By now, you’d think that every David Bowie tour had been preserved, documented, refurbished and represented by an officially released album and/or video. Amazingly not. Hence the arrival of this long-lost set from his 1995 tour for the album Outside. Not exactly primo Bowie, granted — though the Eno-produced, electronic-laced disc did have one bona fide hit with The Hearts Filthy Lesson. Naturally, it’s here, along with a handful of deeper Outside cuts like I Have Not Been To Oxford Town, The Voyeur of Utter Destruction, We Prick You and I’m Deranged. Of course, the set list also includes an assortment of more-familiar classics like Look Back In Anger, Andy Warhol, The Man Who Sold The World and even Under Pressure, along with a couple of bonus cuts from another show on the U.S. leg. As always, everything is performed with the professionalism, perfectionism and precision you can alwasy depend on from Bowie and his crack touring bands. Even the sound is above-average for a live recording. Still, unless you’re the kind of fan who dresses up as Ziggy Stardust every Halloween and has named their dog Ramona A. Stone, Jean Genie or better yet, Ouvrez, you’re probably good until the next underrepresented tour yields a newer and more interesting archival offering.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Ouvrez Le Chien (Live Dallas 95) is a previously unreleased live album recorded at the Starplex Amphitheater in Dallas on Oct. 13 1995, during the Outside Tour. The phrase Ouvrez Le Chien (translating from the French to Open the Dog), originally appeared in the song All The Madmen from The Man Who Sold The World (which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year), albeit without the Z. Bowie also used the phrase for his 1993 song Buddha Of Suburbia, once again spelling “ouvre” without a Z. The Z was added when the phrase and its English translation were prominently featured in the stage set of the 1995 Outside Tour. Ouvrez Le Chien also features two bonus tracks Moonage Daydream and Under Pressure recorded live at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on Dec. 13, 1995. The musicians are David Bowie (vocals and saxophone), Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar), Reeves Gabrels (lead guitar and vocals), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass and vocals), Zachary Alford (drums), Peter Schwartz (keyboards and synthesizers), George Simms (vocals), Mike Garson (piano and keyboards).”
