Live: T-Mobile Arena, Prague

David Bowie performed at the T-Mobile Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on 23 June 2004, as part of A Reality Tour.

It was the 111th and penultimate date of the tour, which began on 7 October in Copenhagen.

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.

Bowie was in ill health as the long tour drew to a close, and suffered an on-stage heart attack. The tour continued with just one more show before being cancelled early, necessitated by an emergency angioplasty procedure to unblock an artery, performed on 26 June.

The singer faltered during ‘Reality’ and left the stage afterwards. The band continued with the instrumental ‘A New Career In A New Town’, followed by ‘Be My Wife’ with Catherine Russell on lead vocals.

Bowie returned for performances of ‘China Girl’ and ‘Modern Love’. The next song, ‘Station To Station’, was halted and restarted after a 10-minute break during which all the musicians left the stage.

‘Station To Station’ and ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ were completed, but the show was finally abandoned after the introduction to ‘Changes’. “I’m sorry,” he told the crowd. “I just can’t continue. I’m in too much pain. I’ll have to bid you good night. I’m so sorry.”

Things changed when he started getting that chest pain. We were onstage in Prague and I could tell. I saw him walk off after four songs and I was like, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ We played a couple of instrumental songs from Low. Then we played another one where Cat Russell was able to sing the lead. Then he came back and we did ‘Station To Station’, which is a monster kind of song. He was like, ‘You know, I can do it.’ He just didn’t feel well. It was kind of a mystery.

He’s been working out with his trainer. The general consensus was, ‘Oh, maybe he overdid it.’ They would do some of this boxing, sparring stuff as part of his training. I think he felt like he pulled a muscle in his shoulder.

He looked over his shoulder at me, and he was pale, translucent almost. His shirt was drenched. And he was just standing there, not singing. I could see the audience’s expressions in the front row change – from joy to kind of looking concerned.

Bowie saw a doctor after the show, who misdiagnosed him with a pinched nerve in his shoulder and prescribed muscle relaxants. The band’s final show with Bowie came two days later at Scheeßel in Germany.

The setlist

• ‘Life On Mars?’
• ‘Rebel Rebel’
• ‘Fame’
• ‘Battle For Britain (The Letter)’
• ‘Cactus’
• ‘The Motel’
• ‘New Killer Star’
• ‘All The Young Dudes’
• ‘Reality’
• ‘A New Career In A New Town’
• ‘Be My Wife’
• ‘China Girl’
• ‘Modern Love’
• ‘Station To Station’
• ‘The Man Who Sold The World’
• ‘Changes’ (incomplete)