REVIEW
LIVE ON MARS- A Tribute to David Bowie
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
18th May 2017
LIVE ON MARS- A Tribute to David Bowie
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
18th May 2017
The heavens hadn’t stopped raining for hours as a host of people made their way to the long bar at The Cliffs Pavilion overlooking the grey skies and greyer sea on Southend seafront.
A generally well behaved bunch to say the least, but with an average age of 50+, what would you expect.
With the untimely death of Bowie early last year this is very much as good as it’s going to get for his legion of fans that still yearn to hear his songbook sung live, and what followed didn’t disappoint.
The show started with an animated projection of the various incarnations of Bowie through the years and as a space rocket appeared, so did the opening chords of Space Oddity. A few gasps from those around me as we all realised the uncanny resemblance of front man Alex Painter to his and their hero, in looks and in his vocal delivery.
I’d gone with an open mind to this gig, a seated affair, which in all fairness spoilt the proceedings for me a bit. You could tell many wanted to get up and dance but the seating, being what it was, made that impossible. A few danced at the sides of the auditorium and looked to be having a ball. I’ll admit, like most I’m sure, I prefer Bowie’s early stuff and this concert only featured songs from his (in my opinion) golden years (s’cuse the pun) 1970-83.
Next up was a superb version of The Man Who Sold The World, not a song you hear that often unfortunately and so the hits flowed - Ziggy Stardust, an exceptional rendition of Queen Bitch, a wonderful Five Years followed by Starman and Life On Mars.
After a change of costume and more songs, it appeared Alex and the band had picked up a head of steam. Young Americans was superb, with Alex putting his guitar down and picking up the saxophone, just as Bowie could do, and with that it was the end of act 1!
A race to the bar for a quick pint and a chat about the last hour’s performance. I went with a mate who’s a Bowie nut and isn’t the easiest punter to please. He was only full of praise; the only thing we both felt it needed was more interaction from Alex with the audience - it took a few songs in before he said anything.
A generally well behaved bunch to say the least, but with an average age of 50+, what would you expect.
With the untimely death of Bowie early last year this is very much as good as it’s going to get for his legion of fans that still yearn to hear his songbook sung live, and what followed didn’t disappoint.
The show started with an animated projection of the various incarnations of Bowie through the years and as a space rocket appeared, so did the opening chords of Space Oddity. A few gasps from those around me as we all realised the uncanny resemblance of front man Alex Painter to his and their hero, in looks and in his vocal delivery.
I’d gone with an open mind to this gig, a seated affair, which in all fairness spoilt the proceedings for me a bit. You could tell many wanted to get up and dance but the seating, being what it was, made that impossible. A few danced at the sides of the auditorium and looked to be having a ball. I’ll admit, like most I’m sure, I prefer Bowie’s early stuff and this concert only featured songs from his (in my opinion) golden years (s’cuse the pun) 1970-83.
Next up was a superb version of The Man Who Sold The World, not a song you hear that often unfortunately and so the hits flowed - Ziggy Stardust, an exceptional rendition of Queen Bitch, a wonderful Five Years followed by Starman and Life On Mars.
After a change of costume and more songs, it appeared Alex and the band had picked up a head of steam. Young Americans was superb, with Alex putting his guitar down and picking up the saxophone, just as Bowie could do, and with that it was the end of act 1!
A race to the bar for a quick pint and a chat about the last hour’s performance. I went with a mate who’s a Bowie nut and isn’t the easiest punter to please. He was only full of praise; the only thing we both felt it needed was more interaction from Alex with the audience - it took a few songs in before he said anything.
Back to the seats for act 2 and it was a case of hitting the ground running. Rebel Rebel, followed by Breaking Glass and a stunning Moonage Dream really showing off the bands musicianship, the guitar playing was simply incredible. Act 2 flew past, Alex and the band, you could now tell, were really enjoying themselves and so were the crowd… with quite a few folk throwing caution to the (wild is the) wind and dancing in the isles. So followed Ashes To Ashes, Fashion, The Jean Genie, Changes and on they went. Act 2 closed with what can only be described as a near note perfect Heroes, brilliant and you could see it touched many of those there.
The one encore was a strange selection of the song he wrote for Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes and Let’s Spend The Night Together from Aladdin Sane. All perfectly executed but ending with Heroes would have been fitting.
All in all, a great 2 hours of Bowie music I’d highly recommend. Brilliantly performed by artists who obviously love the man they pay tribute to. The crowd left on a high and you can’t ask more than that … even if it was still raining.
Footnote…I haven’t stopped listening to Moonage Daydream since… simply, simply stunning!
Review: Neil Lands
The one encore was a strange selection of the song he wrote for Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes and Let’s Spend The Night Together from Aladdin Sane. All perfectly executed but ending with Heroes would have been fitting.
All in all, a great 2 hours of Bowie music I’d highly recommend. Brilliantly performed by artists who obviously love the man they pay tribute to. The crowd left on a high and you can’t ask more than that … even if it was still raining.
Footnote…I haven’t stopped listening to Moonage Daydream since… simply, simply stunning!
Review: Neil Lands
What the Audience Thought
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Michael Law, Southend on Sea
"I didn't really know what to expect from this show in terms of production and theatrical content but with such a huge catalogue of well-known hits to draw on I was hoping for a good old singalong! And I wasn't disappointed ... the vocals of lead singer Alex Painter were spot on as was the musicianship of the accompanying band comprising drums, keyboards, bass and 2 guitarists. With a big screen backdrop showing archive Bowie footage it was easy to immerse yourself in the whole experience and take a trip through time - some of us reliving moments in our lives when these iconic pop songs were bold and new, whilst younger audience members were, perhaps, getting a first taste of the Bowie genius. Whatever the age the band literally had folk rocking in the aisles by the end and everyone seemed thoroughly entertained. High points for me were Young Americans to close the first half of the show and Fashion. But it's hard to beat the raw, driving energy of Jean Genie!! Most will have come along to hear these songs played live so sound quality was important and for me, at times, the vocals were drowned by the instruments but this did improve in the 2nd half. The only other minor criticism is that there could, perhaps, have been more interaction from the band between tracks (an intro, an anecdote or some history) - what we did get was mostly inaudible mumbling so pretty pointless really. But this is nit-picking because the overall experience was a delight of Sound & Vision." |
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Below: Photos taken exclusively for Southend Theatre Scene of Southend Cliffs Pavilion gig
Photo Credit: Stephen Hawke
Photo Credit: Stephen Hawke
Tour dates:
2017
Mon 22 May Northampton The Derngate
https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/ 01604 624811
Tue 23 May Bromley Churchill Theatre
https://churchilltheatre.co.uk/Online/ 0203 285 6000
Wed 24 May Salford The Lowry
http://www.thelowry.com/ 0843 208 6000
Fri 26 May Cambridge Corn Exchange
https://www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Sat 27 May Harrogate Royal Hall
http://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/ 01423 502116
Mon 29 May Watford Colosseum
https://watfordcolosseum.co.uk/Online/ 01923 51102
Tue 30 May Swansea Grand Theatre
http://www.swanseasgrand.co.uk/ 01792 475715
Wed 31 May Portsmouth Guildhall
http://www.portsmouthguildhall.org.uk/ 0844 847 2362
Fri 2 Jun London Cadogan
https://www.cadoganhall.com/ 0207 730 4500
Sun 4 Jun Sheffield City Hall
http://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk/ 0114 2789 789
2017
Mon 22 May Northampton The Derngate
https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/ 01604 624811
Tue 23 May Bromley Churchill Theatre
https://churchilltheatre.co.uk/Online/ 0203 285 6000
Wed 24 May Salford The Lowry
http://www.thelowry.com/ 0843 208 6000
Fri 26 May Cambridge Corn Exchange
https://www.cambridgelivetrust.co.uk 01223 357851
Sat 27 May Harrogate Royal Hall
http://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/ 01423 502116
Mon 29 May Watford Colosseum
https://watfordcolosseum.co.uk/Online/ 01923 51102
Tue 30 May Swansea Grand Theatre
http://www.swanseasgrand.co.uk/ 01792 475715
Wed 31 May Portsmouth Guildhall
http://www.portsmouthguildhall.org.uk/ 0844 847 2362
Fri 2 Jun London Cadogan
https://www.cadoganhall.com/ 0207 730 4500
Sun 4 Jun Sheffield City Hall
http://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk/ 0114 2789 789