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{{Short description|1987 concert tour by David Bowie}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}

{{Infobox concert
  | concert_tour_name = The Glass Spider Tour
  | image = David Bowie European Glass Spider Tour Promotional Poster.jpg
  | landscape = 
  | image_caption = Promotional poster for the tour
  | artist = [[David Bowie]]
  | location = {{hlist|Europe|North America|Oceania}}
  | album = ''[[Never Let Me Down]]''
  | start_date = 30 May 1987
  | end_date = 28 November 1987
  | number_of_legs = 3
  | number_of_shows = {{unbulleted list|27 in Europe|44 in North America|15 in Oceania|86 in total}}
  | gross = US$86 million
  | last_tour = [[Serious Moonlight Tour]]<br />(1983)
  | this_tour = '''The Glass Spider Tour'''<br />(1987)
  | next_tour = [[Sound+Vision Tour]]<br />(1990)
  | Misc = 
{{Extra tour chronology
  | Group = [[Tin Machine]]
  | Type = tour
  | Last tour =
  | This tour = '''The Glass Spider Tour'''<br />(1987)
  | Next tour = [[Tin Machine Tour]]<br />(1989)
}}
}}
'''The Glass Spider Tour''' was a 1987 worldwide [[concert tour]] by the English musician [[David Bowie]], launched in support of his album ''[[Never Let Me Down]]'' and named for that album's track "Glass Spider". It began in May 1987 and was preceded by a two-week press tour that saw Bowie visit nine countries throughout Europe and North America to drum up public interest in the tour. The Glass Spider Tour was the first Bowie tour to visit Austria, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Wales. Through a sponsorship from Pepsi, the tour was intended to visit Russia and South America as well, but these plans were later cancelled. The tour was, at that point, the longest and most expensive tour Bowie had embarked upon in his career. At the time, the tour's elaborate set was called "the largest touring set ever".<ref name=NJ87 />

Bowie conceived the tour as a theatrical show, and included spoken-word introductions to some songs, [[Vignette (literature)|vignettes]], and employed visuals including projected videos, theatrical lighting and stage props. On stage, Bowie was joined by guitarist [[Peter Frampton]] and a troupe of five dancers choreographed by long-time Bowie collaborator [[Toni Basil]]. With the theme "Rock stars vs Reality", the show was divided into two acts and an encore. The set list was modified over the course of the tour as Bowie dropped some of his newer material in favour of older songs from his repertoire.

The tour was generally poorly received at the time for being perceived as overblown and pretentious. Despite the criticism, Bowie in 1991 remarked that this tour laid the groundwork for later successful theatrical tours by other artists, and the set's design and the show's integration of music and theatrics has inspired later acts by a variety of artists. Starting in the late 2000s, the tour began to collect accolades for its successes, and in 2010 the tour was named one of the top concert tour designs of all time.

The tour was financially successful and well-attended, being seen by perhaps as many as six million fans worldwide, but the negative critical reception of the album and tour led Bowie to not only abandon plans for other elaborate stage shows, but to reconsider his motivations for making music.

Performances from this tour were released on the VHS video ''[[Glass Spider]]'' (1988, re-released on DVD in 2007).

==Background==
In the four years prior to the release of ''Never Let Me Down'', Bowie had worked on a series of miscellaneous projects that included collaborations with the [[Pat Metheny Group]] for "[[This Is Not America]]" and [[Mick Jagger]] for "[[Dancing in the Street#David Bowie and Mick Jagger version|Dancing in the Street]]".{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 6}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=69–70}} He also continued acting and composing for film soundtracks such as ''[[Absolute Beginners (film)|Absolute Beginners]]'' (1985) and ''[[Labyrinth (1986 film)|Labyrinth]]'' (1986).{{sfn|O'Leary|2019|loc=chap. 6}}{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=365–372}}

In 1985, after his successful performance at [[Live Aid]] and a live performance with [[Tina Turner]] for one of her shows on her 1985 [[Private Dancer Tour]], Bowie collaborated with his friend [[Iggy Pop]] for his solo album ''[[Blah-Blah-Blah (Iggy Pop album)|Blah-Blah-Blah]]'', producing and co-writing multiple tracks.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|p=373}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=490}} He then worked with Turkish musician [[Erdal Kızılçay]] for the [[When the Wind Blows (song)|title song]] of the 1986 film ''[[When the Wind Blows (1986 film)|When the Wind Blows]]''.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|p=373}} In late 1986, Bowie began recording sessions for his album ''Never Let Me Down'', which was released in April 1987. He had not toured for his 1984 album ''[[Tonight (David Bowie album)|Tonight]]'', making the Glass Spider Tour his first tour in four years.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=582-583}}

==Development==
Preparations for the tour began as early as 1986, when Bowie warned his band to "be ready for next year."<ref name=GlassIdol>{{Citation |last=Currie |first=David |title=David Bowie: Glass Idol |publisher=Omnibus Press |place=London and Margate, England |edition=1st |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-7119-1182-6}}</ref> Bowie was initially mum on his plans for his tour, saying only "I'm going to do a stage thing this year, which I'm incredibly excited about, 'cause I'm gonna take a chance again." When asked if he would elaborate on his plans, he replied "No! [Laughs.] Too many other acts are goin' out. I'll just be doing what I always did, which is keeping things interesting."<ref name=RS87>{{citation |last=Loder |first=Kurt |title=Stardust Memories |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=498 |date=23 April 1987 |pages=74–77, 80, 82, 168, 171}}</ref>

{{Quote box
 | quote  = "I've eaten, slept, and thought about nothing but this show for six months."<ref name=CSM87 />
 | source = —David Bowie, June 1987 in London
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Bowie was joined by long-time friend Peter Frampton on the tour. Frampton said "I don't have a book to sell; I don't have an album to sell; I'm just here as a guitarist. The pressure is off. I'm enjoying myself." Frampton and Bowie had known each other since their teen years when they both attended Bromley Technical School, where Frampton's father, [[Owen Frampton]], was Bowie's art teacher.<ref name=MA87>{{citation |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-09-18/features/8703140349_1_glass-spider-bowie-dancers |title=Bowie Weaves Magic on Glass Spider Tour |date=18 September 1987 |access-date=28 May 2013 |first=Steve |last=Morse |journal=[[The Boston Globe]] |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190112/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-09-18/features/8703140349_1_glass-spider-bowie-dancers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Bowie had a clear goal for this tour: to return to the theatrics that he had performed during his short-lived 1974 [[Diamond Dogs Tour]].<ref name=InFashion>{{Citation |last=Morse |first=Steve |title=David Bowie (Cover Story) |journal=In Fashion Magazine |volume=3 |issue=10 |date=July–August 1987 |pages=151, 153}}</ref> He wanted this tour to be "ultra-theatrical, a combination of music, theater, and rock",<ref name=AFU87>{{citation |journal=Rock Express |title=A Feast Unknown |last1=West |first1=Corinthia |last2=Stoute |first2=Lenny |year=1987}}</ref> and he felt that his previous tour, while successful, had veered away from the theatrics that he preferred:

[[File:David Bowie (1987).jpg|thumb|right|Bowie being lowered from the spider set's ceiling, to the opening song "Glass Spider" at Rock am Ring – 7 June 1987]]
{{blockquote|[In 1983 for the [[Serious Moonlight Tour]]] the promoters were coming around and saying, "Listen David, we moved you from this 10,000 seater up to this 30,000-seater" ... and it grew and grew and there were 60,000-seaters coming up. ... Let's trim back on the theatrics and really go for giving them songs that they've heard on the radio for the last 15 years or so – songs they probably didn't realize when added up are a great body of work coming from this guy. ... Whereas with [The Glass Spider] tour coming up, I feel I've established that. What I now want to do is have the songs work for the performance. ... Certainly there will be obscure songs on it, at least for the general public. There will be songs from albums that weren't huge albums, but now those particular songs actually fit a section of the show. So when you put three songs together, you can create a vignette that works. It has a beginning and a conclusion and deals with one subject.<ref name=InFashion />}}

Bowie indicated that he was "testing the waters" with this tour, and was potentially considering other large, elaborate stage shows if the tour was successful:

{{blockquote|The songs have to work within the show—not the show working for the songs, if you see what I mean. That's why it's so different. And that's why it's so exciting, because that's the way I really like working. I mean, I like devising a show. I've got a show book that is almost like the bible you have when you're working on a play. It's written and structured with various thematic devices. Unfortunately, it's in revue form, because none of the songs were written for the show. That's the ultimate, of course. If this works the way I hope it does, then the next step for me will be to write a piece specifically for arenas and stadiums, which is almost like taking a musical on the road that has one narrative form all the way through, with a cast of characters, and is written for epic theater.<ref name=InFashion />}}

Bowie decided that the theme for the show would be "the reality and unreality of rock,"<ref name=AFU87 /> or, as one critic called it, "rock stars vs. reality".<ref name=DVD87>{{citation |title=David Bowie Glass Spider (1987) |first=Colin |last=Jacobson |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/davidbowieglassspider.shtml | access-date=21 May 2013}}</ref> Bowie said, "It's not just about a rock singer, it's about rock music, so it has a lot to do with the audience and how they perceive rock, and rock figures, and all the cliches, archetypes and stereotypes, and also family relationship."<ref name=AFU87 />

During the show itself, Bowie incorporated a wide variety of props: "I'm really attempting to do a lot of stuff! It incorporates movement, dialogue, fragments of film, projected images, it's what used to be called multi-media in the '60s."<ref name=AFU87 /> Bowie described how he assembled the show, saying, "The idea was to concoct surrealist or minimalist stage pieces to accompany rock-and-roll songs. I wanted to bridge together some kind of symbolist theater and modern dance. Not jazz dance, certainly not MTV dance, but something more influenced by people like Pina Bausch and a Montreal group called [La La La Human Steps]. There are some symbolist pieces, some minimalist pieces, and some vulgar pieces, too – some straightforward vaudeville bits."<ref name=NY87>{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/02/arts/bowie-creates-a-spectacle.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Bowie Creates a Spectacle | access-date=4 April 2023 |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=2 August 1987}}</ref>

When Bowie was asked what he thought his audience expected of him on this tour, he said:
{{blockquote|I guess that they come along to see whether I'll fall down or something. I really don't know. I know that they get what they consider is a really good performance. I think that over the years I've proved that I do my best to provide them with some new vision of musical information on the stage. So I think there's probably that element in it, but I couldn't go any further than that. I really don't know what they want from me. I've never really been able to write for them. I've only written and performed that which interests me. So essentially they have an agreement with me and that's great. I mean, I've lost audiences many times over the years, and they've come back again for one reason or another. I've sort of got that mutual agreement with them. If it's not going very well then they stay away. Which is fair enough, you know.<ref name=WMWP>{{citation |title=David Bowie: The "Glass Spider" Weaves His Musical Magic around the World |first=Joe |last=Radcliffe |date=January 1988 |journal=Words & Music Magazine}}</ref>}}

Bowie reportedly coordinated aspects of the tour via email, a rarity in the late 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/why-david-bowie-s-death-marks-a-loss-for-the-tech-industry/037391 |title=Why David Bowie's death marks a loss for the tech industry |date=14 January 2016 | access-date=15 January 2016 |first=Laura |last=Barnes |journal=PCR (PCR.online.biz) | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117175722/http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/why-david-bowie-s-death-marks-a-loss-for-the-tech-industry/037391 | archive-date=17 January 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Promotion==
In announcing the tour, Bowie embarked on a series of promotional press shows covering nine countries in two weeks, including Canada, the US and seven countries in Europe. The press tour shows were typically delivered in smaller venues seating around 300 people, and local fans were often allowed into the events.<ref name=GlassIdol /> He used the opportunity to educate the press on his album and the tour, and the multiple dates allowed him to correct misinformation. At the London Glass Spider Press Conference, he clarified that "I didn't say 'lights, costumes and sex,' what I said was 'lights, costumes and ''theatrical sets''{{' "}} in response to a question about what the audience could expect when seeing his new live show.<ref name=LondonPress>{{cite AV media |date=20 March 1987 |title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (London) |type=vinyl}}</ref> Press tour shows included live performances of some of the songs from the album ''Never Let Me Down''.

Articles promoting Bowie's album and tour appeared in non-music periodicals in mid- to late-1987 such as ''In Fashion'',<ref name="InFashion" /> ''[[Mademoiselle (magazine)|Mademoiselle]]''<ref>{{citation | title=David Bowie ch-ch-changes his tune | first=Jon | last=Pareles | date=July 1987 | journal=[[Mademoiselle (magazine)|Mademoiselle]]}}</ref> and ''[[Teen (magazine)|Teen]]''<ref>{{citation | title=David Bowie | date=October 1987 | journal=[[Teen (magazine)|Teen]]}}</ref> magazines.

Bowie agreed to what at the time was considered a controversial<ref name=ct87>{{citation |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-08-24/features/8703040515_1_holiday-spas-beatles-john-lennon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202557/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-08-24/features/8703040515_1_holiday-spas-beatles-john-lennon |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2013 |title=There's David Bowie, looking like the Nutty Professor, and... |date=24 August 1987 |first=Steven |last=Rea | access-date=28 October 2013 |journal=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> commercial sponsorship agreement with [[PepsiCo]],<ref name=FL87 /><ref name=latfop>{{citation |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-19-ca-14006-story.html |title=First Off... (March 19, 1987) |date=19 March 1987 | access-date=29 October 2013 |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last1=Times |first1=Entertainment Reports From The}}</ref> which was later seen as helping to pave the way for other big money tours by other artists.<ref name=RSFB13>{{citation |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-david-bowie-faces-heat-on-glass-spider-tour-20130827 |title=Flashback: David Bowie Faces Heat on Glass Spider Tour |date=27 August 2013 | access-date=27 August 2013 |first=Andy |last=Greene |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> For his part, Bowie recorded a TV commercial with [[Tina Turner]] to the tune "[[Modern Love (David Bowie song)|Modern Love]]" in May 1987 while he was preparing for the tour.<ref name=DBIH87 /> Of the sponsorship agreement, Bowie said, "We did a commercial sponsorship thing only for North America with the Pepsi-Cola company. As far as I'm concerned, what it's allowed me to do, having them underwrite the tour, is to be able to produce a far more extravagant show than if I were just doing it myself. It means that instead of just having 1 or 2 sets I can have 3 or 4 sets made, and they can travel independently and they can be far more complicated."<ref name="StockholmPress">{{cite AV media |date=28 March 1987 |title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (Stockholm) |type=vinyl}}</ref>

Bowie had originally planned to take the Glass Spider Tour to Russia, albeit with the band only and no dancers or elaborate props, but with the money and extra stage provided by the sponsorship, Bowie felt he could take the full tour to Russia and South America.<ref name=ID87>{{citation |journal=[[i-D]] |title=David Bowie, Is the Lad Too Sane for His Own Good? |date=July 1987 |last=Jones |first=Tricia}}</ref> However, these plans failed to come to fruition, and the tour never reached those regions.<ref name=ID87 />

==Song selection==
Bowie elected to play less well-known songs on the tour and avoided some of his bigger hits.<ref name=DVD87 /><ref name=pm07>{{citation |url=http://www.popmatters.com/tools/print/47516/ |title=David Bowie: Glass Spider Tour (Special Edition DVD / 2CD) [DVD] |date=26 August 2007 |first=Tim |last=O'Neill | access-date=7 October 2013}}</ref> He was eager to not repeat the formula that made the Serious Moonlight Tour a success, saying, "It seemed so easy. It was cheers from the word go. You know how to get a reaction – play '[[Changes (David Bowie song)|Changes]],' '[[Golden Years (David Bowie song)|Golden Years]]' and they'd be up on their feet. You get the reaction, take the money and run away. It seemed too easy. I didn't want to do that again."<ref name=FL87>{{citation |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1987/09/18/bowie-is-back-and-bolder-than-ever-his-controversial-glass-spider-tour-proves-the-ageless-rocker-is-still-full-of-surprises/ |title=Bowie Is Back, And Bolder Than Ever His Controversial Glass Spider Tour Proves The Ageless Rocker Is Still Full of Surprises |journal=The Orlando Sentinel |first=Gary |last=Graff |date=18 September 1987 | access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> In a different contemporary interview he said, "I'm not doing '[[Star (David Bowie song)|Star]]' again. That was quite hard. I don't think I'm doing much Ziggy material on this tour! [laughs] Probably use a lot of that mid-70s material, but not the more ponderous things like '[[Warszawa (song)|Warszawa]].' I tried that, and that was a bit yawn-making. There was one I was humming to myself the other day: [sings] 'Baby, baby, I'll never let you down' – oh lord, what's that one? Jesus, I can't remember it. ... 'Sons of the Silent Age!' [snaps fingers] Ah! That's right! Thank god I could remember it! So that for me now is a new song. I've never done that one onstage."<ref name=MusicianMag>{{Citation |last=Isler |first=Scott |title=David Bowie Opens Up – A Little |journal=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]] |date=August 1987 |pages=60–73}}</ref> "[[Sons of the Silent Age]]" was performed every night of the tour.

All but two songs ("Too Dizzy" and "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)") from his album ''Never Let Me Down'' were played live during the tour, although "Shining Star" was among the songs rehearsed. Other songs rehearsed but not performed were "Because You're Young" and "[[Scream Like a Baby]]", both from ''[[Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)]]'' (1980).<ref name=GlassIdol /> Several songs that Bowie had anticipated playing on the tour were abandoned before rehearsals even started, including "[[Space Oddity]]" (from ''[[David Bowie (1969 album)|David Bowie]]'' (1969)), "[[Joe the Lion]]" (from ''[["Heroes" (David Bowie album)|"Heroes"]]'' (1977)), "Ricochet" (from ''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'' (1983)), and "Don't Look Down" (from ''[[Tonight (David Bowie album)|Tonight]]'' (1984)).<ref name=MusicianMag />

Songs performed during the tour were "chosen because they fit the performance"<ref name=LondonPress /> and fit Bowie's goal to make a show that was much more theatrical and had strong dramatic content. When he was asked how he was going to make his rock show "dramatic", he replied, "You'll be surprised what you can do with a 6-piece rock band and a stage and a couple of lights."<ref name=AmsterdamPress>{{cite AV media |date=30 March 1987 |title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (Amsterdam) |type=vinyl}}</ref>

==Set design==
[[File:BowieRaR87-stage.jpg|thumb|left|Bowie on stage at Rock am Ring – 7 June 1987]]
The tour's set, described at the time as "the largest touring set ever,"<ref name=NJ87 /> was designed to look like a giant spider. It was 60 feet (18.3m) high, 64 feet (19.5m) wide and included giant [[vacuum tube]] legs that were lit from the inside with 20,000' (6,096m) of colour-changing lights.<ref name=NY87 /><ref name=LDO10>{{citation |url=https://www.livedesignonline.com/projects/david-bowie-glass-spider-1987-top-concert-tour-design-all-time |title=David Bowie Glass Spider (1987) – Top Concert Tour Design of all time |last=Sandberg |first=Marian |journal=Live Design |date=1 August 2010 | access-date=20 October 2022}}</ref> A single set took 43 trucks to move and was estimated to weigh 360 tons.<ref name=NY87 /> 16' x 20' (4.9m x 6m) video screens displayed video and images from the show to those in the audience who were further away from the stage.<ref name=PDX87>{{Citation |last=Tomlinson |first=Stuart |title=Bowie Outshines Dazzling Stage Props |newspaper=The Oregonian |location=Portland, Oregon |date=15 August 1987}}</ref> The system required to run the show included two separate sound systems, 260 speaker cabinets, 1,000 lights with an output total of 600,000 watts,<ref name=GlassIdol /> and three computers.<ref name=MYS13 /> [[Mark Ravitz]], the set designer, had previously designed Bowie's 1974 [[Diamond Dogs Tour]] set.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160824/park-slope/former-david-bowie-set-designer-keeps-park-slope-building-dripping-with-art |title=Former David Bowie Set Designer Keeps Park Slope Building Dripping with Art |first=Leslie |last=Albrecht |date=24 August 2016 | access-date=29 August 2016 |website=DNAInfo.com | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914040748/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160824/park-slope/former-david-bowie-set-designer-keeps-park-slope-building-dripping-with-art | archive-date=14 September 2016}}</ref>

This was Bowie's first tour where wireless microphone technology was available, allowing Bowie considerable freedom to move around the stage during a concert.<ref name=GlassIdol /> This allowed him to interact with the dancers and musicians much more freely, and as such the set included 3-story high mobile scaffolding, onto which Bowie and his dancers would occasionally climb during the show.<ref name=MB87>{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/01/arts/music-bowie-s-glass-spider-tour.html |title=Music: Bowie's Glass Spider Tour |date=1 August 1987 |first=Jon |last=Pareles |newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref>

Each set cost US$10 million,<ref name=CSM87 /><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/03/arts/tv-weekend-david-bowie-glass-spider-tour.html |title=TV Weekend; 'David Bowie: Glass Spider Tour' |newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=28 May 2013 |last=O'Connor |first=John |date=3 June 1988}}</ref> about ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|10000000|1987}}}} in today's dollars.{{Inflation-fn|US}} Bowie himself invested over $10 million of his own money to help fund the tour,<ref name=NJ87>{{cite AV media |title=David Bowie Glass Spider Tour |medium=News report, New Jersey 1987}}</ref> and he paid $1 million a week<ref name=MA87 /> to maintain a staff of 150 people to maintain and build the three sets as the tour moved around the world.<ref name=CSM87 /><ref name=MYS13>{{citation |url=http://www.mysask.com/portal/site/main/template.MAXIMIZE/home/?javax.portlet.tpst=26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_viewID=story&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_topic_display_name=Today%20in%20History&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_WT.cg_s=History&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_WT.cg_n=News&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_topic_name=History&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_news_item_id_key=23578929 |title=Today in Music History – May 30 |journal=The Canadian Press |date=30 May 2013 | access-date=31 May 2013}}</ref> In Philadelphia, where the tour opened in the US, the set was described as taking "300 people 4 days" to build.<ref name=PAC87>{{cite AV media |title=David Bowie Philadelphia 1987 – Glass Spider: Channel 6 Action News Report |medium=News report, ABC News |location=Philadelphia |year=1987}}</ref>

About halfway through the first leg of the tour in Europe, Bowie discovered that the full Spider set was so large that it would not fit in most indoor venues. He said, "It would cost me between $500,000 and $600,000 to alter the sets enough to bring the show indoors. ... I may decide to have a smaller 'indoor' set made somewhere during the tour."<ref name=WMWP /> He did in fact commission a third slightly smaller set, called the "Junior Bug" set, to be used at indoor venues where the full spider would not fit, such as New York's [[Madison Square Garden]].<ref name=MA87 />

Bowie thought of the whole set as a metaphor of life, describing the stage as having "a feeling of a ship, which is the voyage, with the rigging and the climbing and the ropes. And the bottom circular area is like the Circus of Lights, so it really is from birth, and the voyaging through life."<ref name=YT87A />

==Rehearsals==
Bowie assembled his band in early 1987 and were joined on stage by five dancers who were choreographed by Bowie's long-time friend [[Toni Basil]]. The band and the dancers spent time in 12-hour-a-day rehearsals in New York before moving on to Europe. Bowie shot the video for his single "[[Time Will Crawl]]" during these rehearsals; it previewed some of the elaborate dance routines that were used during performances of "[[Loving the Alien]]" (1985), "[[Fashion (David Bowie song)|Fashion]]" (1980) and "[[Sons of the Silent Age]]" (1977).<ref name="tcdbeu" /> Bowie described his rehearsal routine:

{{blockquote|I prepare the day's work when I get up in the morning, and then I go in around 10 o'clock (a.m.) for rehearsals. Then it's constant rehearsals, both the visual side and the musical side, through about 8 o'clock (p.m.). At around 8 p.m. I look at the video tapes of what we've been doing during the day, and make adjustments if necessary. So there really isn't time to do anything else at all except Sundays, and then I sleep for most of the day. It's very intensive rehearsals, and physically it's quite demanding.<ref name=WMWP />}}
{{Quote box
 | quote  = "[The Glass Spider Tour is] the most physical tour that I've done ever. ... It's relentless, it never stops. I'm bruised as hell. I feel like a worn out rag doll."<ref name=NN87>{{cite AV media |title=David Bowie, Glass Spider Tour Report |medium=[[Newsnight]] |year=1987}}</ref>
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}}
Rehearsals with the full Spider set were staged in Rotterdam's [[Rotterdam Ahoy|Ahoy]] arena starting on 18 May before moving to [[De Kuip]] stadium for the dress rehearsals (27 and 28 May).<ref name=DBIH87>{{citation |url=http://www.davidbowiefanclub.com/magazines/view/17 |title=Bowie in Holland: Glass Spider |last=Loogman |first=Antoine |date=May 2007 |access-date=25 June 2013 |journal=The Voyeur |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190736/http://www.davidbowiefanclub.com/magazines/view/17 |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref><ref name=CAB>{{citation |url=http://carlosalomar.wordpress.com/editors-notethe-big-boys/tours/david-bowie/david-bowie-tour-dates/ |title=David Bowie Tour Dates : The Official Carlos Alomar Blog | access-date=25 June 2013 |date=2012-07-12}}</ref> Due to relatively easy access to the venues during rehearsals, fans knew what the set list for the show would be before the tour even opened.<ref name=GlassIdol />

Bowie stated that he was looking for dancers who did not look like typical [[MTV]] dancers and who knew both American street-dancing and European performance art.<ref name=YT87A>{{cite AV media |title=David Bowie Countdown 1987 Glass Spider Special |year=1987 |medium="Countdown" TV program (Holland)}}</ref> Originally Bowie had hoped to have [[Édouard Lock]] of [[La La La Human Steps]] be involved in the show, but the group was booked with other commitments. Bowie later lamented that the Tour may have been viewed differently if La La La Human Steps had been involved: "It would have been a different ballgame."<ref name=MEMag /> La La La Human Steps would provide the choreography for Bowie's next tour, the [[Sound+Vision Tour]] of 1990.<ref name=MEMag />

==Concert synopsis==
The show was divided into two parts and included a planned encore.
[[File:Glass Spider (Berlin) from above.PNG|thumb|The Glass Spider set from above – 6 June 1987 in Berlin]]
Bowie entered the show to the song "Glass Spider", for which he was lowered from the set's ceiling while seated in a silver chair and singing into a telephone. The show's first vignette began with "[[Bang Bang (Iggy Pop song)|Bang Bang]]", during which Bowie pulled an audience member out of the crowd, only to be rejected by the fan, who by the end of the song was revealed to be one of the troupe's dancers. Later in the show, for the song "[[Fashion (David Bowie song)|Fashion]]", the dance troupe threatened Bowie with a street fight, which, by the end of the song, he accidentally wins. For the live rendition of "[[Never Let Me Down (David Bowie song)|Never Let Me Down]]", the performance of which Bowie called "abrasive",<ref name=TW87x>{{citation |title=Dave In, Dave Out |journal=Music & Sound Output Magazine |date=June 1987}}</ref> he was influenced by the minimalist choreography of [[Pina Bausch]]. He said:

{{blockquote|I wanted one straight movement that starts upstage and comes all the way downstage and doesn't vary. I'm on my knees, with my arms in a kind of straitjacket, and a crawl for three-and-a-half minutes. A girl is with me, as if she's accompanying her pet in a park, but she has a cylinder on her back, and every now and then she's giving me oxygen. It felt like a very protective, a very sad little image, and it felt right for the song.<ref name=NY87 />}}

For Part 2, Bowie appeared on the stage's scaffolding to "'87 & Cry", flew through the air in a [[Peter Foy|Flying by Foy]] [[abseiling]] harness, and was subsequently tied up by riot police. On at least one occasion, the flying segment of the song was dropped due to a malfunction with the set. The movie footage shown behind Bowie during "'Heroes'" was shot by Bowie during his time in Russia in 1974. Of the footage, Bowie said:

{{blockquote|There's a poignant image of a Mongolian with a hanky in his hand waving goodbye to his family getting on a train to Moscow and I loop that up so there's a never ending sequence of this old fellow dabbing his tears and waving bye-bye. That plays behind the action in black and white and it's alarmingly sad. It's like saying goodbye to heroism; it's like saying goodbye to a world of a 19th century ideal. It's irretrievable and now maybe we’re just looking for seeds of intelligence and not heroes. There's something about it that I really like. It's a piece of theatricality that I really adore. I’m really proud of it.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/03/from-the-vault-david-bowie-1987.html |title=From the Vault: David Bowie, 1987 |date=26 March 2012 |access-date=14 January 2016 |first=Adam |last=Vitcavage |journal=Paste Magazine |archive-date=1 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701203441/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/03/from-the-vault-david-bowie-1987.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

The encore typically opened with the song "[[Time (David Bowie song)|Time]]", for which Bowie emerged from the top of the spider's head with angel wings behind him, 60 feet above the crowd. The song was occasionally cut from outdoor shows when bad weather made the perch atop the spider too precarious to perform.<ref name=GlassIdol /><ref name=LDO10/><ref name=Philly87>{{citation |url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-31/news/26199387_1_glass-spider-david-bowie-ropes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185313/http://articles.philly.com/1987-07-31/news/26199387_1_glass-spider-david-bowie-ropes |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2013 |title=Bowie Rides 'Glass Spider' At The Vet | access-date=5 June 2013 |date=31 July 1987 |first=John |last=Milward |journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}</ref>

==Costume design==
For the first act, Bowie was dressed in a single-breasted three-quarters length red suit with a red shirt and pants<ref name=GlassIdol /> designed by [[Diana Moseley]].<ref>{{cite book |title=David Bowie Is Inside |date=2013 |publisher=V&A Publishing |isbn=9781851777358}}</ref> The outfit included red [[Chelsea boots]] with silver details at the heel and toe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/david-bowie-s-craziest-onstage-shoes-included-thigh-high-boots-kitten-heels/ar-BB1cAVKg?rt=0&ocid=Win10NewsApp&item=flights%3Aprg-mobileappview |title=David Bowie's Craziest Onstage Shoes Included Thigh-High Boots & Kitten Heels |date=9 January 2021 | access-date=11 January 2021 |first=Ella |last=Chochrek|website=[[MSN]] }}</ref> One of the outfits that Bowie wore for Part 2, signed by Bowie, was put up for auction on 21 May 2016<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/music-icons-auction-cobain-elvis-michael-jackson-bowie-memorabilia-grabs-new-york-1560500 |title=Music Icons auction: Cobain, Elvis, Michael Jackson and Bowie memorabilia up for grabs in New York |date=17 May 2016 | access-date=19 May 2016 |first=Alex |last=Wheeler |work=International Business Times}}</ref> and was sold for $37,500.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.julienslive.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/177/lot/75735/?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F177%2F%3Fpage%3D15 |title=Lot 353 of 403: DAVID BOWIE GLASS SPIDER TOUR COSTUME | access-date=23 May 2016}}</ref>
Bowie's outfit for the encore was a gold lamé leather suit complete with gold winged cowboy boots. One of these suits, also autographed by Bowie, sold at a Sotheby's auction in 1990 for $7,000 (worth about ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|7000|1990|r=-2}}}} today) several times its expected selling price.<ref name=Goldmine90>{{Citation |last=Jordan |first=Scotia |title=Sound & Vision: The World of David Bowie Collectibles |newspaper=Goldmine |location=Iola, Wisconsin |date=30 November 1990 |page=44}}</ref> That same outfit was again put up for auction in December 2016 with an expected selling price of $20,000–⁠$30,000, and was sold for $32,500.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/rock-roll-n09587/lot.19.html |title=A Rock & Roll Anthology: From Folk to Fury. Lot 19: David Bowie state suit from the Glass Spider Tour, 1987 | access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref>

==Setlists==
On tour, the band typically performed a roughly two and a half-hour set that varied only a little from night to night.

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-2}}
Early European set list
:Part 1
# "[[Up the Hill Backwards]]"
# "Glass Spider"
# "Up the Hill Backwards (reprise)"
# "[[Day-In Day-Out]]"
# "Bang Bang"
# "[[Absolute Beginners (David Bowie song)|Absolute Beginners]]"
# "[[Loving the Alien]]"
# "[[China Girl (song)|China Girl]]"
# "[[Fashion (David Bowie song)|Fashion]]"
# "[[Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (song)|Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)]]"
# "[[All the Madmen (song)|All the Madmen]]"
# "[[Never Let Me Down (David Bowie song)|Never Let Me Down]]"
# "[[Big Brother (David Bowie song)|Big Brother]]" / "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family"

{{col-2}}

Late European / American / Australasian set list
:Part 1
# "Up the Hill Backwards"
# "Glass Spider"
# "Up the Hill Backwards (reprise)"
# "Day-In Day-Out"
# "Bang Bang"
# "Absolute Beginners"
# "Loving the Alien"
# "China Girl"
# "[[Rebel Rebel]]"
# "Fashion"
# "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)"
# "All the Madmen"
# "Never Let Me Down"
# "Big Brother" / "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family"

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-2}}
:Part 2
# <li value="14">"'87 & Cry"
# "[["Heroes" (David Bowie song)|"Heroes"]]"
# "[[Time Will Crawl]]"
# Band introductions
# "Beat of Your Drum"
# "[[Sons of the Silent Age]]"
# "New York's in Love"
# "Dancing with the Big Boys"
# "Zeroes"
# "[[Let's Dance (David Bowie song)|Let's Dance]]"
# "[[Fame (David Bowie song)|Fame]]"

{{col-2}}

:Part 2
# <li value="15">"'87 & Cry"
# ""Heroes""
# "Time Will Crawl"
# Band introductions
# "[[Young Americans (song)|Young Americans]]"
# "Beat of Your Drum"
# "Sons of the Silent Age"
# "[[The Jean Genie]]"
# "[[White Light/White Heat (song)|White Light/White Heat]]"
# "Let's Dance"
# "Fame"

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-2}}

:Encore
# <li value="25">"Time"
# "[[Blue Jean (song)|Blue Jean]]"
# "[[Modern Love (David Bowie song)|Modern Love]]"

{{col-2}}

:Encore
# <li value="26">"Time"
# "Blue Jean"
# "I Wanna Be Your Dog"
# "Modern Love"

{{col-end}}

===Notes and changes===
* An extended drum solo separated Part 1 and Part 2 and allowed Bowie time for a costume change.
* Bowie would lengthen or shorten his performance of "Fame" depending on the crowd's reaction by including parts of "Lavender's Blue", "London Bridge", "[[War (Edwin Starr song)|War]]" and "Who Will Buy?" into the song.
* "White Light/White Heat" and "Fame" were performed during the encore at some venues.
* "I Wanna Be Your Dog" was only occasionally performed at shows during the North American and Oceania tours.
*"Time" would only be performed if it was safe for Bowie to stand on top of the spider's head for the start of the encore. If it was raining the song would be completely dropped as it was unsafe.
* "New York's in Love" was dropped after 10 June (Milan, Italy).
* "The Jean Genie" was added on 8 July (Barcelona, Spain).
* "White Light/White Heat" and "Young Americans" were added and "Zeroes" was dropped on 11 July (Slane, Ireland).
* "Rebel Rebel" was added and "Dancing with the Big Boys" was dropped on 30 July (Philadelphia, USA).<ref name=GlassIdol />

==Opening acts==
The opening act for the tour varied from country to country;<ref name=NewYorkPress>{{cite AV media |date=18 March 1987 |title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (New York) |type=vinyl}}</ref> in North America some dates of the tour were supported by [[Duran Duran]] or [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/banshees-71945-time-really.html |title=Siouxsie recapturing her wail on new tour |date=15 February 2008 | access-date=23 September 2013 |first=Ben |last=Wener |journal=[[The Orange County Register]]}}</ref> The opening acts in Europe varied, and included such acts as [[Iggy Pop]], [[Big Country]], [[The Cult]], [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]], [[The Stranglers]] and [[Nina Hagen]]. The tour also played [[Music festival|festival dates]], on one occasion with [[Eurythmics]] headlining one night and Bowie headlining the next.<ref name=GlassIdol />

==Tour incidents==
The tour took a physical toll on Bowie. Not only did he grow noticeably thinner over the course of the tour,<ref name=GlassIdol /> he found that he was exhausted before the tour even started:
{{blockquote|I think [tours like this] are extravagantly dangerous to do because they're so fucking tiring. Just the pressures of organising the event, and it's no longer a show, it's an event. Even before you go out on tour, you're knackered. There's God knows how many people running around, and everybody's doing something and people are forgetting to delegate jobs to the right people, and it's a mass of confusion and somehow it's all supposed to come together.<ref name=Q91 />}}

[[File:De Kuip Rotterdam The Netherlands.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A modern aerial view of [[De Kuip]], where Bowie opened the tour]]
The tour played at large-capacity venues, and in Europe the tour alternated between indoor and outdoor, open-field venues.<ref name=GlassIdol /> Michael Clark, a lighting engineer for the tour, died at the [[Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence)|Stadio Comunale]] in [[Florence]], Italy, on 9 June after falling from the scaffolding before the show commenced.<ref name="tcdbeu">{{cite book |title=The Complete David Bowie New Edition: Expanded and Updated |last=Pegg |first=Nicholas |date=October 2016 |publisher=Titan Books}}</ref> The following day on 10 June, another worker fell without lethal injury while helping build the set in Milan. Mobs of fans, some who had camped out overnight to get into the venue, rioted and had to be controlled by police.<ref name=GlassIdol /><ref name=FI87>{{citation |newspaper=Corriere della Sera |title=San Siro Tonight Overflows to Bowie (Italian) |date=10 June 1987}}</ref> Both shows in Rome (on 15 and 16 June) saw similar rioting as fans who could not get tickets to the shows clashed with police. On the second night, Bowie had to sing through [[tear gas]] as 50 people were arrested and 15 policemen were injured in the rioting.<ref name=latfo>{{citation |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-18-ca-7911-story.html |title=First Off... (June 18, 1987) |date=18 June 1987 | access-date=29 October 2013 |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last1=Times |first1=Entertainment Reports From The}}</ref> As the band's plane was leaving Rome after their show on 16 June, a bomb scare forced the plane to return to the airport, only to discover that the local chief of police had used it as a ruse to get Bowie's autograph. Said Bowie of the incident, "I was not so much annoyed as stunned – that could only happen in Italy!"<ref name=PFS91>{{citation |journal=Star Filez |title=Private Files of the Stars (David Bowie) |year=1991 |last1=Sachs |first1=John |last2=Morgan |first2=Piers}}</ref> The 27 June concert, originally scheduled to be performed at [[Ullevi Stadium|Ullevi]], [[Gothenburg]], Sweden had to be moved to nearby [[Eriksberg, Gothenburg|Eriksberg]] in [[Hisingen]] because a previous concert by [[Bruce Springsteen]] held at Ullevi Stadium incurred £2.7m (or about £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|2.7|1987}}}}m today){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} in damages. A fan trying to enter the [[Slane Castle]] backstage area by swimming the [[River Boyne]] drowned just before the show on 11 July.<ref name=GlassIdol />

At one point during the European tour, guitarist Carlos Alomar ripped a ligament in his leg, an injury that caused him to change his on-stage character. Said Alomar, "[I] had to change my character into the mad, limping Mad Max reject with spiky hair. I went to a chiropractor and asked him for a lot of metal stuff -- leg braces, back braces and everything. Now I'll be adding more metal as the show progresses."<ref name=CA87>{{citation |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/08/20/bowie-back-up-alomar-sees-reason-for-elation-in-letdown/ |title=Bowie Back-up Alomar Sees Reason For Elation in Letdown |date=20 August 1987 | access-date=11 September 2013 |first=Bruce |last=Britt |journal=[[Los Angeles Daily News]]}}</ref>

Bowie was occasionally visited or had his shows attended by European royalty, including [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Princess Diana]] at the second show in Wembley Stadium; [[Sarah, Duchess of York]] at Sunderland; and [[Prince Joachim of Denmark|Danish Prince Joachim]] and [[Frederik X|Crown Prince Frederik]] at Stadt Park.<ref name=GlassIdol />

The Glass Spider Tour was the first Bowie tour to reach Italy, Spain, and Ireland.<ref name=GlassIdol /> Some of the outdoor performances in Britain had to start early due to curfew laws, a problem typically avoided in other European shows, which reduced the impact of the lighting of the stage and set dressing, and bothered Bowie considerably.<ref name=GlassIdol /><ref name=YT87A />

During the North American leg of the tour, a 30-year-old Dallas woman named Wanda Nichols claimed that Bowie sexually assaulted her at the Mansion Hotel after a show at [[Reunion Arena]] in [[Dallas]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://flavorwire.com/124129/10-pivotal-moments-in-bandbrand-relationships/3/ |title=10 Pivotal Moments in Band/Brand Relationships (Number 3) |date=13 October 2010 |first=Courtney |last=Smith |website=FlavorWire.com |access-date=8 November 2013 |archive-date=8 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108022354/http://flavorwire.com/124129/10-pivotal-moments-in-bandbrand-relationships/3/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bowie denied the charges, calling them "ridiculous". He said Nichols was with him in his hotel room, but that anything that occurred between them was with her consent. A spokeswoman for assistant district attorney Hugh Lucas said on 18 November 1987 that the Dallas County grand jury no-billed Bowie after hearing two hours of testimony on 11 November. "The Grand jury did not find enough evidence to warrant an indictment," the spokeswoman said.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Bowie no-bill in sexual assault charge |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/11/18/David-Bowie-no-bill-in-sexual-assault-charge/5161564210000/|access-date=2021-04-18 |website=UPI}}</ref><ref>{{citation |journal=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/19/us/rock-star-cleared-of-assault.html |title=Rock Star Cleared of Assault |date=19 November 1988 | access-date=28 October 2013}}</ref>

==Ticket sales and attendance==
{{Quote box
 | quote  = "I try and do something I want to go and see really, that's the essence of whatever I do. This particular tour, for instance, I’ve really tried to put together all the elements, everything that I’ve been fascinated [with] in theater and rock, ever since the beginning of my career. It looks like the kind of show I really want to go and see myself. It's fast, colorful, vulgar, loud, subtle, quiet, dreamlike."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etonline.com/music/179898_flashback_david_bowie_1987_glass_spider_tour_was_colorful_vulgar_dreamlike |title=FLASHBACK: David Bowie's 1987 'Glass Spider' Tour Was 'Colorful, Vulgar, Dreamlike' |date=12 January 2016 |access-date=18 July 2021 |first=Meredith |last=Kile}}</ref>
 | source = —David Bowie, early 1987
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Demand for tickets to the tour was high: the 3 September show at Sullivan Stadium in Massachusetts set a record for quickest sellout at that venue, a record matched by [[U2]] and unsurpassed until [[The Who]] sold 100,000 tickets to two shows there in less than eight hours in 1989.<ref>{{citation |title=The Who Sell Out (Again) |first=Jeffrey |last=Ressner |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=15 June 1989 |page=20|issue=554}}</ref> ''[[Star (magazine)|Star]]'' magazine reported that, for one venue,{{efn|The source does not identify the exact venue for which the record-making sales occurred.}} Bowie sold $3 million in tickets to three shows in 90 minutes.<ref name=Star87>{{citation |journal=[[Star (magazine)|Star]] |date=25 August 1987 |page=31 |title=Quick news}}</ref> The concert drew the largest crowd ever to see a concert in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the time.<ref name=ocitizen>{{cite web |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/1987-david-bowie-breaks-attendance-record-for-ottawa-rock-shows |title=1987: David Bowie breaks attendance record for Ottawa rock shows |date=11 January 2016 | access-date=11 January 2016 |first=Greg |last=Barr}}</ref> Advance sales for the Australian leg of the tour was $8.6 million, surpassing even [[Michael Jackson]]'s advance sales for the Australian leg of his [[Bad (tour)|"Bad" concert tour]] (estimated at $4.5 million).<ref name=ctau87>{{citation |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/11/12/towing-the-line/ |title=Towing the Line... |date=12 November 1987 | access-date=28 October 2013 |first1=Kathy |last1=O'Malley |first2=Hanke |last2=Gratteau |journal=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

Contemporary journalists estimated that by the conclusion of the tour between two<ref name=BB87>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCgEAAAAMBAJ&q=glass+spider |title=On the Road: Pink Floyd Proves to Be the Top Grosser of 1987 |last=Moleski |first=Linda |date=27 December 1987 | access-date=25 June 2013 |magazine=Billboard |page=40}}</ref> and six<ref name=MA87 /> million people had attended, and David Currie, the author of a book about the European leg of the tour, suggested that three million fans saw the tour worldwide.<ref name=GlassIdol />

Four of the tour's shows were among the top 20 highest-grossing concert shows of 1987 in the US, and at the end of 1987 it was estimated that the entire tour grossed more than $50 million.<ref name=BB87 /> In 1991, it was estimated that each show of the tour grossed $1 million,<ref name=EW91>{{citation |author=Bill Wyman |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=6 September 1991 |title=The Man Who Fell to Earth |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315381,00.html |access-date=8 January 2013 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703205950/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315381,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> for roughly $86 million over the course of the tour, or approximately ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|86000000|1987}}}} today, adjusted for inflation.{{Inflation-fn|US}}

==Contemporary critical reviews==
The European leg of the tour seemed to garner mostly unfavorable reviews from the media,<ref name=GlassIdol /><ref name=Q90>{{Citation |last=Du Noyer |first=Paul |title=David Bowie (Interview) |journal=Q |date=April 1990 |pages=60–70}}</ref> although there were positive reviews as well.<ref name=NJ87 /><ref name=PAC87 /> Chris Roberts, a writer for ''[[Melody Maker]]'', later said that there was "overwhelming peer pressure" among his fellow musical critics to review the tour unfavourably.<ref name="atl17">{{citation |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/04/david-bowies-1987-slump-held-its-own-weird-magic/524295/ |title=David Bowie's 1987 Slump Held Its Own Weird Magic |first=Jason |last=Heller |date=27 April 2017|access-date=23 August 2019 |journal=The Atlantic}}</ref> Bowie was frustrated how the reviews in Europe changed from initially positive to negative, blaming the early start of the tour in some outdoor venues for the poor reception. He said, "the biggest mistake that was made on that tour, was opening in the daylight. The whole reason for the entire damn show was lost." He noted that reviews from indoor shows, where the set and lighting were more effective, were quite positive.<ref name=Smart90>Interview with Craig Bromberg for Smart magazine, 1990</ref>
{{Quote box
 | quote  = "I think it's [The Glass Spider Tour] something that's very unique, and I think you either love it, or it's not your cup of tea."<ref name=NJ87 />
 | source = —Peter Frampton, August 1987
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The US media seemed kinder, with papers in Orlando, Florida and Boston, Massachusetts writing positive reviews.<ref name=MA87 /><ref name=FL87 /> ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' and ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' were both mixed in their reviews.<ref name=Philly87 /><ref name=CT87>{{citation |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/08/23/man-of-many-tricks-bowie-uses-another-one/ |title=Man of Many Tricks, Bowie Uses Another On |date=23 August 1987 | access-date=25 June 2013 |first=Chris |last=Heim |journal=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> The review of Bowie's first show in New York was mostly negative, calling the show "spectacular", but adding that "overkill reigns" and lamenting "a dizzying overload of visual activity."<ref name=MB87 /> A review in the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' was mostly positive, highlighting the dazzling visuals and complaining that the dancing was only occasionally inspired.<ref name=CSM87>{{citation |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0814/lbow.html |title=Thousands flock to Bowie's web. 'Glass Spider' motif holds edge over his music |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |first=Daniel |last=Wood |date=14 August 1987 | access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref> A local paper in Portland, Oregon had a positive review that said that the dancers, music, set and band combined into an "overall effect [that] could rightly be called spectacular. It is performance art and rock opera; it is a stunning assemblage worthy of any stage or arena in the world."<ref name=PDX87 />

Despite criticism in the press, Bowie at the time said that performing on this tour was the most fun he had ever had on the road because it was the "most inventive" tour he had ever been involved with.<ref name=SydneyPress>{{cite AV media |date=27 October 1987 |title=The Glass Spider Tour Press Conferences (Sydney) |type=vinyl}}</ref>

==Live recordings==
{{Main|Glass Spider}}

Despite stating during the press tour that there would be no live album from the tour,<ref name=LondonPress /> the performances at [[Sydney Entertainment Centre]] – Sydney on 7 and 9 November 1987 were filmed and released on video as ''[[Glass Spider]]'' in 1988. An edit of this show was subsequently aired in the US in an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC TV]] concert special, ABC's first concert special since airing [[Elvis Presley]]'s ''[[Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite|Aloha from Hawaii]]'' in 1973.<ref name=ctau87 /> A 2007 DVD re-release of the show included an audio recording of the performance at [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]], Montreal on 30 August 1987, which was re-mastered and released on ''[[Loving the Alien (1983–1988)]]'' (2018). The 6 June 1987 Platz der Republik (Reichstag – City of Berlin Festival) performance was broadcast live on [[FM radio]].

One critic found that the 1988 and 2007 DVD reissue video releases rendered the intended meaning of the show largely nonsensical, as several songs and vignettes that made the show's message explicit were excised from the release.<ref name=DVD87 /> However Bowie biographer [[Nicholas Pegg]] said that the concert film was "hugely enjoyable" despite the show's flaws, and that the video "leads the field for those wishing to see David Bowie delivering a rock-theatre spectacular."<ref name="tcdbeu" />

==Tour legacy==
Bowie found himself under great stress during the tour, and after the tour ended in New Zealand, he reportedly had one of the Spider sets burned, saying "It was so great ... We just put the thing in a field and set light to it. That was such a relief!"<ref name=BKP89>{{citation |journal=[[Q magazine]] |title=Boys Keep Swinging |date=June 1989}}</ref> In 2016, road manager Peter Grumley claimed to have purchased and stored at least one of the (unburned) sets in his [[West Auckland, New Zealand|West Auckland]] warehouse.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/75811908/kiwi-urban-myth-about-david-bowies-glass-spider-tour-finally-put-to-rest |title=Kiwi urban myth about David Bowie's Glass Spider tour finally put to rest |date=12 January 2016 | access-date=12 January 2016 |first=Charlie |last=Gates |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand}}</ref>

The entire tour was so physically demanding and such a large production that Bowie said at the time that "I don't think I'll ever take a tour quite this elaborate out on the road again. It's a real headache to put it together".<ref name=SydneyPress />

Bowie became engaged to Melissa Hurley,<ref name=USATodayReview>{{Citation |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |title=Bowie, Rebel in Repose |newspaper=USA Today |date=27 April 1990 |pages=D1–D2}}</ref> one of the dancers from the tour, but the two split up without being wed after four years.<ref name=Details91>{{Citation |last=Cohen |first=Scott |title=David Bowie (Interview) |magazine=[[Details (magazine)|Details magazine]] |date=September 1991 |pages=86–97}}</ref>

{{Quote box
 | quote  = "[The Glass Spider Tour] was the first time I'd had the opportunity to spend that kind of money and do shows like that! The first time since Diamond Dogs, anyway ... I thought, Right! Let's really spend some money! I had all these thwarted dreams of what I'd tried to do with rock 'n roll in the early '70s, and I was trying to do all that a bit late."
 | source   = —David Bowie, 1991<ref name=Q91 />
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Critics have often compared later David Bowie tours to this one,<ref name=MEMag>{{citation |title=Watch That Man |first=Tina |last=Clarke |journal=[[Music Express (magazine)|Music Express]] |date=March 1990 |page=9}}</ref><ref name=Q90 /><ref name=Details91 /><ref name=MM90>{{citation |title=Bowie: Boys Keep Swinging |journal=[[Melody Maker]] |date=24 March 1990 |pages=24–26}}</ref> commonly echoing this later review: "[Bowie] mounted a stadium-sized production combining the excitement of rock with the perils of Broadway.  ... An incredible spectacle, but the effect was overwhelming. Each additional theatrical device served to distract, ultimately flattening the impact of the music."<ref name=MM89>{{Citation |last=Clarke |first=Tina |title=If I Only Had a Band |journal=[[Music Express (magazine)|Music Express]] |volume=13 |issue=138 |date=July 1989 |pages=8–11}}</ref>

In 1989 while working with [[Tin Machine]], Bowie said "I overstretched. ... There was too much responsibility on the last [Glass Spider] tour. I was under stress every single day. It was a decision a second. It was so big and so unwieldy and everybody had a problem all the time, every day, and I was under so much pressure. It was unbelievable. ... I put too many fine details into something that was going to be seen ''(indicates tiny figure with his finger and thumb)'' this big."<ref name=BKP89 />

In 1990, while giving interviews for his [[Sound+Vision Tour]], Bowie said that he was pleased that the tour was regarded as "innovative", noting reviews that pointed out how the tour had "areas of it that surely would change the way rock was done."<ref name=Smart90 />

In 1991, while preparing for his [[It's My Life Tour|second tour]] with [[Tin Machine]], Bowie reflected on the Glass Spider Tour's theatrics and presentation, suggesting that many tours and acts that followed benefited from this tour:
{{blockquote|[[The Rolling Stones|The Stones]]' show, [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]'s show, [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s show... all of them have benefited from [this] tour. ... I like lots of it [the Glass Spider Tour], but ... the whole thing should have been a lot smaller. Three-quarters of it was really innovative, and I've seen a lot of it in other people's shows. ... One day, if you get the chance, get a copy of that show on video and take another look at it, because in the light of what's been done since, there's some interesting shit going on.<ref name=Q91>{{Citation |last=Murray |first=Charles Shaar | author-link=Charles Shaar Murray |title=And the Singer's Called Dave... |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q magazine]] |issue=61 |date=October 1991 |pages=56–64}}</ref>}}

In the late 2000s, the tour began to be re-examined by critics, and the tone of the coverage began to change. In 2009, an article in the [[BBC News]] singled out the Glass Spider Tour's innovative set and marriage of music and theatre as an inspiration to later acts, including [[Britney Spears]], Madonna, [[U2]] and others. [[Stage designer]] [[Willie Williams (set designer)|Willie Williams]] said the Glass Spider Tour was a template for those acts: "There will be one set of costumes and they will do a few songs, then there will be another big scene change and move on to the next thing. Bowie crossing rock 'n' roll with Broadway [in the Glass Spider Tour] was where that began."<ref name=BBC09>{{citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8188140.stm |title=Stadium rock, from Beatles to Bono |date=13 August 2009 | access-date=25 June 2013 |last=Youngs |first=Ian |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> In 2010, the Glass Spider Tour won an award for being one of the best concert designs of all time (alongside other such notable tours as U2's [[U2 360° Tour|360° Tour]] [2009–2011] and [[Pink Floyd]]'s [[The Division Bell Tour|Division Bell Tour]] [1994]).<ref name=LDO10 />

{{Quote box
 | quote  = "When we [toured for] ''[[Young Americans (album)|Young Americans]]'', they booed the hell out of that. Why? They [the fans] wanted ''[[Diamond Dogs]]'' [Bowie's previous album]. When we did "[[Serious Moonlight Tour|Serious Moonlight]]", they booed the hell out of that because they wanted the 70s stuff. When we did "Glass Spider", they wanted "Serious Moonlight". The audience was never going to catch up to the man."
 | source   = —[[Carlos Alomar]] (2016), on the fans' and critics' mixed reaction to the Glass Spider Tour<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2016/02/08/david-bowie-carlos-alomar-interview-golden-years/ |title=Carlos Alomar's Golden Years with David Bowie (Interview) |date=11 February 2016 | access-date=11 February 2016 |journal=Rock Cellar Magazine | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213015838/http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2016/02/08/david-bowie-carlos-alomar-interview-golden-years/ | archive-date=13 February 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
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In 2013, new critical reviews began to take note of some of the tour's strengths and innovations and proposed that the tour was better than its reputation suggested. Although critics still found some elements of the tour questionable (including the set itself and the prevalence of Bowie's newer material), the tour was praised for Bowie's strong voice, musical arrangements and choice of relatively unheard "jewels" in the set list.<ref name=RSFB13 /><ref name=msn13>{{citation |url=http://music.msn.com/music/album-review/david-bowie/glass-spider-live/ |title=Glass Spider Live:Critics' Reviews (AMG Review) |first=Dave |last=Thompson | access-date=5 September 2013 |journal=[[MSN]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012065242/http://music.msn.com/music/album-review/david-bowie/glass-spider-live/ | archive-date=12 October 2013 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Peter Frampton credited his participation in this tour for helping to revive his own career.<ref name=AM13>{{Citation |title=David Bowie Helped Revive Peter Frampton |url=http://www.antimusic.com/news/13/January/03David_Bowie_Helped_Revive_Peter_Frampton.shtml |publisher=antimusic.com| access-date=3 January 2013}}</ref>

In 2017, a review in ''[[The Atlantic]]'', while admitting that it had some flaws, called the show "spectacular, beautiful, charmingly pretentious, and weirdly magical."<ref name="atl17" />

The show on 6 June 1987 was played close to the [[Berlin Wall]]. The show was heard by thousands of East German citizens across the wall<ref name="voxwall">{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/1/11/10749546/david-bowie-berlin-wall-heroes |website=Vox |date=11 January 2016 | access-date = 14 January 2016 |title=David Bowie at the Berlin Wall: the incredible story of a concert and its role in history |last=Fisher |first=Max}}</ref> and was followed by violent rioting in East Berlin. According to German journalist Tobias Ruther, these protests in East Berlin were the first in the sequence of riots that led to those around the time of the [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|fall of the wall]] in November 1989.<ref>{{cite web |title=Did Bowie bring down the Berlin Wall? |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/25027/did-bowie-bring-down-berlin-wall |publisher=The Week|access-date=14 January 2016 |date=15 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GERMANY: Thank you David Bowie for helping bring down the Berlin Wall |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/germany-thanks-david-bowie-for-helping-bring-down-berlin-wall-2016-1 |publisher=Business Insider Australia |access-date=11 January 2016 |date=11 January 2016 |archive-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224211724/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/germany-thanks-david-bowie-for-helping-bring-down-berlin-wall-2016-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although other factors were probably more influential in the fall of the wall,<ref name="voxwall" /> on Bowie's death in 2016, the [[Foreign Office (Germany)|German Foreign Office]] tweeted "Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among #Heroes. Thank you for helping to bring down the #wall."<ref>{{cite web |title=Good-bye, David Bowie. |url=https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/686498183669743616 |publisher=German Foreign Office|access-date=11 January 2016 |date=11 January 2016}}</ref>

Ultimately, given the negative reaction to the ''Never Let Me Down'' album and this tour, Bowie found himself creatively exhausted and in low critical standing.<ref name=JA89>{{Citation |last=Barton |first=David |title=David Bowie puts career on the line |newspaper=Journal-American |date=8 June 1989 |page=D5}}</ref> Bowie decided to return to making music for himself,<ref name=SpinInterview>{{Citation |last=Levy |first=Joe |title=I'm with the Band |journal=Spin |volume=5 |issue=4 |date=July 1989 |pages=35–36}}</ref> and, having been put in touch with [[Reeves Gabrels]] through his publicist for the Glass Spider Tour,<ref name=MusicPaper>{{Citation |last=Derringer |first=Liz |title=Tin Machine – Bowie's Latest Vehicle |newspaper=The Music Paper |location=Manhasset, New York |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=August 1989 |pages=16–17}}</ref> Bowie formed his band [[Tin Machine]] in 1989<ref name=RSFB13 /> and retired his back catalogue of songs from live performance with his [[Sound+Vision Tour]] in 1990.<ref name=Interview90>{{Citation |last=O'Brien |first=Glenn |title=Bowie (Interview) |journal=Interview Magazine |volume=20 |issue=5 |date=May 1990 |pages=84–91}}</ref>

==Tour details==

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-2}}

===Tour band===
* [[David Bowie]] – vocals, guitar
* [[Peter Frampton]]  – guitar, vocals
* [[Carlos Alomar]] – guitar, backing vocals, [[music director]]<ref>{{citation |author=Buckley, David |title=Strange Fascination: David Bowie: The Definitive Story |publisher=Random House |date=2012}}</ref>
* [[Carmine Rojas]] – bass guitar
* Alan Childs – drums
* [[Erdal Kızılçay]] – keyboards, trumpet, [[congas]], violin, backing vocals
* Richard Cottle – keyboards, saxophone, tambourine, backing vocals

===Guest performers===
* [[Charlie Sexton]] – guitar, backing vocals (during the encore at some shows of the North America and Oceania tour)
* [[Earl Slick]] – guitar (during the encore at the Anaheim Stadium show)

===Tour dancers===
* Melissa Hurley
* [[Constance Marie]]
* Spazz Attack (Craig Allen Rothwell)
* [[Viktor Manoel]]
* Skeeter Rabbit (Stephen Nichols)
* [[Toni Basil]] (choreography)
{{col-end}}

===Tour design===
* Allen Branton – Lighting design
* Mark Ravitz – Set design
* Christine Strand – Video director<ref name=LDO10 />

===Production===
* Michael Ahern - Production Manager
* Tony Blanc - FOH Sound Engineer
* Chris Wade-Evans - Monitor Sound Engineer

===Band equipment===
Peter Frampton played two natural-finish maple body [[Pensa Custom Guitars|Pensa-Suhr Strat types]], hand-made by New York-based John Suhr. For the song "Zeroes", he used a [[Coral sitar|Coral electric sitar]], given to him in the late '70s and previously owned by [[Jimi Hendrix]]. Carlos Alomar played on six [[Kramer Guitars|Kramer American series guitars]] and one custom [[Alembic Inc|Alembic]]. Multi-instrumentalist Erdal Kizilcay played [[Yamaha DX7]], Emax, Korg SG-1 and Yamaha CS70 keyboards. He also played a Tokai Stratocaster, a Yamaha GS1000 bass and a Pedulla fretless bass. Additional instruments played included a set of Latin Percussion timbales and white congas, a cowbell, 6- and 8-inch Zildjian cymbals, Promark drum sticks, a Simmons SDS-9, a cornet and a 17th-century Italian viola. Richard Cottle played on two Prophet 5s, an [[Oberheim]], a Yamaha DX7, DX7-IID and KX5 keyboards as well as a Selmer alto saxophone. Carmine Rojas used two Spector basses, and Alan Childs played on Tama Artstar II drums and used various combinations of [[Zildjian]] A, K, and Platinum series cymbals.<ref name=MusicianMag />

===Tour dates===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! width="200"| Date (1987)
! width="200"| City
! width="150"| Country
! width="300"| Venue
! width="200"| Attendance 
|-
! colspan="4"|<big>Promotional press shows</big>
|-
! colspan="4"|'''North America'''
|-
| 17 March  || [[Toronto]] || [[Canada]] || Diamond Club
|-
| 18 March  || [[New York City]] || [[United States]] || Cat Club
|-
! colspan="4"|'''Europe'''
|-
| 20 March  || [[London]] || [[United Kingdom]] || Player's Theatre
|-
| 21 March  || [[Paris]] || [[France]] || La Locomotive
|-
| 24 March  || [[Madrid]] || [[Spain]] || Halquera Plateaux
|-
| 25 March  || [[Rome]] || [[Italy]] || Piper
|-
| 26 March  || [[Munich]] || [[West Germany]] || Parkcafe Lowenbrau
|-
| 28 March  || [[Stockholm]] || [[Sweden]] || Ritz
|-
| 30 March  || [[Amsterdam]] || [[Netherlands]] || [[Paradiso (Amsterdam)|Paradiso]]
|-
! colspan="4"|'''Oceania'''
|-
| 27 October  || [[Sydney]] || [[Australia]] || Tivoli Club
|-
! colspan="4"|<big>'''Glass Spider Tour'''</big>
|-
! colspan="4"|Europe
|-
| 30 May  || rowspan="2" |[[Rotterdam]] || rowspan="2"|Netherlands || rowspan="2"|[[Stadion Feijenoord]] || 60,000<ref name=GlassIdol />
|-
| 31 May  || 60,000<ref name="GlassIdol" />
|-
| 2 June  || [[Werchter]] || [[Belgium]] || [[Rock Werchter]] Concert Site
|-
| 6 June  || [[West Berlin]] || rowspan="2"| West Germany || Platz der Republik || 80,000<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.hotpress.com/David-Bowie/music/interviews/Tribute-Ricky-Warwick-on-David-Bowie/16710900.html |title=Tribute: Ricky Warwick on David Bowie |date=3 February 2016 | access-date=23 October 2016 |website=HotPress.com}}</ref>
|-
| 7 June  || [[Nürburgring]] || [[Rock am Ring]]
|-
| 9 June  || [[Florence]] || rowspan="2"|Italy || [[Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence)|Stadio Comunale]] || 50,000<ref name=FI87 /> – 65,000<ref name=GlassIdol />
|-
| 10 June  || [[Milan]] || [[Stadio San Siro]] || 60,000<ref name=SS87>{{citation |newspaper=Il Giorno |title=David Bowie taketh San Siro (Italian) |date=11 June 1987 |last=Mangiarotti |first=di Marco}}</ref>
|-
| 13 June  || [[Hamburg]] || West Germany || Festwiese Am Stadtpark
|-
| 15 June  || rowspan="2"|Rome || rowspan="2"|Italy || rowspan="2"|[[Stadio Flaminio]] || 40, 000<ref name=SF87>{{citation |url=http://www.velvetgoldmine.it/images_big/articoli_gs/gs_roma_articolo1.jpg |title=With David in the Spider's Web (Italian) |date=16 June 1987 |access-date=24 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032351/http://www.velvetgoldmine.it/images_big/articoli_gs/gs_roma_articolo1.jpg |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>
|-
| 16 June  || 40, 000<ref name=SF87 />
|-
| 19 June  || rowspan="2"|London || rowspan="4"|United Kingdom || rowspan="2"|[[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] || 70,000<ref name=CSM87 />
|-
| 20 June || 70,000<ref name=GlassIdol /><ref name=CSM87 />
|-
| 21 June  || [[Cardiff]] || [[Cardiff Arms Park|National Stadium]] || 50,000<ref name=GlassIdol />
|-
| 23 June  || [[Sunderland]] || [[Roker Park]] || 36,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/david-bowie-thrills-36000-fans-11532456 |title=David Bowie thrills 36,000 fans at Roker Park, Sunderland, in  |date=27 June 2016 | access-date=27 June 2016 |first=David |last=Morton}}</ref>
|-
| 27 June ||[[Gothenburg]]|| Sweden || [[Eriksberg, Gothenburg|Eriksbergsvarvet]]|| 45,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq_VFrkZRR0  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Wq_VFrkZRR0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=David Bowie Concert sweden |via=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|-
| 28 June  || [[Lyon]] || France || [[Stade de Gerland]]
|30,000<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 January 2016 |title=David Bowie en concert à Lyon : c'était à Gerland en juin 1987 ! |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/rhone/lyon/david-bowie-concert-lyon-c-etait-gerland-juin-1987-901599.html |website=france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr |language=French}}</ref>
|-
| 1 July  || [[Vienna]] || [[Austria]] || [[Praterstadion]]
|-
| 3 July  || Paris || rowspan="2"|France || [[La Courneuve|Parc départemental de La Courneuve]]
|-
| 4 July  || [[Toulouse]] || [[Stadium Municipal]]
|-
| 6 July  || Madrid || rowspan="3"|Spain || [[Vicente Calderón Stadium]]
|-
| 7 July  || rowspan="2"|[[Barcelona]] || rowspan="2"|[[Mini Estadi]]
|17,000<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=12 January 2016 |title=Recordando a David Bowie y su paso por Barcelona |url=https://eltranvia48.blogspot.com/2016/01/recordando-david-bowie-y-su-paso-por.html |website=eltranvia48.blogspot.com}}</ref>
|-
| 8 July 
|17,000<ref name=":0" />
|-
| 11 July  || [[Slane]] || [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland, Republic of]] || [[Slane Concert]] || 50,000<ref name=GlassIdol />
|-
| 14 July  || rowspan="2"|[[Manchester]] || rowspan="2"|United Kingdom || rowspan="2"|[[Maine Road]]
|-
| 15 July 
|-
| 17 July  || [[Nice]] || France || Stade De L'Ouest
|-
| 18 July  || [[Turin]] || Italy || [[Stadio Comunale di Torino]] 
|-
! colspan="4"|'''North America'''
|-
| 30 July  || rowspan="2"|[[Philadelphia]] || rowspan="9"|United States || rowspan="2"|[[Veterans Stadium]] || 50,000<ref name=PAC87 />
|-
| 31 July 
|-
| 2 August  || rowspan="2"|[[East Rutherford, New Jersey|East Rutherford]] || rowspan="2"|[[Giants Stadium]]
|-
| 3 August 
|-
| 7 August  || [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] || [[Spartan Stadium (San Jose)|Spartan Stadium]] || 29,000<ref>{{citation |title=England's child of ch-ch-change widens his web |journal=[[The Oregonian]] |date=14 August 1987}}</ref>
|-
| 8 August  || rowspan="2"|[[Anaheim, California|Anaheim]] || rowspan="2"|[[Anaheim Stadium]] || 50,000<ref>{{citation |url=http://articles.latimes.com/-08-10/entertainment/ca-188_1_david-bowie |title=At Anaheim Stadium : David Bowie Spins A Glitzy Web |first=Robert |last=Hilburn |date=10 August 1987 | access-date=23 September 2013 |journal=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
|-
| 9 August 
|-
| 12 August  || [[Denver]] || [[Mile High Stadium]]
|-
| 14 August  || [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] || [[Civic Stadium (Portland, Oregon)|Civic Stadium]]
|-
| 15 August  || [[Vancouver]] || rowspan="3"|Canada || [[BC Place Stadium]] || 35,000<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.straight.com/life/616901/throwback-thursday-5-questions-newt-about-david-bowie-and-review- |title=Throwback Thursday: 5 questions with Newt about David Bowie, and a review from |date=14 January 2016 |access-date=15 January 2016 |first=Amanda |last=Siebert |journal=The Georgia Straight (Straight.com) }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
| 17 August  || [[Edmonton]] || [[Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton)|Commonwealth Stadium]] || 60,000<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/music/david-bowies-1983-edmonton-concert-was-albertas-biggest |title=David Bowie's 1983 Edmonton concert was once Alberta's biggest |date=12 January 2016 | access-date=25 August 2024 |first=Edmonton |last=Journal |journal=The Edmonton Journal (edmontonjournal.com)}}</ref>
|-
| 19 August  || [[Winnipeg]] || [[Winnipeg Stadium]] || 25,000<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/ctrl-f/David-Bowie-remembered-364886141.html |title=David Bowie Remembered |date=11 January 2016 | access-date=11 January 2016 |journal=Winnipeg Free Press |last1=Staff |first1=Winnipeg Free Press}}</ref>
|-
| 21 August  || rowspan="2"|[[Rosemont, Illinois|Rosemont]] || rowspan="2"|United States || rowspan="2"|[[Rosemont Horizon]]
|-
| 22 August 
|-
| 24 August  || rowspan="2"|Toronto || rowspan="4"|Canada || rowspan="2"|[[Canadian National Exhibition Stadium]]
|-
| 25 August 
|-
| 28 August  || [[Ottawa]] || [[Lansdowne Park (stadium)|Lansdowne Park]] || 29,000<ref name=ocitizen />
|-
| 30 August  || [[Minneapolis|Montreal]] || [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Olympic Stadium]] || 45,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/entertainment/music/from+archive+bowie+weds+rock+theatre+during+glass+spider/11643997/story.html |title=From the Archive: Bowie weds rock, theatre during Glass Spider tour's Montreal stop |date=11 January 2016 |access-date=11 January 2016 |first=John |last=Griffin}}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
| 1 September  || rowspan="2"|New York City || rowspan="26"|United States || rowspan="2"|[[Madison Square Garden]]
|-
| 2 September 
|-
| 3 September  || [[Foxborough, Massachusetts|Foxborough]] || [[Sullivan Stadium]] || 61,000<ref name=FBA87>{{citation |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8026050.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105233707/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8026050.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 November 2013 |title=David Bowie tests the limits of rock theater |date=3 September 1987 | access-date=11 September 2013 |first=Steve |last=Morse |work=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref>
|-
| 6 September  || rowspan="2"|[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]] || rowspan="2"|[[Dean Smith Center]]
|-
| 7 September 
|-
| 10 September  || rowspan="2"|[[Milwaukee]] || rowspan="2"|[[Marcus Amphitheater]]
|-
| 11 September 
|-
| 12 September  || [[Pontiac, Michigan|Pontiac]] || [[Pontiac Silverdome]]
|-
| 14 September  || [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]] || [[Rupp Arena]]
|-
| 18 September  || [[Miami]] || [[Miami Orange Bowl]]
|-
| 19 September  || [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] || [[Tampa Stadium]]
|-
| 21 September  || rowspan="2"|[[Atlanta]] || rowspan="2"|[[Omni Coliseum]]
|-
| 22 September 
|-
| 25 September  || [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] || [[Hartford Civic Center]]
|-
| 28 September  || rowspan="2"|[[Landover, Maryland|Landover]] || rowspan="2"|[[Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland)|Capital Centre]]
|-
| 29 September 
|-
| 1 October  || rowspan="2"|[[St. Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]] || rowspan="2"|[[St. Paul Civic Center]]
|-
| 2 October 
|-
| 4 October  || [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] || [[Kemper Arena]]
|-
| 6 October  || [[New Orleans]] || [[Louisiana Superdome]]
|-
| 7 October  || rowspan="2"|[[Houston]] || rowspan="2"|[[The Summit (Houston)|The Summit]]
|-
| 8 October 
|-
| 10 October  || rowspan="2"|[[Dallas]] || rowspan="2"|[[Reunion Arena]]
|-
| 11 October 
|-
| 13 October  || rowspan="2"|[[Los Angeles]] || rowspan="2"|[[Dodger Stadium]]
|-
| 14 October 
|-
! colspan="4"|Oceania
|-
| 29 October  || rowspan="2"|[[Brisbane]] || rowspan="14"|Australia || rowspan="2"|[[Boondall Entertainment Centre]]
|-
| 30 October 
|-
| 3 November  || rowspan="8"|Sydney|| rowspan="8"|[[Sydney Entertainment Centre]]
|-
| 4 November 
|-
| 6 November 
|-
| 7 November 
|-
| 9 November 
|-
| 10 November 
|-
| 13 November 
|-
| 14 November 
|-
| 18 November  || rowspan="4"|[[Melbourne]] || rowspan="4"|[[Kooyong Stadium]]
|-
| 20 November 
|-
| 21 November 
|-
| 23 November 
|-
| 28 November  || [[Auckland]] || [[New Zealand]] || [[Western Springs Stadium]]
|}

===The songs===
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From '''''[[The Man Who Sold the World (album)|The Man Who Sold the World]]'''''
* "[[All the Madmen (song)|All the Madmen]]"
From '''''[[Aladdin Sane]]'''''
* "[[The Jean Genie]]"
* "[[Time (David Bowie song)|Time]]"
From '''''[[Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture]]'''''
* "[[White Light/White Heat (song)#David Bowie version|White Light/White Heat]]" (originally from ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'' (1968) by [[The Velvet Underground]]; written by [[Lou Reed]])
From '''''[[Diamond Dogs]]'''''
* "[[Big Brother (David Bowie song)|Big Brother]]"
* "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family"
* "[[Rebel Rebel]]"
From '''''[[Young Americans (album)|Young Americans]]'''''
* "[[Fame (David Bowie song)|Fame]]" (Bowie, [[John Lennon]], [[Carlos Alomar]])
* "[[Young Americans (song)|Young Americans]]"
From '''''[["Heroes" (David Bowie album)|"Heroes"]]'''''
* "[["Heroes" (David Bowie song)|'Heroes']]" (Bowie, [[Brian Eno]])
* "[[Sons of the Silent Age]]"
From '''''[[Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)]]'''''
* "[[Fashion (David Bowie song)|Fashion]]"
* "[[Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (song)|Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)]]"
* "[[Up the Hill Backwards]]"
From '''''[[Let's Dance (David Bowie album)|Let's Dance]]'''''
* "[[China Girl (song)|China Girl]]" (originally from ''[[The Idiot (album)|The Idiot]]'' by [[Iggy Pop]], written by Pop and Bowie)
* "[[Let's Dance (David Bowie song)|Let's Dance]]"
* "[[Modern Love (David Bowie song)|Modern Love]]"
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From '''''[[Tonight (David Bowie album)|Tonight]]'''''
* "[[Blue Jean]]"
* "Dancing With the Big Boys" (Bowie, Pop, [[Carlos Alomar]])
* "[[Loving the Alien]]"
From '''''[[Never Let Me Down]]'''''
* "'87 and Cry"
* "[[Bang Bang (Iggy Pop song)|Bang Bang]]" (Pop, [[Ivan Kral]])
* "Beat of Your Drum"
* "[[Day-In Day-Out]]"
* "Glass Spider"
* "[[Never Let Me Down (David Bowie song)|Never Let Me Down]]" (Bowie, Alomar)
* "New York's in Love"
* "[[Time Will Crawl]]"
* "Zeroes"
Other songs:
* "[[Absolute Beginners (David Bowie song)|Absolute Beginners]]" (from ''[[Absolute Beginners (film)#Soundtrack|Absolute Beginners]]'')
* "[[I Wanna Be Your Dog]]" (from ''[[The Stooges (album)|The Stooges]]'' (1969) by [[The Stooges]], written by Pop, [[Dave Alexander (musician)|Dave Alexander]], [[Ron Asheton]] and [[Scott Asheton]])
* "[[Lavender's Blue]]" (traditional)
* "[[London Bridge Is Falling Down]]" (traditional)
* "[[War (Edwin Starr song)|War]]" (from ''[[War & Peace (Edwin Starr album)|War & Peace]]'' (1970) by [[Edwin Starr]]; written by [[Norman Whitfield]] and [[Barrett Strong]])
* "Who Will Buy?" (from the musical ''[[Oliver!]]'')
Rehearsed, but not performed:<ref name=GlassIdol />
* "Because You're Young" (from ''Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'')
* "[[Scream Like a Baby]]" (from ''Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'')
* "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" (from ''Never Let Me Down'')
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==See also==
* [[List of highest-grossing concert tours#1980s|Highest-grossing concert tours of the 1980s]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book |last=O'Leary |first=Chris |year=2019 |title=Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016 |location=London |publisher=Repeater Books |isbn=978-1-91224-830-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Buckley |first=David |year=2005 |orig-date=1999 |title=Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story |location=London |publisher=Virgin Books |isbn=978-0-7535-1002-5}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|qbRyauhxLDM|Bowie TV: Episode 17: David on the Glass Spider Tour}}

{{David Bowie}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:David Bowie concert tours|Glass Spider]]
[[Category:1987 concert tours]]