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David Bowie’s 1999 Rarities-Filled Paris Concert Set for Digital Release

David Bowie’s rarities-filled 1999 Paris concert will serve as the next installment in an ongoing series of digital releases dedicated to the music icon’s Nineties concert work.

Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) — one of a handful of full-concert promotional performances Bowie made following the release of 1999’s Hours — was recorded October 14th, 1999 at Paris’ Elysée Montmartre.

Earlier that day, Bowie was awarded the Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest artistic honor, and that night Bowie responded with a set that journeyed into the less-traveled corners of his catalog.

The 15-song concert featured “Can’t Help Thinking About Me,” a single he recorded in 1965 and hadn’t performed live in over 30 years, plus revived renditions of Station to Station’s “Word on a Wing,” Aladdin Sane’s “Drive-In Saturday” and the live debut of Hours’ “Something in the Air.”

While three of the concert’s recordings were used for Hours B-sides, the other 12 tracks remained unreleased. Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) will debut on streaming services on August 15th. The live LP follows the similar digital-only releases of an Earthling era live collection, LiveandWell.com as well as Ouvrez Le Chien (Live Dallas 95).

Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) Tracklist

“Life On Mars?”
“Thursday’s Child”
“Something in the Air”
“Word on a Wing”
“Can’t Help Thinking About Me”
“China Girl”
“Always Crashing in the Same Car”
“Survive”
“Drive-In Saturday”
“Changes”
“Seven”
“Repetition”
“I Can’t Read”
“The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell”
“Rebel Rebel”

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