David Bowie - Rome 1996 (2023)

MID-90s BROADCAST FROM ROME ON THE OUTSIDE SUMMER TOUR • In 1993, David Bowie released his first solo-offering since his Tin Machine departure, the soul, jazz, and hip-hop influenced Black Tie White Noise. Making prominent use of electronic instruments, the album, which reunited Bowie with Let's Dance producer Nile Rodgers, confirmed Bowie's return to popularity, hitting the number-one spot on the UK charts and spawning three Top 40 hits. Bowie explored new directions on The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), ostensibly a soundtrack album of his music composed for the BBC television adaptation of Hanif Kureishi's novel. • Reuniting Bowie with Eno, the quasi-industrial Outside (1995) was originally conceived as the first volume in a non-linear narrative of art and murder. Featuring characters from a short story written by Bowie, the album achieved UK and US chart success and yielded three Top 40 UK singles. In a move that provoked mixed reactions from both fans and critics, Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his tour partner for the Outside Tour. Visiting cities in Europe and North America between September 1995 and February 1996, the tour saw the return of Reeves Gabrels as Bowie's guitarist. • While Outside Tour proper concluded in February ’96, Bowie went back out on the road for a summer jaunt a few months hence, titled the ‘Outside Summer Festivals Tour’, which opened at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on 4 June ‘96. With a slimmed-down live band from the previous Outside Tour excursion, the jaunt visited Japan, Russia and Iceland, followed by a string of performances on the European Summer festivals circuit. The Kremlin Palace Concert Hall performance on 18 June 1996 was recorded and a 50-minute broadcast was later shown on Russian Television. • Bowie’s show in Rome on July 9th ’96, was also broadcast, this time on Italian radio, and it is this transmission which features on this new CD, featuring Bowie’s complete set from his show at Stadio Olimpico (the Olympic Stadium) in the Italian capital, a gig still regarded by fans as probably his finest concert of the Summer ’96 tour.