Let’s dance! Put on your red shoes and dance the blues. I can’t think of a better lyric to sing on a Friday night in January! The second week of January is always a time of reflection for Bowie fans. Monday 8th January 2018 would have been David Bowie’s 71st birthday and it has been just a little over two years since his passing. Oh, how we miss him. We will always celebrate him, his music and his creativity. The band who are celebrating his legacy and performing the music include: Mike Garson, who toured with Bowie from ’72-04; Gerry Leonard, who toured with Bowie on his last three tours; and Adrian Belew, who played on the Heroes / Isolar II tour and he was also the musical director for Bowie’s Sound And Vision tour.
The crowd were extremely passionate and die-hard fans, faces covered in glitter, bodies covered in Bowie t-shirts and individual styles, Bowie would have loved it. They danced, rejoiced and sung their hearts out throughout the entire show. You could feel the overwhelming outpouring of love for him in every corner of the arena.
Guest singers belted out passionate takes on Bowie’s most iconic songs. It just felt (rather obviously), that something was missing. Without pointing out the obvious, that Bowie is irreplaceable, you just can’t stop wondering what it would be like to have him on the stage. Hearing his songs without him on the stage felt somewhat strange, as if I was expecting him to walk on stage at any moment and show them exactly how it’s done. The stage presence and aura that Bowie had can never be replaced, but the show is a celebration of him, and it certainly was a celebration.
The band performed a lengthy set that included some of his most loved songs, including the likes of Life on Mars, Changes, Heroes, Starman, Ashes to Ashes and Space Oddity, to name but a few. Every time the band played the intro cords to the songs, the crowd went absolutely wild, jumping up and down in excitement, arms waving about and screaming. Hats off to the band for making the evening a memorable and special one, to celebrate the life and work of his creative genius.
Set list: 1. Loving The Alien (ambient solo) 2. The Stars Are Out Tonight 3. Moonage Daydream 4. Fame 5. Golden Years 6. Heart’s Filthy Lesson 7. Life On Mars 8. Starman 9. Rock’n’Roll Suicide 10. Suffragete City 11. Five Years 12. Man Who Sold The World 13. Changes 14. Ziggy Stardust 15. Space Oddity 16. Ashes To Ashes 17. Sound & Vision 18. Quicksand 19. Oh You Pretty Things 20. Aladdin Sane 21. DJ/Boys 22. Stay 23. Scary Monsters 24. China Girl 25. Where Are We Now 26. Blue Jean 27. Little Wonder 28. All The Young Dudes 29. Rebel Rebel 30. Improvisation for David 31. I Can’t Give Everything Away 32. Heroes Performance date: 12 January 2018
