Live: Frognerbadet, Oslo, Norway

David Bowie performed at the Frognerbadet in Oslo, Norway, on 18 June 2004, as part of A Reality Tour.

It was the 109th date of the tour, which began on 7 October in Copenhagen.

During ‘Battle For Britain (The Letter)’ a lollipop was thrown from the crowd. The stick hit Bowie in his left eye and the concert was briefly halted to allow him to recover.

Yeah, let’s do that again all fucking night. Where are you, creep? Yeah, I guess it’s easier to get lost in the crowd, you bastard.

Do remember: I’ve only got one [eye], anyway. Fortunately, that’s the one that works. So I’ll find you. And the other one has just become a little more decorative than it was before. Please keep your affection to yourself.

That means we’ll have to do an even longer show.

During the show Bowie also threw a guitar plectrum into the crowd, jokingly asking afterwards if he hit anyone.

It was cold and it rained…

David Bowie has often been regarded as a man of extremes, but even he can’t be blamed for the outrageous change in weather conditions for his performance at the Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo in Norway yesterday. The switch from blinding sunshine the day before, to torrential rain for yesterday’s show meant David had to abandon his normal stage clobber for the yellow hooded affair pictured here.

And it seems the shades he wore to protect his bad eye from the sun at the previous show in Bergen, may have been useful to perform a similar protective role at yesterday’s show, but this time from a flying lollipop! I’m sure you’re all aware of the story by now, so I won’t dwell on it, but please think carefully before you lob anything stageward in future, people. Anybody remember Brixton 19991?

I’m sure there was no malice intended, but yesterday’s incident could have been far more serious than it was. However, in typical Bowie fashion, and despite his understandable initial anger, David made light of the incident when he threw a plectrum into the crowd and then said he would have to go and hide in the band as he thought he may have got somebody in the eye! This was a humorous reference to the fact that the launcher of the lollipop missile refused to own up and simply melted into the crowd.

Despite the rain and the lollipop, DB was in top jovial mood joking and laughing throughout the show, at one point even teasing the audience that he might perform The Laughing Gnome! Apparently the setlist was abandoned to the point of Life On Mars? almost being performed twice.

Somebody else said that it somehow contributed to the demise of his touring at the time, but it was just a little speed bump. My understanding is that it was a Korean girl and she threw it as a form of affection. But it hit him right in the eye. We eventually laughed about it and carried on.

Earl Slick and Gerry Leonard played guitar, Gail Ann Dorsey was on bass guitar and vocals, and Mike Garson played keyboards and piano. Sterling Campbell was on drums, and Catherine Russell played keyboards, percussion, guitar and sang backing vocals.

The setlist

• ‘Rebel Rebel’
• ‘Fame’
• ‘Battle For Britain (The Letter)’
• ‘Cactus’
• ‘Sister Midnight’
• ‘New Killer Star’
• ‘All The Young Dudes’
• ‘Reality’
• ‘China Girl’
• ‘Life On Mars?’
• ‘Modern Love’
• ‘Afraid’
• ‘The Man Who Sold The World’
• ‘Changes’
• ‘The Loneliest Guy’
• ‘Hallo Spaceboy’
• ‘Under Pressure’
• ‘Ashes To Ashes’
• ‘The Supermen’
• ‘Quicksand’
• ‘Be My Wife’
• ‘Panic In Detroit’
• ‘White Light/White Heat’
• ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’
• “Heroes”
• ‘Suffragette City’
• ‘Ziggy Stardust’