Good intentions can go a long way. Just ask the traveling band of musicians who’ve recently embarked on a tour titled “Celebrating Bowie,” a commemoration of the groundbreaking music and art the late David Bowie enriched the world with for decades. As a tribute to Bowie’s work, an assortment of musicians who’ve worked with him in the past was assembled to carry out this daunting yet heartfelt venture. Mike Garson, pianist extraordinaire, toured with David and appeared on some of his studio recordings. His most poignant and memorable contribution is undoubtedly his exquisite work on Bowie’s 1973 classic, Aladdin Sane, and most notably on the album’s title track. Guitar slinger Earl Slick too did his time as Bowie’s touring guitarist and added plenty of spark and fireworks to David Live, Bowie’s fantastic 1974 concert album. Bass thumper Carmine Rojas added plenty to Bowie’s work throughout his illustrious career: that slinky, booming, infectious bass line on the 1983 hit single “Let’s Dance” was created and perfected by Rojas. Guitarist Gerry Leonard toured with David Bowie on later tours and worked extensively on some of his final records like Heathen, Reality and The Next Day.
As far as the other musicians who made up the band that performed at Clearwater’s Capitol Theater on Saturday night, the connection to the legacy of David Bowie isn’t quite clear. Handling drum duties was Slick’s son, Lee John Madeloni; the rest of the members are more than likely former friends of David’s or admirers of the work of the legend they were representing. The sentiment was there; the reverence was there; the musical talent was certainly there…but, it seemed like something was lacking.
The show opened, interestingly enough, with a stirring, emotive reading of the haunting ballad “Bring Me the Disco King” from Bowie’s underrated 2003 album, Reality. Longtime Rolling Stones backup singer Bernard Fowler (who handled most of the evening’s lead vocal duties) delivered a fine, faithful rendition of the little-known track with elegant piano accompaniment from Garson (who also served as the evening’s emcee and storyteller).
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For the 565 Bowie fans who filled up the theater, their intention was probably to enjoy the still- dazzling music of their sadly missed icon who passed away in early 2016. What they got was an uneven yet well-intended night of some hits and some misses.
Most of Bowie’s enduring anthems were represented: show-stoppers like “Moonage Daydream” and “Fame” were welcomed additions to the program. And while Fowler is a more than capable vocalist, the vocal contributions of British musician Mr. Hudson (who produced Duran Duran’s last effort, 2015’s Paper Gods and Joe Sumner (son of Gordon Sumner, aka Sting) left a little to be desired. Both men are talented singers in their own right but hearing stone cold classics like “Changes” and “Starman” delivered from one of the pair of singers seemed a little empty. The beauty of David Bowie’s work is its rich imagery, its quizzical lyrical quality and that unique, intoxicating, sensual, forceful voice he possessed. It’s hard to hear such colorful material delivered in somewhat pale fashion and it seemed like this was what plagued this well-intended salute.
Admittedly, hearing Garson’s “Aladdin Sane” piano work live and in person along with Slick’s razor-sharp axe work on the 1976 opus “Station to Station” was quite a thrill. Both men were in fine form and represented the contributions they’d added to Bowie’s canon throughout the years splendidly. However, the revolving cast of singers and the trading off on lead vocal duties for the duration of the program got a little tiring and made it hard to focus on the commemoration aspect that was presumably the intent of this tour.
Obvious hits were mixed in with unexpected surprises; “Let’s Dance,” fronted by Sumner got audience members up and out of their seats to make good on the song’s promise; “Lady Grinning Soul,” a nugget from the Aladdin Sane album was a welcomed surprise. Other staples like “Suffragette City” and “Heroes” went over well as did “All the Young Dudes,” Bowie’s 1972 gift to British rock band Mott the Hoople which wound up being the biggest hit they ever scored. But from a personal standpoint, instead of celebrating the work of the great David Bowie, more often than not, I found myself desperately missing his panache, his grace, his sophistication, his elegance and his essence.
David Bowie’s presence is still sorely missed by his millions of fans across the world. “Celebrating Bowie” is a genuine, admirable gesture on paper but, sadly, the true spirit and aura of David Bowie was missing from a large portion of Saturday night’s two-hour performance despite the well-intended motives of those who were assigned the nearly impossible and implausible task of filling the shoes of one of the most innovative and influential artists of all time.
This article appears in Mar 15-22, 2018.
