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What was absent from his Edmonton gig, alas, was killer sound quality. As much as I hate to say it, the Saddledome has better acoustics than Rexall. While Bowie sounded warm and crisp in Cowtown, the mix was muddy and tinny on Friday. During a few songs, such as China Girl, his low-range vocals were overpowered by his band — a fault, perhaps, of Bowie’s sound guy, rather than the building’s architecture.

If it’s any consolation, Bowie was in much better form and more effusive for his Edmonton fans. His vocals — sensitive and effeminate for The Man Who Sold the World, angular and swooping for Fame — rarely missed the mark. Neither did his cracks to the crowd. He joked about visiting the Muttart Conservatory during Friday afternoon’s Easter egg hunt and stealing plants while no one was looking.

“I can tell some of you took those plants, too,” Bowie smiled, looking at the fans in the front rows.

As promised, Bowie no longer hides behind elaborate sets. His spiders, costumes and dancers are gone. In their place are tight black jeans, a few coats, a horizontal video screen, a bunch of hanging white branches, two under-used catwalks — they stood empty until his 13th song, Hallo Spaceboy — and a great band, starring bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, who also provided the vocals for a spine-tingling duet of Under Pressure. She wasn’t quite up to Freddy Mercury quality, but we should be grateful that Bowie still performs the song.

We also have to thank Bowie for bringing The Polyphonic Spree on tour with him. It’s not often one of America’s buzz bands — like The Strokes, The White Stripes or The Rapture — makes it to Edmonton while the media bees are still spazzing out. When they do come, it’s usually 10 years after they’ve peaked and after a particular nasty breakup and reluctant reunion. (The Pixies, as much as we want to deny it, are a shining example of this.)