July 3rd, 1973 was the final show for the Ziggy Stardust Tour, the second of two nights at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. The night was documented for a concert film and soundtrack, but the concert was only available as a bootleg for several years (His Masters Voice – Bowie and the Spiders from Mars’ Last Stand). The concert film didn’t officially premiere in full until 1979. As for the soundtrack, David Bowie and Tony Visconti revisited the tapes in 1981, having assumed that RCA would want to release them at some point. Two years later, after Bowie’s commercial peak with Let’s Dance, the film saw an international theatrical release (alongside the double LP soundtrack) under the title Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and later on home video as Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture.
The Ziggy Shows were characterized by their wealth of costume changes. The first one at the Odeon was referred to as the “Space Samurai” outfit. The flared legs were similar to the “Rites of Spring” suit. Bowie only wore this outfit for the first song: “Hang on to Yourself”.