David Bowie / Montreal 1983 Soundboard / 4CD / Wardour
The Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 12th & 13th July 1983 STEREO SBD
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“SERIOUS MOONLIGHT Tour” which was the biggest and longest tour of Bowie’s career and the most huge success. The legendary soundboard album, which will be its masterpiece, will be reprinted and released.
Engraved in this “best” production is two consecutive performances at the same venue. It is the best stereo sound board recording of “July 12/13, 1983 Montreal Performance”. To talk about the peak of the “LET’S DANCE” era, we can’t exclude the official work “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT”. This work is a completely different performance from that super famous live, but it is a masterpiece that goes further. In order to explain the situation around that, let’s first check the position of the show in the schedule at that time.
《”LET’S DANCE” released on April 14th》
・ May 18-29: Europe #1 (10 performances)
・May 30: Appearance at US Festival
・ June 2-July 3: Europe #2 (21 performances)
・July 11-September 17: North America (43 performances) ← here
・October 20-31: Japan (10 performances)
・ November 4-26: Oceania (10 performances)
・December 3-8: Asia (4 performances)
This is David Bowie in 1983. It was the largest and most impressive world tour in his career, but the main is still the “North America” leg. Both this work and the official work “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT” were born from here, so let’s focus on the schedule further.
● “North American” leg details
・ July 11: Quebec performance
*July 12th: Montreal Performance ←★This work DISC 1-2★
*July 13th: Montreal Performance ←★This work DISC 3-4★
・July 15-September 11 (37 performances)
*September 12: Vancouver performance ← *Official SERIOUS MOONLIGHT
・September 14th + 17th (2 performances)
… and it looks like this. While the official “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT” was the third performance from the end, the Montreal 2 performances of this work are the 2nd and 3rd performances in the beginning. It was just the right moment to get excited as we had just set out to conquer the main battlefield of North America.
In addition to that enthusiasm, the volume of “full show complete recording x 2 performances” that this work decisively exceeds the official. In the first place, the official video “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT” had some songs cut for commercial use, and even though it was increased in the later CD version, it was far from perfect. On the other hand, this work is completely uncut. Moreover, since it is a whole two performances, it is not just beyond the official but a “great victory”. What is the volume of the number of songs? Since the two performances are also the same set, let’s compare them with the official work here.
● 80’s (7 songs)
・Let’s Dance: Let’s Dance/China Girl/Cat People (Putting Out Fire)/Modern Love(★)
・ Scary Monsters: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) / Fashion / Ashes To Ashes
● 60’s/70’s (20 songs)
・Berlin Trilogy: Breaking Glass/What In The World/“Heroes”/Look Back In Anger/Red Sails (★★)
・Station to Station: Golden Years/Station To Station/TVC 15 (★★)/Stay (★★)
・Other: White Light-White Heat/Space Oddity/Life On Mars?/Star (★★)/Cracked Actor/The Jean Genie (★★)/Sorrow/I Can’t Explain (★★)/Rebel Rebel/Young Americans/Fame
* Note: “★” marks are songs that could not be heard in the official work “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (video version)”. In particular, the “★★” marks are songs that were not even on the CD version.
I’ve talked about “quantity” so far, but this work is undoubtedly a masterpiece in terms of “quality” as well. As a matter of fact, on the second day (DISC 3-4), FM broadcasting has become a big staple for many years, but this work is the first day (DISC 1-2) and the second day (DISC 3-4), It is neither a radio air check nor a broadcast master. Directly digitized from Omoto sound board which is the origin. It is not “digitized from the master reel” either. “Conversion of desk recording itself to CD”. There is not even one generation of analog dubbing, and it is a supreme top sound that physically “cannot exceed this”.
This “pre-broadcast original” sound is actually related to the official. Actually, “Modern Love” on the second day of Montreal was adopted as an official single and was also an additional track of the official “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (CD version)”. In other words, this work is also a complete version of two performances of the officially adopted sound board.
The popularity that was at the peak of their career, the timing of the long-awaited invasion of North America after achieving great success in Europe, Tokuno’s greatest hits, the ultimate physical sound, a complete recording without any defects… …there is no flaw in every way. An invincible board that can only be called a masterpiece. It is a magnificent reprint here with a press 4CD that leaves its brilliance forever.
★ Superb stereo soundboard recording of “July 12/13, 1983 Montreal Performance”, the masterpiece of “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT Tour”. The ultimate quality board that was directly digitized from the Omoto sound board that was adopted for the official single, neither the air check nor the broadcast master for both performances. It is an absolutely invincible 4-disc set where you can enjoy the full show 2 performances with plenty of famous songs cut in the official video “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT”.
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