Gig Review: Golden Years, A Bowie Tribute
You would be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t know who David Bowie is or to not even know one of his songs. David Bowie had a long extensive career in the music industry from 1962 right up to his passing in 2016. He released a whopping 128 singles in his career from over 100 albums. It is no wonder that David Bowie is forever etched in music history around the world.
It was a very sad day on the 10th of January 2016 when David Bowie passed away. It affected fans and musicians alike who adored Bowie and his music. It has only been 4 short years since the world lost one of the greatest musicians of our time. Bowie songs still receive extensive air play on radio and you can guarantee across the gig circuit you’ll hear a Bowie song covered.
In 2019 Jason Singh from Taxiride decided to put together a Bowie Tribute show with some other Aussie Musicians who have stood the test of time to pay homage to the wonderful legend that Bowie was. In its first year the show was a success selling out to a massive crowd of Bowie fans.
Jason Singh together with Tim Watson (Taxiride), Rusty Brown (Electric Mary), Mick Pealing (Stars) and Dale Ryder (Boom Crash Opera) got together and performed the show for its second year and hosted two Golden Years tribute shows. The first at Ocean Grove Hotel on 8th of January to honour David Bowie’s birthday and the second show on 10th of January at the Corner Hotel in Richmond to commemorate the date of Bowie’s passing. (Dale Ryder only performed at the Ocean Grove show).
The second show held at the Corner Hotel had a massive crowd of Bowie fans adorning their Bowie t-shirts eager to hear the guys play all the hits everyone knows and loves. The set list consisted of an epic 22 songs featuring all the favourites and hits spanning Bowie’s career.
The night started off with some vision of Bowie on screens either side of the stage. They were portraits of Bowie spanning his career, each image morphing into the next image. After the vision finished the guys came out on stage and jumped into the first song of the set “Fashion” which was performed by the whole group. After the first song the guys then alternated coming out on stage to perform the songs solo or as a duet. Jason was the first to perform and he smashed out “Fame” and “Let’s Dance”. Next up was Rusty with his edgy rock vocals and performed “Starman”, “Ashes to Ashes” and “Space Oddity”. It was then time for Mick Pealing to come out on to the stage and he delighted fans with the songs “Blue Gene”, “Rebel Rebel”, and “Young Dudes” which had everyone dancing, clapping and singing along.
It was then time for all the guys to come back on stage together and perform “Young American” which was a definite crowd favourite as the dancing and singing continued.
As much as the solos were fantastic from each artist, the crowd absolutely loved when all 4 singers were on stage singing the songs together. One song that the singers performed together, Jason dedicated ‘Hero’s to the fire fighters in Australia who are currently fighting the bushfires that are burning throughout our beautiful country. The song received a resounding round of applause and cheers from the audience.
As the set went on, the energy on stage did not let up. It was clear to the audience that the guys on stage loved performing these classic hits together and their enthusiasm was contagious and had the crowd matching the singing and dancing for the entire night.
The last song of the set was “Jean Genie” sung by the entire group. At the end of the song the group left the stage and the audience continued cheering and calling out for more. Of course, the group were happy to oblige and Rusty and Mick came out on stage and performed “Life on Mars”. After the song had finished Jason and Tim jumped up on stage to join Mick and Rusty and all four sung the final song of the evening “Under Pressure”.
It was clear to see from the crowd that attended and their participation that everyone thoroughly enjoyed this tribute to the great man David Bowie. Bowie has left such a strong long-lasting legacy of music that will be played and remembered forever. And it is with thanks to artists such as Jason Singh, Tim Watson, Rusty Brown, Mick Pealing and Dale Ryder who delight fans with this fabulous tribute show to be able to relive these songs in a live music setting each year to celebrate Bowie’s life.
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