James Michael Music Photography: David Bowie Tribute Band

After shooting for the last 7 weeks at the Roxy, I thought I was going to get a week off. On Friday I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from David inviting me to shoot his show at the Spotlight 29 Casino. I had no idea where this casino was. So I typed in Spotlight 29 into Google, got the site web page and start checking the place out. I saw that they hosted big name bands, but I was not sure where at the casino Space Oddity would be playing. I assumed it would be on a smaller stage in their lounge.

On Sunday we headed out to the casino. We thought we would get their early, have some fun and a nice dinner before the show. When I got there I asked where the show was going to be, headed over to check in and see if the band was still running through their sound check. When I walked up there were already a handful of people waiting outside for the show. I found a open door and walked in. This was the casino's main stage with a full sound board and professional lighting. The stage was as big as any concert venue in LA. The first thing I thought is crap, I did not bring a big enough lens to shoot the show.

The band was gone, but the crew was still there fine tuning the light show. I checked in, got my pass and any special rules I needed to follow. This was going to be a cool shoot. Unlike the Roxy, I was going to be able to walk from side to side and get good shots of the band.

The doors opened at 7:00 for the 8:00 show. The place started filling up. Shortly after 7:00, I saw Manny or at least one of his clones. I cant even drive a 100 miles from home without running into him. There was a Meetup group from OC there to see the show, but the rest seemed to be locals. By 8:00, the place was pretty full.

At 8:05 the house lights went down and the band started taking the stage. On the big screens on each side of the stage, a bio of David Bowie begins to play with interview from other musician and narrated by a sophisticated female voice with a slight British accent. This is an opening that you would expect to see at a real David Bowie concert. Once the bio was finished, the band began to play Fame and David walked on stage with Bowie's trademark white mask and wearing the same outfit as Bowie wore on his 1976 Archer Station to Station tour .

The band continued to play for the next 30 minutes or so covering many of Bowie's classics like Young American and Golden Years. At the of the set the stage went dark, a the second segment of the Bowie bio continued with more interviews from major rock stars from the 70's and 80's. As I stood there, I could see that the crowd was not sure exactly what was going on. It was a free show but they were hoping the show would be longer than that. After a couple of minutes, David returned to the stage in large white robe with Japanese lettering. this robe is similar to the one designed by Kansai Yamamoto and wore by Bowie during the Ziggy Star Dust stage shows in 1973. Under the robe was version of the striped bodysuit also designed by Yamamoto for Aladdin Sane tour in 1973. David is very much the showmen and these costumes are all top notch. This is the reason David and Space Oddity is one of the top tribute bands in the US and travel all across the country to perform.

The Ziggy Stardust segment was not to long before David slipped off the stage to reappear in one piece space suite to perform Space Oddity. Before long David disappeared again for another costume change. This time the band continued to play music. David returned in the bright yellow suite. It was amazing to see David work that entire stage, It did not matter what part of the stage I was at, David would be there in a second to take another picture.

There was a 5th costume before the show was over. When David returned the band played Under Pressure. This is a Queen song. There is a version with the late Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. In this version, the Freddie Mercury part was sung by lead guitarist Paul Nelson. This version is almost as good as the original. it is hard to top Freddies voice but Paul is darn close.

For the finale, Brooke Naughton left the key board to sing Time Warp with David. While this is not a David Bowie song, it is well worth hearing. Brooke has an incredible voice. She would be great to see in her own band.

The show was a little over 90 minutes and every bite as good as seeing the real David Bowie. I have seen David perform a few times and every show is amazing. If you have not seen one of his shows, sign up for his mailing list and go see one of his show. The bands web site is www.davidbowietribute.com

Go to my web site to see more pictures from the show, JM Photography. Or follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates