Saturday Night’s Alright: Watch ALO & Steve Poltz Cover Elton John & David Bowie In San Francisco

ALO brought Tour d’Amour XVII to a close on Saturday night with their annual show at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz kicked off the action at the legendary Bay Area venue and returned to lead the headliners through songs by Elton John and David Bowie later in the night.

The Canadian-born Poltz, who was raised in Southern California, went solo for the bulk of his support set. Steve Poltz was joined by members of ALO at various points including Lebo (Dan Lebowitz) adding to a take on John Hartford’s “Presbyterian Guitar” and drummer Ezra Lipp showing off his acoustic guitar and vocal skills on “All For The Best.”

ALO initially brought out Steve Poltz for the final song of their first set. Lebo, Lipp, multi-instrumentalist Zach Gill and bassist Steve Adams were backed by Poltz on Elton John’s 1973 smash “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” The song turned into a big singalong with Steve Poltz successfully urging the crowd to scream the lyrics in Spanish.

Steve Poltz came back at the start of the encore to handle lead vocal duties on “Ziggy Stardust.” Both the Elton John cover and the performance of the title track from David Bowie’s iconic 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars were ALO debuts as per Setlist.FM stats. Poltz changed the final lyric of “Ziggy Stardust” to “Lebo played guitar” before singing the actual line.

Watch video of Steve Poltz teaming with ALO on “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” and “Ziggy Stardust” captured by Deadheadland’s Happy Cat below:

ALO’s setlist at The Fillmore spanned the group’s +30-year career. The band’s latest album, 2023’s Silver Saturdays, was represented by “Oil,” “Sparrow” and “Hot Damn” in the first set and “Divine Fall” in the second. “Light In My Window,” originally recorded by Lipp’s Magic In The Other outfit, came between “Hot Damn” and “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” to end ALO’s first of two sets.

The second set was highlighted by a pair of well-jammed oldies that encapsulated covers. A 20-minute “Shapeshifter” featured an instrumental take on Queen’s “We Are The Champions” within seemingly in reference to the 49ers’ appearance in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Sadly for fans of the team the NFC champions were defeated in overtime by the Kansas City Chiefs. Later, confetti dropped from the ceiling as ALO worked through a set-closing “Barbeque.” The celebratory “Barbeque” included an excursion through the Captain & Tennille-popularized “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Audience members dressed in vintage clothing took the stage to dance during “Love Will Keep Us Together” and to celebrate Chinese New Years’. ALO went on to close the night and Tour d’Amour 2024 with the fitting “Get To Do It Again” after the Poltz-sung “Ziggy Stardust” started the encore.

Watch more fan-shot video from ALO’s Tour d’Amour XVII finale below:

Photos by Susan Weiand

Setlist (via Setlist.FM)

Set One: Time Is Of The Essence > Push, Oil, Sugar On Your Tongue, Sparrow, Hot Damn, Light In My Window, Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)*

Set Two: The Ticket, Not Old Yet, Baby Blind Spot, I Wanna Feel It, Divine Fall, Shapeshifter > We Are The Champions > Shapeshifter, Barbeque > Love With Keep Us Together > Barbeque

Encore: Ziggy Stardust*, Get To Do It Again

* – with Steve Poltz