The It's My Life Tour was a concert tour by the Anglo-American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American Rock music, rock band formed in 1988. The band consisted of English singer-songwriter David Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass and vocals ...

. The tour commenced on 5 October 1991 after two warm-up shows, one press show and three trade-industry shows, visiting twelve countries and concluding after seven months and sixty-nine performances, a larger outing than their first tour in 1989.

Tour details

The band rehearsed and warmed up for the tour in Dublin in August 1991. Joined onstage by guitarist Eric Schermerhorn,

presented songs from the ''

'' album and the ''

Tin Machine II ''Tin Machine II'' is the second and final studio album by the Anglo-American rock group Tin Machine, released on 2September 1991 through Victory Music. The band, composed of David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels on guitar and brothers Tony Fox and Hun ...

'' album, augmented with cover versions of songs from the Pixies,

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

and

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

. To start the show at some venues, an old TV was placed on stage, playing old sitcoms while the prelude to

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's '' Tristan and Isolde'' played over loudspeakers."Bowie, Tin Machine offer what may be rock's new frontier" by Cary Smith, Journal-American, December 1991 The band purposefully booked intimate venues of a few thousand seats or less so that they could focus on the music without any theatrical trappings, a stark change from lead vocalist David Bowie's previous Glass Spider and Sound+Vision tours;"David Bowie Music Interview" by George Varga for The Star Entertainment Weekly, 1–7 January 1992, pp 2 & 10 Bowie also wanted to avoid playing larger venues and arenas lest his fans show up "hoping I'd be doing old songs or something. We don't want that feeling at all." Bowie claimed that the setlist for the tour was made on the fly each night, saying "We have no setlist whatsoever. We have a complete list of all our songs on the floor of the stage and we yell it out as we feel it. If you catch us on a bad night, it can be one of the most disastrous shows you've ever seen. But on a good night – and fortunately with this band most nights have been good nights – it really happens"."Beaming Bowie excited about current direction of his life, music" by Patrick MacDonald, The Seattle Times, 20 December 1991

Critical reception

The review of the performance at the trade show at Slim's in San Francisco was not kind: "It's hard to imagine people walking out on a David Bowie show at Slim's, but all you had to do was look around the room Thursday at the end of the appearance by Tin Machine. (...) Bowie and his associates gave a more than hour-long display of his latest incarnation, and the music turned out to be nearly unlistenable.""Bowie's Band Unimpressive at Slim's" by Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 September 1991, C4 The show in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

was met with positive reviews: "Let it first be said that on every level, Tin Machine is an outstanding band. (...) heymay well represent the next evolutionary step in rock and roll – or just another blind alley. In any event, it is powerful stuff." During the show, Bowie played alto and baritone sax and electric, acoustic and 12-string guitar. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' had a positive review of the first New York show, complimenting the band on their desire to tinker with songs' arrangements and appreciating Bowie's "theatrical gift" for performing.

Live recordings

Their performance on 1 September 1991 at the Los Angeles airport was taped for broadcast in America as part of the ABC In Concert series, and was aired on 6 September 1991. Tin Machine were the musical guest on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

s 17th season on 23 November 1991. The show in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 24 October, 1991, at Docks, was filmed and later released on the video, '' Oy Vey, Baby: Tin Machine Live at the Docks'', with the song "Baby Can Dance" from the same performance appearing on the compilation album ''Best of Grunge Rock''. Songs from the concerts in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, New York City,

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

were recorded and released on the live album '' Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby'' (1992).

Setlist

The following set list was obtained from the concert held on 30 October, 1991, at Le Zénith Paris in Paris. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour. # "Bus Stop" # " Under the God" # "A Big Hurt" # "Baby Can Dance" # "Shopping for Girls" # "Stateside" # "Goodbye Mr. Ed" # "

I Can't Read "I Can't Read" is a song written by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels for Tin Machine on their Tin Machine (album), debut album in 1989. The song was subsequently re-recorded by Bowie and Gabrels together in 1996, and performed live during Bowie's ...

" # " Go Now" ( Bessie Banks cover) # " Baby Universal" # "Sacrifice Yourself" # " I've Been Waiting for You" (

cover) # "Betty Wrong" # "You Can't Talk" # " Debaser" ( Pixies cover) # " If There Is Something" (

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

cover) # " Heaven's in Here" # " One Shot" # " You Belong in Rock 'n' Roll"

Tour dates

Songs

Notation: * ^CD Included on the '' Oy Vey, Baby'' album * ^VHS/LD Included on the ''Oy Vey, Baby'' video album * ^CD/VHS/LD Included on both versions of the ''Oy Vey, Baby'' album From ''

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'' * "My Death" (originally from '' La Valse à mille temps'' (1959) by

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

; written by Brel &

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) * " I'm Waiting for the Man" (originally from ''

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'' (1967) by

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and

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, written by

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; outtake from various Bowie sessions 1966–72) From ''

'' * " Heaven's in Here" ^CD/VHS/LD * "

" (Bowie,

Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. A member of The Cure since 2012, Gabrels is also known for his work with David Bowie and Tin Machine from 1988 to 1999. He also fronts the band Reeves Gabrels ...

, Hunt Sales, Tony Sales) * "Crack City" ^VHS/LD * "

" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^CD/VHS/LD * " Under the God" ^CD/VHS/LD * "Amazing" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^CD * "Bus Stop" (Country version) (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * "Pretty Thing" * "Sacrifice Yourself" (Bowie, H. Sales, T. Sales) ^VHS/LD * "Baby Can Dance" From ''

'' * " Baby Universal" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * " One Shot" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * " You Belong in Rock 'n' Roll" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^CD/VHS/LD * " If There Is Something" (originally from ''

'' (1972) by

; written by

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

) ^CD/VHS/LD * "Amlapura" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * "Betty Wrong" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * "You Can't Talk" (Bowie, Gabrels) ^VHS/LD * "Stateside" (Bowie, H. Sales) ^CD/VHS/LD * "Shopping for Girls" (Bowie, Gabrels) * "A Big Hurt" * "Sorry" (H. Sales) * "Goodbye Mr. Ed" (Bowie, H. Sales, T. Sales) ^CD/VHS/LD From ''

Black Tie White Noise ''Black Tie White Noise'' is the eighteenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following Bowie's marri ...

'' * " I Feel Free" (originally from '' Fresh Cream'' (1966) by

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; written by

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Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish musician. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of Rock music, rock band Cream (band), Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a ...

) Other songs: * "

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by American musician and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second studio album, '' The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' (1963). Its lyrical structure is based ...

" (from '' The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' (1963) by

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; written by Dylan) * " April in Paris" (from the Broadway musical '' Walk A Little Faster'' (1932); written by

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and E. Y. Harburg) * "

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" (a single (1935) by

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) * " Debaser" (from '' Doolittle'' (1989) by the Pixies; written by

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) * " Don't Start Me Talkin'" (a single (1955) by

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) * "Dream On Little Dreamer" (from '' The Scene Changes'' (1965) by

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; written by Jan Crutchfield and Fred Burch) * "

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" (a single (1956) by Little Willie John; written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport (a.k.a. Otis Blackwell)) * " Go Now" (a single in 1964 by Bessie Banks and later made famous by

the following year; written by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett) ^VHS/LD * " I'm a King Bee" (a single (1957) by

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; written by Harpo) * " In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (from ''

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'' (1973) by Roxy Music; written by Ferry) * " I've Been Waiting for You" (originally from ''

'' (1968) by

; written by Young), later included on Bowie's 2002 album, Heathen (David Bowie album). * " Shakin' All Over" (originally a single (1960) by

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; written by Johnny Kidd; B-side to " You Belong in Rock n' Roll") * "

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" (from the musical ''

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'' (1957); written by

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and

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) * "Throwaway" (from '' Primitive Cool'' (1987) by

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, written by Jagger) * " Wild Thing" (by The Wild Ones (1965) and made famous by

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; written by

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) * "(You Caught Me) Smilin'" (from '' There's a Riot Goin' On'' (1971) by

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; written by Sylvester Stewart) * " You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (from the '' Hard to Get''

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(1938) by Dick Powell; written by

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and

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

)

Personnel

;Tin Machine *

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

– vocals, guitar, alto & tenor saxophone *

– lead guitar, vocals * Tony Sales – bass guitar, vocals * Hunt Sales – drums, vocals ;Additional musicians *

Eric Schermerhorn Eric Schermerhorn ( ; born April 11, 1961) is an American guitarist, composer, and voiceover artist. As a musician, he has worked with David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Ric Ocasek, Richard Butler, The The, They Might Be Giants, Melissa Etheridge, P!nk, ...

– rhythm guitar, vocals

References

Nicholas Pegg Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer. Education Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of ...

, ''The Complete David Bowie'', Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, * David Buckley, ''Strange Fascination: The Definitive Biography of David Bowie'', Virgin Books, 1999, {{David Bowie 1991 concert tours 1992 concert tours David Bowie concert tours