Lost 1978 David Bowie Concert Film ‘Stage’ Heads to Arenas, Starting in Berlin

A long-lost David Bowie concert film shot in London in 1978 is headed to arenas as an immersive show called “Stage,” with a world premiere set for Feb. 14, 2027, at Berlin’s Uber Arena. The production, restored by “Moonage Daydream” director Brett Morgen, was announced on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, and tickets for the Berlin premiere go on sale at 9 a.m. on Oct. 28, according to Music Week.

The show will run as part of the 77th Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, which takes place Feb. 10 to 21, 2027, Deadline reported. It is a fitting launch city: Bowie lived in Berlin in the mid-1970s and recorded parts of his celebrated Berlin-era albums there.

The lost 1978 Earls Court footage

In the summer of 1978, Bowie hired actor and director David Hemmings, the star of “Blow-Up,” to film two concerts at London’s Earls Court arena during the Isolar II world tour, The Guardian reported. The shows focused on Bowie’s “Low” and “Heroes” albums before switching to early-1970s hits, including songs from the Ziggy Stardust era.

Bowie meant the film to play in nontraditional venues in place of touring himself, according to his associates. But he moved on quickly, recording “Lodger” and later “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps),” and the footage stayed in the archive. A live album from the same tour, also called “Stage,” came out in the fall of 1978, recorded at U.S. dates that spring. “I simply didn’t like the way it had been shot,” Bowie said of the film in 2000, The Guardian reported. “Now, of course, it looks pretty good and I would suspect that it would make it out some time in the future.”

For fans, the Hemmings footage became one of the great missing pieces of Bowie’s career. A clip of “Heroes” from the film appeared in Morgen’s 2022 documentary “Moonage Daydream,” which later won the Grammy for best music film, and many viewers singled it out as a highlight.

How Brett Morgen rebuilt the show

Morgen found the original 35mm camera negatives about 10 years ago while working on “Moonage Daydream,” Music Week reported. He and the Bowie estate began talking about taking the film to arenas as early as 2018, and he has spent close to a decade editing, color grading, relighting and hand-painting the footage. By using longer, uninterrupted takes, the show is meant to feel like a real-time concert rather than an edited movie.

The production is a collaboration between Rob Hallett’s Wonderworld, the David Bowie estate and Morgen. It uses a three-screen layout with large projections and transparent LED screens that, according to the organizers, are designed to “create the illusion that Bowie and his band are physically present on stage.”

Lighting is by Patrick Woodroffe, whose credits include the Rolling Stones and Elton John. The sound mix comes from Oscar winner Paul Massey, who worked on “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Moonage Daydream,” and will run through a 7.1 surround setup meant to reach every seat. Music Week reported that the show is built for venues holding at least 5,000 people; the Uber Arena holds about 17,000, according to Deadline.

The band on stage in 1978

The Earls Court shows featured what NME critic Nick Kent called Bowie’s finest band “by a mile”: Adrian Belew on lead guitar, Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar and as musical director, George Murray on bass, Dennis Davis on drums, Roger Powell on keyboards and synthesizer, Sean Mayes on piano and Simon House on electric violin. Brian Eno had been set to join the tour but pulled out because of health problems, The Guardian reported.

The Isolar II tour ran from March to December 1978. Bowie would not tour again until the Serious Moonlight run in 1983.

Tickets and tour plans

Only the Berlin premiere has a firm date so far. The organizers say “Stage” will tour arenas internationally afterward, and Morgen will also speak at the Berlinale’s European Film Market, with more details promised in the coming weeks. No Boston or other U.S. dates had been announced as of Oct. 27. Fans in New England looking for live music in the meantime can check our weekly guide to things to do in Boston this weekend, and for another big arena tour, see our coverage of BTS closing the Santiago run of its Arirang tour.

Morgen’s other music documentaries include “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” and the Rolling Stones film “Crossfire Hurricane.” With “Stage,” he is attempting something closer to a concert than a film: a chance for audiences to see Bowie at a creative peak, nearly 50 years after those nights at Earls Court.

Sources

• The Guardian: ‘Lost’ 1978 David Bowie tour film to play arenas in 2027
• Music Week: Immersive David Bowie production “Stage” to premiere at Uber Arena Berlin
• Variety: David Bowie immersive concert experience “Stage” to world premiere at Berlin Film Festival
• Deadline: Brett Morgen’s immersive David Bowie experience to premiere in Berlin