Contemporary Reception and Reviews
Rolling Stone magazine described the 1990 summer concert season "a concert season to remember," and included the Sound+Vision Tour as one of its highlights. They said "Louise Lecavalier of Montreal's La La La Human Steps dance troupe provides avant-garde acrobatics, and several numbers are graced by stunning short films, including a clip for "Ashes to Ashes" that has to be seen to be believed. Otherwise, there are no pyrotechnics, no laser beams and, best of all, no glass spiders," the last a reference to Bowie's ill-received previous world tour. A review of an early show by Rolling Stone magazine was positive, saying "Bowie proved able to reclaim virtually his entire diverse oeuvre - even those songs that now seem furthest from him - through sheer vocal power and charisma" and complaining only that "the band wasn't always equal to the challenge, demonstrating too much respect for the songs' recorded arrangements." A review of the show's stop in Vancouver, BC said "Bowie hasn't sounded this good in years", praising the tour's focus on not only the songs, but on Bowie himself, and a review of the show in Seattle, WA called the visuals "a knockout" and praised Bowie as an innovator, only complaining that the music itself seemed "mechanical."
Some shows on the North American tour didn't sell out (such as in Seattle and some dates in Florida), but overall the tour was well-attended, selling out shows (often over multiple nights) in cities such as San Francisco, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Detroit.
Read more about this topic: Sound+Vision Tour
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