David Bowie Fills In For The Rolling Stones At The Capitol Theatre On This Date In 1997
By Andy Kahn Oct 14, 2016 • 12:16 pm PDT
The Rolling Stones were set to tape a performance at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York for the premiere episode of MTV’s Live At The 10 Spot series on October 14, 1997. The Stones concert that was supposed to take place 19 years ago today was called off due to frontman Mick Jagger suffering from laryngitis, but those who went to The Cap were instead treated to a fill-in performance by none other than David Bowie.
According to a New York Times report following the show, it was originally The Stones who requested The Capitol Theatre for the taping. MTV restricted the release of tickets, not putting any of the approximately 1,500 on sale to the public, instead passing them out directly to lucky recipients. The Rolling Stones would make up their missed date at The Cap a few days later on October 25 following Jagger’s recovery.
Bowie’s performance that aired on Live At The 10 Spot saw selections from across his career, opening with “The Supermen” off The Man Who Sold the World and the Aladdin Sane cut “Panic In Detroit.” The show also saw takes on “Quicksand” from Hunky Dory and “I’m Afraid of Americans” from his new-at-the-time LP Earthling. There was also a rendition of the Lodger track “Look Back In Anger” and the Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) title-track.
Bowie classics “The Jean Genie,” “Fame” and “All the Young Dudes” were also offered during the stand-in performance at The Cap. The full Live At The 10 Spot show can be viewed via this link (embedding disabled) and view a few highlights below:
