Live: Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow

David Bowie and the Spiders From Mars performed two shows at Glasgow’s Green’s Playhouse on 5 January 1973.

It was the 115th date of the Ziggy Stardust tour, which had begun on 29 January 1972.

David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars’ Aladdin Sane tour had finally arrived at Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow (the venue was of course later to be renamed the Apollo); it was certainly Scotland’s premier rock venue and we were happy to be playing there. David himself had become something of a remote figure to me again; now that the UK tour was rolling he was just taking care of business, keeping himself to himself as the saying goes. We might nod to each other at the sound check but I never saw him after the gig as only Geoff MacCormack would be admitted to his inner circle. These days I think perhaps I could have tried a little harder, after all David might have thought that I was not being sociable – but I didn’t want to be seen as a hanger-on, just along for the ride.

At Green’s Playhouse Tony Defries again added a matinee, and both shows went very well, except for a little Glasgow crowd violence involving some demolition of seating.

The setlist for the matinee show:

• ‘Hang On to Yourself’
• ‘Ziggy Stardust’
• ‘Watch That Man’
• ‘Quicksand’
• ‘Life On Mars?’
• ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’
• ‘The Prettiest Star’
• ‘Moonage Daydream’
• ‘Changes’
• ‘Space Oddity’
• ‘The Jean Genie’
• ‘Time’
• ‘The Width Of A Circle’
• ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’
• ‘Drive-In Saturday’
• ‘Panic In Detroit’
• ‘Suffragette City’
• ‘Cracked Actor’
• ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’

The setlist for the later show:

• ‘Hang On to Yourself’
• ‘Ziggy Stardust’
• ‘Watch That Man’
• ‘Quicksand’
• ‘Life On Mars?’
• ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’
• ‘The Prettiest Star’
• ‘Moonage Daydream’
• ‘Changes’
• ‘Space Oddity’
• ‘The Jean Genie’
• ‘Time’
• ‘The Width Of A Circle’
• ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’
• ‘Suffragette City’
• ‘Drive-In Saturday’
• ‘Cracked Actor’
• ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’

The Ziggy Stardust Tour had previously visited Green’s Playhouse on 5 January 1973.