Venue:
The Foundry, Sheffield
Date: 14/04/2017
mrs bogl delivered the goods for my birthday, earlier in the week: a ticket for this, in one of my favourite venues in Sheffield, just a twenty minute walk away.
It’s an interesting concept: the only remaining Spider and legendary Bowie producer as rhythm section with a crack band and…the lead singer of Heaven 17. Yet it really works. Not a tribute as such, though the arrangements tend to be as close to the originals as possible, with bits of the ’73 Hammersmith Odeon reproduced faithfully. Glenn Gregory makes no attempt to be a Bowie (no mimes during the solos from Width of a Circle, thankfully) but sings the songs in his own way extremely well. You don’t pick holes as you might with a tribute band, but accept it for what it is: a cracking band delivering great songs. Gregory is clearly having a ball performing some of his favourite songs on home turf. Woody is still a fearsome drummer, with the opening of The Supermen making the hairs stand up. Visconti handles the bass chores with aplomb. Great band generally with two guitarists alternating between taking lead lines or doing the twin harmonies Ronson seemed to use so much on The Man Who…
The audience:
Pretty evenly split male/female. Never had any problems attracting a female audience, did he? Lots of greyhelms, but a pleasing number of teens and twenties, the majority of whom seemed to be female. Some evidence of dad/mum and daughter nights out. Couple in front of me in the queue to gets selfies and signatures couldn’t have been older than twenty-five, clutching armfuls of old Bowie vinly to be signed, which Woody and Visconti duly did. The bloke said it was the first gig he had ever been to.
It made me think..
There will always be a market for bands with Bowie connections to do this sort of thing. Will this happen with other artists, eg the HJH when Macca goes back to the top of the helter skelter ?
The music of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s has become an extension of the folk music of our time. Everybody is at least somewhat familiar with it. The grandparents of todays teens are playing it at home and loads of pubs have ’60s & ’70s cover bands or discos.
The stuff is still being played, and often played very well. And so it should be because it’s fucking great. With an increasing amount of it, you’re never ever going to hear it live again except played by a cover or tribute band.
And this is all a Good Thing.
I just wonder if people with some kind of connection with a now-deceased artist will take on the mantle: former members of Macca’s bands? Dylan’s bands? Makes me wonder why this hasn’t been done more before. Or is it the nature of Bowie’s career that lends it to this kind of approach, as he has been more like a jazz band leader assembling the right band for the moment rather than simply paid lackeys?
I saw HH on the first date of this tour, at the Spiders’ spiritual home of Hull. It was a great night as you say, and the atmosphere in the City Hall was absolutely rocking…but for me, it didn’t have quite the emotional impact of the first time I saw them two years ago, doing TMWSTW as the featured album (as reviewed on here at the time).
Regarding former bands of deceased stars, I know that The Revolution and some semblance of the NPG have continued beyond their initial shows in memory of Prince to embark on more expansive tours in the US.
A friend of mine got in on the night on a “returned” ticket. She was excited to say the least.
Later, a bloke behind her in the gig actually said “Calm down, luv”… typical Hull reaction 😉
I was there at Hull on the opening night and it was a stonking show.
As an aside,my mate ended up giving Tony Visconti a lift back to his hotel.
I’d have liked to have seen TMWSTW. I was hoping for All The Madmen but hey.
I asked Woody if he was coming back with Aladdin Sane. He looked bashful and said, “Don’t tempt me.” With Mike Garson on keys….? And throw in a couple of Pin Ups tracks too? That’s a night out.
I half-jokingly suggested that to a friend who was disappointed that they didn’t play The Jean Genie….”they’re saving it for the Aladdin tour” 😉
Mr/Ms Type’s review here: http://theafterword.co.uk/holy-holy-the-man-who-sold-the-world/
The band is slightly different: Visconti’s daughter on sax/12 string, also the opening act, did a great job. And the twin guitar attack was very effective.
Yeah, the guest artists at that show, Steve Norman, Marc Almond and Lisa Ronson, added to the magical vibe. And the twin guitarists were present and correct. Jessica and Morgan, TV’s children, also provided support at that show.
I’ve been reading Woody’s biography and it offers some good insight to the machinations in the Bowie management at the time. According to the book, Woody got a call on his wedding day from Tony DeFries telling him he was being let go. Apparently Bowie and Ronson were both in the room with DeFries and neither of them would come to the phone. Woody was naturally rather upset but had to put on a brave face for his bride. Rock n roll is a cut-throat business alright.
I imagine this is the standard practice for letting people go in the Rock business: manager goes and has a word while star stands at a discreet distance staring at their shoes. At least folk like Steve Harris did it in person. To be frank, I think most bands’ HR departments need overhauling. Look at the poor employee retention rates of The Fall and Hawkwind. I bet they have really low scores on Glassdoor.
The Fall’s line-up has remained astonishingly stable for the last few years. My theory is that MES has now lost so many teeth that he could still be firing people, but they don’t leave because they can’t understand what he’s saying.
You say that Moose, but isn’t it possible that Mark went on a Leadership training a few years back, where he learned the value of people development, and as a result now runs a winning, diverse organisation where people are appreciated for their contributions and receive actionable performance feedback in regular holistic appraisal sessions?
Moose? Moose?
Where is everyone?
Security! Security!
I think you’re right HF. I presume you’ve heard the new Fall track, Key Performance IndicatAHH!