David Bowie’s “Life On Mars” was the first song which made me prick up my ears at age 7, his music subsequently influencing pretty much every musical phase, genre or type I’d been into since. I got to see the Great Man just the once, in 2003 on his final “Reality” tour (gig 617), for one of the best gigs of my life, and I’ve even attended a couple of Bowie tribute gigs down the years (!). This one, however, was no mere “tribute”, at least in the current “pub back room covers band” sense of the word; featuring a duo of former Bowie backing boys in ex-Spiders From Mars drummer Mick “Woody” Woodmansey, and longtime bassist and producer Tony Visconti, Holy Holy are a “supergroup” ensemble cast dedicated to keeping the works of the original musical innovator, re-inventor and chameleonic genius alive onstage. And starring on vocals was none other than Glenn Gregory, 80’s synth survivors Heaven 17’s stylish frontman lending his delicious baritone to the Thin White Duke’s works. A match made in rock heaven, surely? I snapped up tix for me and my gig buddy son (and increasing rock student, if his frequent plays of Jonathan Richman and The Velvet Underground are anything to go by!) Logan pronto, for what promised to be a proper Bowie celebration…
Mindful of last night’s M4 traffic plus plenty else going on near the O2, we headed off early for an easier than anticipated run, joining the O2 priority queue and getting barrier spots, house right on entry, next to chatty and excitable mother and daughter duo Jude and Liv early doors, then my old friend Ben and his lovely wife Brinda later. Much rock chat ensued, the intended 8.30 start passing by, before the lights dimmed, the photo pit boys popped out (affording us a brief conversation with old friend and lensman maestro Martin), and the 8-piece Holy Holy took the stage to the austere synth strains of Bowie’s “Low” period masterpiece “Warszawa”. Gregory, stylish in black and hastily discarded white sports jacket, sashayed onstage last as the band then burst into the tempo-changing and undulating early deep-cut psych-folk collision of “Width Of A Circle”. He was immediately the focal point, a showman, expansive of gesture and deep and authoritative of voice, but he laudably deflected attention to Messrs. Visconti and Woodmansey (“the last Spider From Mars!”), before announcing, “I’m a massive David Bowie fan – as you all are – but I have the privilege of standing up here with this motherfucker [brandishing his mic]!”
T'was a privilege he did not squander; relating the story of his first meeting with Visconti who immediately told him, “There’s quite a bit of David in your voice!”, Gregory was the perfect man for this job, leading this virtuoso band through a set happily drawn primarily from Bowie’s utterly flawless 70’s canon. An early, fulsome and muscular “Ziggy Stardust”, the ultimate glam (goth?) anthem, was followed by Gregory incredulously exclaiming, “I can’t wrap my head around that Woody did that [with Bowie] for real!”; “Time”’s off-kilter claustrophobic 30’s music hall staccato cabaret dance was unsettling and sweeping in equal measure; and “Changes” was a quite magnificent early highlight, blending introspective melancholy and anthemic joy. The slightly frail looking Visconti (no surprise, as he’s topping 81!) then took centre stage, having learned “slap bass” for the skewed Neo-New Romanticisms of “Ashes To Ashes”, then the ebullient doo-wop and soaring chorus of “Drive In Saturday” (a number reminding Gregory of a long hot Summer in Sheffield – “yes there was one!” – with his first girlfriend) was another unexpected highlight, and an earworm which remained with me for days afterwards. A lyric slipup from Gregory during the eerie strum of “Space Oddity” necessitated a restart (“just press erase!” he demanded of the phone recorders in the crowd), the man flicking the “V”s at the cheering punters as he nailed the lyric second time around. But the playful mood switched to sombre reflection as, much like “Dreams Of Leaving” during that brilliant Gregory-led Heaven 17 first 2 Human League albums performance (gig 1,189), the elegiac post-apocalyptic “Ziggy” opener “Five Years” was stunning, a lugubrious and haunting build to a climactic rage against the dying of the light, Gregory delivering his best and most expressive vocal of the night.
The set highlight, however, was reserved for one song and one song only; Gregory shared a painful memory of touring with Holy Holy at the time of Bowie’s death in 2016, Tony Visconti (one of a very small inner circle who knew of the extent of Bowie’s illness) advising that if they carried on, it would be with the Great Man’s blessing; so they did, albeit initially to tearful audiences, particularly for one number… The unmistakeable sole piano note of “Life On Mars” then led into a breathtakingly beautiful version of likely The Greatest Song Ever Written, Woodmansey’s drum build to the skyscraping chorus and that high out-note (nailed perfectly by Gregory) strident and potent, the heartfelt singalong all-inclusive and communal. Wow. You know, just one of those moments when all you can say is… Wow.
The cosmic psych-folk of “Moonage Daydream” rounded off the set proper, Gregory commenting on my “H17 play Reproduction and Travelogue” tee from the aforementioned gig 1,189 as he took the stage for the encore, so I couldn’t resist retorting, “I just love hearing you sing other people’s songs!” The potent backbeat of fist-pumping glam anthem “Rebel Rebel”, featuring a stellar hard-hitting performance from Woodmansey, working over his snare with the vigour of a man a third his 75 years (!), drew the music to a close, although both Visconti and Woodmansey then took centre stage to pay their tributes to their departed friend, and thank we the crowd for keeping his legacy alive. Farewells to our gig companions then, before a friendly roadie sorted me with Gregory’s own list; we then lurked around a brief while in the foyer and were happily rewarded with Mr. Woodmansey himself making an appearance, so we managed a quick word, signature and pics with a true rock’n’roll legend. Result! Late home after midnight with another late kebab tea in tow, but this one was well worth the lost sleep. Bowie’s ground-breaking imprint, influence and sheer force of presence and personality resonates down the years and still permeates through everything that is challenging, innovative and worthwhile in music. And tonight, his old friends and comrades, along with their brilliantly chosen musical companions, did the great man total justice, delivering the ultimate tribute to the ultimate innovator himself; David Bowie!
