David Bowie’s closest collaborators are to mark the first anniversary of his death and what would have been his 70th birthday with a series of gigs featuring “Bowie people playing Bowie music Bowie style”.
A London show at the Brixton Academy on 8 January, his birthday, was previously announced – and has long since sold out. Now Bowie band members Mike Garson, Adrian Belew, Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey, Sterling Campbell, Zacahary Alford, Holly Palmer and Emm Gryner, joined by a host of other musicians, will also play in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Tokyo.
The statement announcing the shows noted: “Individually these former Bowie band members performed, wrote and recorded together with David through several decades including the 1973’s Ziggy Stardust tour, the Diamond Dogs tour, Isolar II (Heroes) tour, to the hugely successful Serious Moonlight tour, the Sound and Vision greatest hits tour to Glastonbury 2000, Heathen, his final A Reality Tour and many of them appeared on Bowie’s triumphant comeback album, The Next Day.”
The London show – compered by Gary Oldman – will be followed by shows at Terminal 5 in New York (10 January), the Wiltern in Los Angeles (25 January), Sydney Opera House (29 January) and Tokyo Dome City Hall (2 February).
Garson, Slick, Campbell and Dorsey were in the band that backed Lorde at the acclaimed Bowie tribute at the Brits earlier this year. On that occasion, they were joined by Gerry Leonard and Catherine Russell, who will also appear at the Brixton Academy concert.