David Bowie – Poster Friends of The Earth Save The Whale Benefit
An extremely rare concert poster/program used to advertise the July 8, 1972 Friends of the Earth/Save the Whale Benefit Concert, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, and headlined by David Bowie & The Spiders from Mars. Opening acts were Marmalade and J.S.D. Band (who opened for Bowie on his UK Ziggy Stardust tour.)
This double sided rarity folds open to 20″ x 30″; on one side is the poster used to promote the show depicting Bowie on top of a whaling harpoon, with ticket prices and outlet details; the other side has short biographies of each band, information on Friends of the Earth and Saving the Whales, and ads including one for Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album.
This extremely important concert took place just two days after Bowie’s first appearance on Top of the Pops, where he performed his single “Starman”–widely considered to be a turning point in his career. His breakthrough album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, had been released barely a month earlier. And this was the concert that introduced Britain to Lou Reed, who joined Bowie on-stage for ‘White Light/White Heat’, ‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘Waiting For The Man.’
Compere and BBC disc jockey Kenny Everett introduced Bowie as the “next biggest thing to God,” and soon, at least as far as record buyers were concerned, he’d be right. The reviews for Bowie’s performance that night were nothing short of sensational, with Melody Maker proclaiming “A Star is Born! When a shooting star is heading for the peak, there is usually one concert at which its possible to declare – That’s it – he’s made it” and Music Week raving “David Bowie will soon become the greatest entertainer Britain has ever known.”
In near mint condition; only the second example we’ve seen.
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