“Some people say the 1970s New York rock scene started in the 1960s with the Velvet Underground. Others insist that it began around 1968 with the Stooges and MC5 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Or with Lou Reed’s reconfigured Velvet Underground at Max’s Kansas City in 1970. Or Patti Smith’s poetry reading with Lenny Kaye on guitar at St. Mark’s Church in February 1971. Or in London in 1970, when David Bowie began sewing those pre—Ziggy Stardust costumes.
The truth is that the truth is not so simple. What really happened is that several things happened, all at once, all over the world. But nearly everyone would agree that in early 1972, when the New York Dolls performed every Tuesday night at the Oscar Wilde Room of the Mercer Arts Center in the Broadway Central Hotel, the 1970s New York rock scene was officially born.
Everyone really went to see the New York Dolls. Before they were the Ramones—whose singer Joey had an early glam rock band called Sniper—the Ramones went to see the Dolls. Patti Smith opened for the Dolls, reading poetry. Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine went to the Mercer to see the Dolls before they formed their band the Neon Boys, the precursor to Television." (Lisa Robinson, Vanity Fair 2014)
"To create an art movement, you have to set something up and then destroy it. The only thing to do is what the Dadaists, the Surrealists, did—complete amateurs who are as pretentious as hell—and just fuck it up the ass. Cause as much bad, ill feeling as possible. You’ll only create a movement when you have a rebellious cause." - David Bowie
David Bowie's most important concert of the 1st US Ziggy Stardust Tour (September - December 1972) was his debut at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall on Thursday 28th September 1972. Carnegie Hall was where The Beatles had performed two concerts in February 1964 and for Bowie this was to be his third concert in the US, after two earlier warm-up concerts in Cleveland and Memphis.
"When David Bowie made his Carnegie Hall debut last fall everybody from Albert Goldman to Andy Warhol was there plus a gaggle of weirdo's expecting some kind of a British Alice Cooper. That's not what they got. The concert opened as Bowie, in clockwork orange hair, came onstage amid flashing strobe lights, to the Mooged up strains of Beethoven's Ninth. From there, except for a simulated sex act with silver haired guitarist Mick Ronson, it was a matter of music, ranging from hard rock laid down by Bowie's band, the Spiders From Mars, to a Jacques Brel song with guitar accompaniment..." - Playboy Magazine
David Bowie & The Spiders From Mars
Carnegie Hall
NYC
Faces
Badfinger
War Memorial
Syracuse, NY
Faces
Badfinger
Akron Rubber Bowl
Akron, OH
Leon Russell
Fairgrounds Arena
Oklahoma City, OK
Joe Cocker & Band with Chris Stainton
Fairgrounds Arena
Oklahoma City, OK
Jeff Beck
Tranquility
Hara Arena
Dayton, OH
Grateful Dead
Jahrhunderthalle
Frankfurt, Germany
Grateful Dead
Waylon Jennings
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Led Zeppelin
Kezar Stadium
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA
Pink Floyd
Carnegie Hall
NYC
T. Rex
Palladium
NYC
Van Morrison
Copperhead
David Blue
Berkeley Community Theatre
Berkeley, CA
John Sebastian
Cheech & Chong
Van Morrison
Bread
Academy of Music
NYC
The Who
Munchen Deutsches Museum
Munich, Germany
Freddie King
Freda & the Firedogs
Armadillo World Headquarters
Austin, TX
Yes
Curtis Hixon Hall
Tampa, FL
Led Zeppelin
Denver Coliseum
Denver, CO
David Bowie
Technical College
Slough, UK
Tour of Europe '72
Alice Cooper
Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes
Brownsville Station
Eric Quincy Tate
Luther Williams Baseball Park
@ Central City Park Fairgrounds
Macon, GA
Taj Mahal
Billy Joel
Clean Living
Paramount Theatre
Springfield, MA
Leon Russell
Freddie King
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
Sacramento, CA
Leon Russell Group
Spokane Coliseum
Spokane, WA
Willie Nelson
Greezy Wheels
Armadillo World Headquarters
Austin, TX
Allman Brothers Band
Wet Willie
Dr. John The Night Tripper
Manley Field House
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Santana
Weather Report
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
Dallas, TX
Jeff Beck
Argent
San Jose Civic Auditorium
San Jose, CA
Savoy Brown
John Baldry
Fleetwood Mac
Honolulu International Center Arena
Honololulu, HI
Butterfield Blues Band
Dr. John
Masonic Temple
Detroit, MI
Van Morrison
Tower of Power
Jo Jo Gunn
Fairgrounds Expo Hall
Santa Clara, CA
Slough College Summer Ball
David Bowie
Technical College
Slough, UK
The Jeff Beck Group
Boz Scaggs
Wet Willie
Capitol Theatre
Passaic, NJ
Rolling Stones
Stevie Wonder
Municipal Auditorium
Nashville, TN
Rolling Stones
Spectrum Sports Arena
Philadelphia, PA
FREELANCE VANDALS - THE ISLAND IS ALIVE
HAIKU MONDAY - ACROSS THE RIVER TO ALGIERS
MIGHTY YOUNG FISH - GREEN ONIONS
BISCUIT KINGS - HAMBONES & TROMBONES