David Bowie’s legendary stop at Smith’s Olde Bar
The late, great pop chameleon once played a short acoustic set and fielded audience questions at one of the city’s most intimate venues.
embed-1Amid appearances over the years at much larger spaces like the Omni and the Fox Theatre came David Bowie’s legendary acoustic set at Smith’s Olde Bar. The Thin White Duke and guitar virtuoso Reeves Gabrels (Tin Machine) played a six-song set there the morning of April 8, 1997, broadcast live on the Morning X as part of 99X’s third anniversary celebration.
The often bootlegged show is highlighted by a tear-inducing “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” and “Seven Years in Tibet.” Bowie is as charming as ever between songs, joking with radio personalities Steve Barnes, Leslie Fram, and Jimmy Baron about his crush on Liv Tyler and career advice he’s received from Felix, his talking pet cat.