You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
A banquet of early 1970s Bowie material played by an ageing supergroup of former sidemen, famous fans and ex-Spiders From Mars? Hmmm.
Cynics might suspect a retro-glam version of From The Jam, but this officially endorsed tribute band comes with the serious clout of Bowie’s long-time producer Tony Visconti and drummer Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey. Even if Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory overdoes the booming cabaret vocals at times, the musicianship is terrific and the songs still potent.
The meat of this set is Bowie’s proto-glam 1970 album The Man Who Sold The World, still sounding gloriously weird with its Nietzschean prog-metal bombast and eerie sci-fi lullabies. Black Sabbath’s occult stomp meets Syd Barrett’s mental fragility on sinister sea shanties like After All and All The Madmen.
Bowie himself is not the only ghost at this feast. The late guitar legend Mick Ronson, architect of Bowie’s riff-heavy early 1970s sound, is represented by daughter Lisa and niece Hannah on backing vocals. During the second act, packed with classic anthems from Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, Lisa Ronson (pictured above, with Woodmansey on drums) belts out a soulful Lady Stardust before joining Gregory on a raunchy, rollicking, Stones-y Watch That Man.
Even if this superior karaoke show is more Alvin than Ziggy Stardust, it’s still a warm and boisterous celebration of a world-class musical legacy.
