reached #16 on the UK album charts.^[7]

David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99)

David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99)
Live album by David Bowie
Released	2 April 2021
Recorded	19 November 1999
Venue	Kit Kat Klub, New York City
Label	Parlophone
David Bowie chronology
Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) (2021) David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99) (2021) Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) (2021)

In November 1999, Bowie performed a concert at the small Kit Kat Klub in New York to invitees and contest winners.^[8] This show was filmed as part of the American Express Blue Concert series transmitted on 7 December 1999, in addition to a simulcast radio broadcast by SFX Radio network on the same date, and eventually released on a promotional-only CD-R that pared the setlist down to 12 songs.^[9] The webcast, reportedly one of the first live streams of a concert, was fraught with issues and was described as going "not particularly smooth."^[10] This live release, sourced from the same promotional CD-R released in late 1999/early 2000 was announced on 17 March 2021 and released on 2 April 2021.^[9] Live at the Kit Kat Klub reached #20 in the UK and #93 in Ireland upon its release.^[11]

Track listing

1. "Life on Mars?"
2. "Thursday's Child"
3. "Something in the Air"
4. "China Girl"
5. "Can't Help Thinking About Me"
6. "Always Crashing in the Same Car"
7. "Survive"
8. "Drive-In Saturday"
9. "Stay"
10. "Seven"
11. "Changes"
12. "Cracked Actor"
13. "Ashes to Ashes"
14. "Repetition"
15. "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"
16. "Rebel Rebel"
17. "I'm Afraid of Americans"

• italics denotes songs performed at the show, but not included on the live recording.

Tour band

• David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Reeves Gabrels – lead guitar, 23 August 1999 only
• Page Hamilton – lead guitar, 9 October onwards
• Mark Plati – rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals, music director^[12]
• Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Sterling Campbell – drums, percussion
• Mike Garson – keyboards, piano
• Holly Palmer – backing vocals, percussion
• Emm Gryner – backing vocals

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Notes
North America
23 August 1999	New York City	United States	Manhattan Center	VH1 Storytellers
Europe
9 October 1999	London	England	NetAid – Wembley Stadium
10 October 1999	Dublin	Ireland	Dublin HQ
14 October 1999	Paris	France	Elysée Montmartre	Something in the Air
17 October 1999	Vienna	Austria	Libro Music Hall	Bowienet Europe launch
North America
19 November 1999	New York City	United States	Kit Kat Klub	American Express Blue Concert series David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99)
Europe
2 December 1999	London	England	The Astoria
4 December 1999	Milan	Italy	Alcatraz
7 December 1999	Copenhagen	Denmark	Vega

Songs

From Hunky Dory "Changes" "Life on Mars?" From Aladdin Sane "Drive-In Saturday" "Cracked Actor" From Diamond Dogs "Rebel Rebel" From Station to Station "Word on a Wing" "Stay" From Low "Always Crashing in the Same Car" From Lodger "Repetition" From Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) "Ashes to Ashes"

From Let's Dance "China Girl" (originally from The Idiot (1977) by Iggy Pop; written by Pop and Bowie) From Tin Machine "I Can't Read" (Bowie, Reeves Gabrels) From Earthling "I'm Afraid of Americans" (Bowie, Brian Eno) From Hours "Thursday's Child" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Something in the Air" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Survive" (Bowie, Gabrels) "If I'm Dreaming My Life" (Bowie, Gabrels) "Seven" (Bowie, Gabrels) "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" (Bowie, Gabrels) Other songs: "Can't Help Thinking About Me" (early non-album single released in 1966)

References

1. Nicholas Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, ISBN 1-903111-73-0
2. "SNL Show". 2 October 1999. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
3. Richards, Will (15 August 2020). "Listen to David Bowie's new 1999 live album 'Something In The Air'". NME. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
4. Shackleford, Tom (17 August 2020). "David Bowie Estate Releases 'Something In The Air (Live Paris 99)' Album [Stream]". Retrieved 14 November 2020.
5. "Something In The Air (Live Paris 99) details". 6 August 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
6. "Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: David Bowie's 'Brilliant Live Adventures' Series Continues with 'Live Paris 99'". 24 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
7. "SOMETHING IN THE AIR chart". Retrieved 24 May 2021.
8. Kreps, Daniel (17 March 2021). "David Bowie's 'Brilliant Live Adventures' Series Closes With Famed 1999 NYC Gig". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
9. "BLA Part 6 – David Bowie At The Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99)". 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
10. "Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub 20 years ago tonight". 19 November 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
11. "AT THE KIT KAT KLUB – LIVE NEW YORK 99 chart". Retrieved 24 May 2021.
12. Plati, Mark. "Interview in Spin UK". Retrieved 27 February 2018.