June 17 2019 – What do the awesome Classic Rock Show A to Z, the iconic Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, and the absolute best tribute show we have ever seen Brit Floyd have in common with David Bowie – Live on Mars?
They all benefit by being under the production of CMP Entertainment. who take a very professional and successful formula for tribute shows. By gathering a group of extremely talented musicians, sprinkled with nostalgic and well timed videos, and adding high fidelity lighting the audiences are left in awe every single time.
I would like to start off with a caveat, I am a huge Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac fan but I would not consider myself a real fan of David Bowie. Perhaps I have always been into the long haired 70’s bands much more than the androgyny of glam rockers like Brian Eno or David Bowie at that time. Sure I am familiar with the Bowie staples like Jean Genie and Space Oddity but I knew going into this show there would be many songs I am not familiar with I mention this because when Brit Floyd or Rumours play there wont be a song I am not very familiar with, so it was an interesting dynamic tonight.
Let me say I was blown away by the show and can clearly say that Life on Mars clearly belongs on the CMP roster of world class tribute shows. The band consisted of: James Cole and Mike Gay on guitar and vocals, Edgar Jones playing the bass and adding some vocals, Phil Murphy on the drums and Henry Burnett on the keyboards and vocals. Alex Thomas had the impossible task of being David Bowie for the night and nailed both the voice as well as the on stage presence of Bowie.
The night kicked off with Space Oddity which sets the tone with its mesmerizing countdown and leads onto The Man Who Sold The World accompanied by the album cover and the year 1970 on the screen. Hang On to Yourself and Ziggy Stardust were next. (Bonus tip – while most visitors to London will go to Abbey Road to reproduce the famous Beatles album cover, it is easier to go to 23 Heddon Street just off of Regent Street to get the Ziggy Stardust album cover – something I personally did last year).
Things got a little heavier with Queen Bitch from 1971 followed by Five Years, Starman and Life on Mars? Perhaps the best received segment of the first half was Sound and Vision where the keyboard solo really got the crowed reacting as well as the high energy tempo of Fame. Rounding out the set was Golden Years and Young Americans with its cool protest video.
The band took a very deserved break and came back on at 9:15 to deliver 1 more hour of Bowie magic. The first half was excellent but the second half of the show was meteoric in its energy and crowd reaction. Rebel Rebel kicked it off and then we are told the next song was a new one for this tour – Stay and all we can say is HOLY GUITAR SOLO! Well why stop at one when Moonage Daydream gave another HOLY GUITAR SOLO, along with the first standing ovation of the night.
Ashes to Ashes, Fashion and Jean Genie really proved Bowie’s hit power as all three of those built up the crowd reaction with many unable to sit any longer and start dancing to Jean Genie. This is the point in the show where the audience stopped being so polite and formal and started dancing and signing along much to the bands delight. It continued through to Changes, Modern Love and of course they didn’t need any invitation to get up for Let’s Dance (as every single female and about half the males in the venue were up and grooving). The last two songs of the main set were Suffragette City and Heroes which had a band led cell phone lighter party to light up the venue.
The encore consisted of a tidy 2 song set of All The Young Dudes and Let’s Spend The Night Together (yes a cover of The Rolling Stones which I didn’t know that Bowie did in 1973). I was expecting Under Pressure and China Girl to be honest but was pleasantly surprised with the encores.
Bowie was always the face but of course there is a collection of musiciansbehind every album he ever made (including one of the greatest guitarists of all time Mick Ronson) and tonight it was profoundly evident that it takes a village band. The musicians were individually excellent but as they say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Verdict: 5 out of 5 – Run out and catch this tour before it is gone, and next time they are around do not miss it. This is what a night of music should be and you will be hard pressed to find a better bang for your entertainment buck. We are huge fans of this show and Alex Thomas had us singing Bowie tunes all the way home.
Live On Mars tastefully keeps David Bowie’s legacy alive.
