This major Los Angeles Times review by Robert Hilburn covers David Bowie’s two-night appearance at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during his first U.S. tour. Hilburn presents Bowie as an artist whose records had already suggested major potential, but argues that the Santa Monica concerts confirmed that promise in person, praising his command of the stage, the discipline of the Spiders From Mars and his determination to establish an identity beyond conventional rock stardom