On March 11th my friend Karen took me to see the Bowie Alumni Tour at McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom. I had not known such a thing existed before her invitation.
Other than vocalists, all of the musicians have played with Bowie previously. That includes a long-time collaborator like Mike Garson, who played on twenty Bowie albums and played well over a thousand concerts with him, and Alan Childs, the drummer from the
Glass Spider tour.
With the singer gone, multiple vocalists are used. This performance included Corey Glover, Joe Sumner, and Sass Jordan.
It was the first time I had seen chairs set up on the dance floor at the Crystal, perhaps an acknowledgment that this was an older audience, but also perhaps a nod to the band's commitment. With no opener, they played a solid two hours, then came back for an encore. They started by playing all of
Diamond Dogs.
I think A Bowie Celebration is the best title. No singer was imitating David Bowie; each brought their own thing. Glover was dapper and dressed to kill, Sumner was kind of a goofy but still hot dad, and Jordan was kind if airy-fairy in a way that made me think Stevie Nicks but was really probably more Janis Joplin. I believe Bowie could have appreciated and enjoyed all of them.
Perhaps more important, I believe Bowie would have appreciated the camaraderie and joy. There were so many older, weirder people there (I am not using that pejoratively) and they were having such a good time.
We were not a particularly large audience, we found out, but we were a good one. Maybe they played more because of that.
After the show, Karen ran into Kevin Armstrong and we talked for a little bit about the show and Iggy Pop and Bowie. She later lamented to me that she was talking with Bowie's Live Aid director and they just talked about Coronavirus. Well, that's what was on everyone's mind. They were supposed to head up next to Seattle, but the rest of the tour has been postponed now. How could we not think of it?
But I will always remember something he did say about David Bowie: "We won't see another like him." I will remember that because it is true, and I will remember the emotion with which he said it, because that was the feeling we shared that night.
At their best, concerts are places where we share connections and are united, even if for just a short while.
It may be a while to the next one, but each one matters.
http://www.abowiecelebration.com/
Related posts:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-about-bowie.html
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