David Bowie’s lost 1978 tour film gets 2027 arena release

It's finally happening

Bowie shelved a concert film almost 50 years ago, and its release is finally happening now.

The "chameleon of rock" commissioned the footage himself, hiring director David Hemmings to film two shows at London's Earls Court in the summer of 1978.

As the Guardian reports, it was built around the Heroes and Low albums.

That same year Bowie had worked with Hemmings as an actor, making an appearance alongside Marlene Dietrich in the poorly received Just a Gigolo.

David Bowie at the Stage Tour (aka The Low / Heroes World Tour), in Brussels, Belgium, in 1978. Credit: Getty Images

David Bowie's Earls Court shows, lost for nearly 50 years

It was in a 2000 interview when Bowie explained why the film stayed locked away.

“I simply didn't like the way it had been shot,” he said.

“Now, of course, it looks pretty good and I would suspect that it would make it out some time in the future.”

Originally, the shows were meant to travel to venues in place of a Bowie tour, but he did not perform live again until 1983's Serious Moonlight run.

A live album from the same dates, also called Stage, came out in 1978, yet the film sat in storage until Morgen took it on.

It lands as UK gig fans still digest the backlash over Glastonbury's ticket price hikes, a reminder of how costly big live events have become.

When is the David Bowie Stage tour?

The multimedia show is set for 2027, though exact dates and venues have not yet been confirmed.

What is the Stage tour based on?

It rebuilds footage shot by director David Hemmings at Earls Court in 1978, during Bowie's Isolar II tour behind the Heroes and Low albums.