When people pick apart some of the greatest music festival appearances of all time, a variety of different names pop up, but any list would be remiss without mentioning David Bowie’s headlining set at Glastonbury in 2000. The legendary singer used his time in the spotlight that fateful summer evening to dig deep into his own catalog, delivering a 21-song set of hits and deep cuts that still has people talking nearly two decades later. Now, for the first time, Bowie’s full performance is getting officially released on DVD, CD and vinyl so that even if you weren’t there, you can take in it yourself.
“I often get asked what the best set I’ve seen here at Glastonbury is, and Bowie’s 2000 performance is always one which I think of first,” Glastonbury’s co-organiser Emily Eavis said. “It was spellbinding; he had an absolutely enormous crowd transfixed… he just played the perfect headline set. It really was a very special and emotional show.”
Of course, as many people are aware, Bowie was also on-hand for the first-ever Glastonbury that was held back in 1971 when he was still an artist on the come-up, performing for just 1,500 people. “I think Bowie had a very deep relationship with Worthy Farm and he told some wonderful stories about his first time at the Festival in 1971, when he stayed at the farmhouse and performed at 6 AM as the sun was rising,” Eavis added.
In a diary entry, originally written for Time Out, Bowie gave his thoughts about what it meant to perform a career-spanning retrospective set at Glastonbury in 2000. “As of 1990 I got through the rest of the 20th century without having to do a big hits show,” he wrote. “Yes, yes, I know I did four or five hits on the later shows but I held out pretty well I thought… big, well-known songs will litter the field at Glastonbury this year. Well, with a couple of quirks of course.”
You can pre-order your copy of David Bowie Glastonbury 2000 here and check out the cover art and tracklist below.
1. “Introduction (Greensleeves)”
2. “Wild Is The Wind”
3. “China Girl”
4. “Changes”
5. “Stay”
6. “Life On Mars?”
7. “Absolute Beginners”
8. “Ashes To Ashes”
9. “Rebel Rebel”
10. “Little Wonder”
11. “Golden Years”
12. “Fame”
13. “All The Young Dudes”
14. “The Man Who Sold The World”
15. “Station To Station”
16. “Starman”
17. “Hallo Spaceboy”
18. “Under Pressure”
19. “Ziggy Stardust”
20. “Heroes”
21. “Let’s Dance”
22. “I’m Afraid Of Americans”
