Well ahead of any other titles for Record Store Day, David Bowie's estate and Rhino have announced a big one for the twice-yearly shopping bonanza: a previously unreleased live-in-studio set recorded more than two decades ago.
Ready, Set, Go! (Live, Riverside Studios '03) will be released exclusively at independent record retailers on April 12 on both CD and double vinyl. The 14-track program, recorded in London on September 8, 2003 with producer Tony Visconti and a familiar assortment of studio and live players (including keyboardist Mike Garson, guitarists Earl Slick and Gerry Leonard, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, drummer Sterling Campbell and multi-instrumentalist Catherine Russell), was a preview for Bowie's 24th album Reality, released a week later.
With intent to play the album live - indeed, it formed the backbone of Bowie's final tour - the iconic musician shared this performance with fans as it happened, as part of a special live theatrical event (the first of its kind in 5.1 DTS surround sound) that also featured a Q&A with British presenter Jonathan Ross. (Bowie sat for additional live Q&As as the feature was broadcast in other countries over the next week.) Ready, Set, Go!, however, is the first time fans can enjoy a three-song encore from the recording, including run-throughs of 1. Outside standout "Hallo Spaceboy," plus "Cactus" and "Afraid" from 2002's Heathen.
This album is also, almost assuredly, a teaser of things to come with the Bowie estate: in 2023, the late singer's recorded material from 2000 to the present shifted distributors from Sony Music Entertainment to Warner Music Group. WMG now controls all of Bowie's catalogue and is likely hard at work with the estate on a fifth box set chronicling the albums Heathen (2002), Reality (2003), The Next Day (2013) and Blackstar (2016) and related live and archival material. (This would follow the similar anthologies Five Years (1969-1973) (2015), Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) (2016), A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) (2017), Loving the Alien (1983-1988) (2018) and Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) (2021).)
You can see the opener to the set, "New Killer Star," above, and we'll have more Bowie news for you once it comes into focus. Look for Ready, Set, Go! at your favorite indie record shop on April 12.
Ready, Set, Go! (Live, Riverside Studios '03) (ISO/Parlophone, 2025)
- New Killer Star
- Pablo Picasso
- Never Get Old
- The Loneliest Guy
- Looking for Water
- She'll Drive the Big Car
- Days
- Fall Dog Bombs the Moon
- Try Some, Buy Some
- Reality
- Bring Me the Disco King
- Hallo Spaceboy
- Cactus
- Afraid
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By "broadcast" do you mean it was on TV or on the radio? If the former, concerned this will later be repackaged with a blu ray / DVD tacked on. The Bowie estate is masterful in re-re-re-releasing something in numerous strains. This strategy has made me gun shy to pull the trigger on many recent Bowie releases.
Otherwise, this looks good as 'Reality' is a strong CD.
It was broadcast to movie theatres here in Canada – not on TV or radio. Some of the footage was included as a DVD on tour versions of Reality, though it depended on your location: some got the full album and others got selections.
I'm really hoping this is proof that the series is continuing. There's also Aladdin Sane's 50th exploration to come, which should include the 1972 Santa Monica show at this rate.
Brian is correct - it was a theatrical exhibition; mea culpa for not better specifying that (from the press release itself).
I was talking to a friend today, and my main qualm with this period (which is strong work) is that it's already mostly covered in my collection: I have that box Sony did of all the mid-'90s albums up to Reality as 2CD sets, The Next Day Extra, Blackstar and the No Plan EP. This box, like many of them, will be a hoped-for gift item.