David Bowie: On Tour Highlights Scottish Connections at V&A Dundee

According to BBC UK, musician Nile Rodgers once remarked that David Bowie was not merely an artist but was art itself. Consequently, the V&A Dundee is hosting an exhibition to celebrate his life and work, situated near the first Scottish venue where he performed under a new stage name. Consequently, the V&A Dundee is hosting an exhibition to celebrate his life and work, situated near the first Scottish venue where he performed under a new stage name. Bowie and the Buzz were not the headlining act at the Palais de Dans in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1966, but that performance marked the beginning of a connection with Scottish fans that persists today.

The exhibition, titled David Bowie: On Tour, is the first to feature items from the singer's archive, which the V&A acquired in London in 2023. Out of 90,000 items housed in the David Bowie Centre, which was constructed to hold his extensive archive, approximately 100 selected pieces have never been publicly displayed. These items include his initial instrument, a saxophone purchased by his father for Christmas in 1961, a stopwatch he utilized for songwriting, his 1988 passport, and an early copy of The Velvet Underground's 1967 track, "I'm Waiting for the Man."

The display also features a letter of complaint from his neighbors in London in December 1973, addressed to "Mr Bowy," which requested that the music be played more softly and cease at a reasonable hour.

Leonie Bell, the director of the V&A Dundee, stated that the exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view personal and intimate objects that reveal how David Bowie conceived, worked, and continuously reinvented himself. Bowie carefully preserved materials from the early stages of his career, documenting his ascent to becoming one of the most influential and enigmatic musicians globally. He later collaborated with professional curators to organize and document this personal archive, allowing him to revisit projects he had previously abandoned, and also to fill in gaps where personal items had been lost or given away.

The exhibition also explores Bowie's numerous Scottish concerts and their effect on his audience. John Reilly, who described himself as a devoted fan, was 11 years old in May 1973 when the Ziggy Stardust tour was at the Caird Hall in Dundee. Despite collecting much memorabilia, John, a former Dundee United footballer, did not attend the concert with the 2,500 other fans present. He subsequently made up for this by seeing Bowie live 49 times before his passing in January 2016, though the Dundee performance remains the one he felt he missed.

John, who is now 64, recalled that he had planned to enter the Caird Hall through the turnstiles behind his father, imagining it like a football match. He mentioned that he has friends who were at the concert and often remind him of what he missed, but he feels he compensated for it afterward. He gave his children the middle names Bowie and Dalglish to honor his two great passions. He expressed that seeing Bowie's legacy in his hometown would be an emotional moment and a reminder of the "escape" his music offered. He noted that in his youth, his classmates would save pictures from their Jackie magazines, and he would keep them in scrapbooks, later collecting records, posters, and tour programs.

Among Bowie's most recognized Scottish performances was a show at the Glasgow Apollo in June 1978. In an interview with Reporting Scotland, Bowie told reporter Fidelma Cook that this venue was among his favorites due to the "exceptionally excited audiences, intoxicated with the idea of a theatrical show."

Much of that theatricality was influenced by choreographer Lindsay Kemp in Edinburgh a decade prior. A program from the exhibition dated January 1968 shows him performing with Kemp in a piece called Pierrot in Turquoise, which debuted in Edinburgh. Two years later, this production was filmed at Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre for Scottish Television as The Looking Glass Murders. Bowie also brought Ziggy Stardust to the Scottish capital, though fans had to wait until 23:30 for the performance to begin after staff at the former Empire Theatre—now known as the Festival Theatre—finished emptying the bingo hall, which was its primary income source. Later, Bowie incorporated imagery from this period into the video for "Ashes to Ashes" by dressing as Harlequin. By that time, he was more established and could afford to commission life-sized dolls from Muppets creator Jim Henson instead of borrowing them from the Museum of Childhood.

Curator Svetlana Panova stated that Bowie performed in Scotland on multiple occasions throughout his career. She added that while researching the Dundee performances, they were impressed by how vividly the memories of local fans, who have kept their keepsakes, remain. Svetlana further noted that the dedication of these fans has enabled the telling of the cherished story of May 17, 1973, as part of the legendary Ziggy Stardust tour.