Today I listened to "Look at the Moon," the just-added-to-streaming Bowie live album from the Phoenix Festival in the Summer of '97. It was recorded a few months before I saw him in Chicago on the Earthling tour. I was 17 and had been to maybe three concerts previously.

Both the live album and the show I saw opened with "Quicksand," as did most Earthling shows, I believe. You can see a good example on "Live at the 10 Spot," filmed three days before the Chicago show.

The Aragon Ballroom holds 5,000 but feels smaller - no seats on the floor and we were up very close. For Quicksand, he comes out by himself with an acoustic guitar and plays unaccompanied, as the rest of the band slowly comes in behind him.

So as the song goes on, you hear Mike Garson's keyboard, then Gail Ann Dorsey's backing vocals, etc. But you're just mostly shellshocked that David Bowie is standing like 30 feet away, playing bloody "Quicksand" from bloody "Hunky Dory."

Then, a half-second before the final chorus, Reeves Gabrels' guitar comes buzz-sawing in, then Zack Alford's drums, which is the first point since the house lights went down that you realize this is ~really happening~, and it's just getting started.

You can hear it at 4:24 on the 10 Spot video, and it's on the "Look at the Moon" recording, and it's a moment I'd almost forgotten about until today. Hence the indulgent nostalgia thread, which I hereby close.