His golden years

“Is there life on Mars?” A lot of folks are wondering about that again, so it made sense for David Bowie to ask that musical question (from his 1971 tune “Life on Mars”) as he brought the American leg of his first world tour in a decade to the Shrine Auditorium on Saturday. After all, the veteran British pop star has always played with concepts that manage to tap the zeitgeist. And his career has lasted so long, often remaining visionary in conception even when failing in execution, it’s inevitable that his old ideas would slip neatly into modern streams of thought.

Certainly the title of his current (and 26th) album, “Reality,” reflects his knack for capturing the times. For reality is now arguably the biggest concept being manipulated in many ways, from politics to pop culture. A track from that collection, “New Killer Star,” reflected his concern for the broader picture, but the 2 hours and 15 minutes he was onstage mostly reminded us of his own restless creative journey.

The reality for the 57-year-old Bowie, of course, is that he’s a still-vital artist no longer making the groundbreaking music that got him noticed in the first place. But fans young and old, ordinary and flamboyant, basked blissfully in his mere presence on the first of two consecutive nights in this relatively intimate venue. (He also performs Tuesday and Saturday at the Wiltern.)

More than two dozen songs spanned his career, from “The Man Who Sold the World” to “Reality,” played mostly to perfection by an ace sextet that included veteran keyboardist Mike Garson, guitarist Earl Slick and bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, whose rhythmic power and superb backing vocals made “Under Pressure” a highlight.

Despite the arty video projections and enchanted-cyber-forest setting, Bowie’s casual demeanor and sometimes smarmy stage patter took this larger-than-life artist down to earth. Yet he was never less than a genuine Rock Star, albeit not in the visceral sense of his contemporary (and erstwhile collaborator), Iggy Pop.

Playing guitar and occasionally harmonica, Bowie was gleeful and in stellar voice, though at times seeming not so much enamored of the material as fond of it. Or perhaps all the arch mid-tempo spaceman balladry, along with Bowie’s natural theatrical tendencies, made some moments feel less passionate than they should have.

Still, he mostly connected, as with the heart-stoppingly iconic, plaintive “Slip Away.” A paean to a children’s TV entertainer, it poignantly reflected Bowie’s long-standing theme of lamenting loss of innocence. Yet the slow tunes became a bit of a drag, and while “Hang Onto Yourself” blazed, the relatively few rockers weren’t always as cathartic as they should have been.

But in a world where only a handful of artists of Bowie’s stature remain active -- and few new ones can sustain interest in their second album, let alone their 26th -- it was impressive that he not only still had something to say but could also make us want to hear it.

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David Bowie

Where: Shrine Auditorium, 700 W. 32nd St., L.A.

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Price: $44-$84

Contact: (213) 749-5123

Also: The Wiltern LG, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $66-$126. (213) 380-5005