Newbury soaks up Bowie, were you there?

Moonage : The Best of Bowie Tribute Band

at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore

on Saturday, September 7

Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON

Moonage is a seven piece who pay tribute to the iconic musical legacy of David Bowie. The inclusion of a saxophonist (Bowie songs frequently featured sax), keyboards and a female backing vocalist alongside the bass and lead guitars, with frontman, Andrew, on acoustic 6 and 12 string guitars allow them to cover Bowie’s famously chameleon-like range of musical styles across the years.

It is estimated that over his career David Bowie sold in excess of 100 million albums, so his popularity is unquestionable. The use of a backdrop with changing video and slide show also enhanced tonight's performance.

Playing their own entrance track (Also Sprach Zarathustra) live was a nice touch before they opened with Ziggy Stardust (perhaps the most famous track from what still stands as Bowie's best selling album) was undoubtedly a guaranteed attention grabber, allowing the band to establish their musical chops from the outset. They were extremely tight and musically accomplished.

Moving effortlessly back and forth between decades they followed up with Suffragette City and Changes, both from 1972 before moving on to China Girl (1983). By this time vocalist Andrew had demonstrated his ability to capture effectively the tone and range of Bowie’s voice.

The inclusion of Cat People (Putting Out Fire) and a wonderful version of Wild Is The Wind (from the 1976 Station To Station album) showed a willingness to delve a little deeper in to Bowie’s voluminous back catalogue.

The first set ended with Oh You Pretty Things, the excellent Rock n Roll Suicide and a great version of Moonage Daydream(from which they take their name.

The second set opened with Space Oddity (1969) and Slow Burn from Bowie’s 22nd studio album, Heathen (2002). The rest of the set was jam-packed with hits including Life On Mars, All The Young Dudes, Starman, Modern Love, Rebel Rebel and more, before the encore of The Jean Genie.

Over 2 hours actually on stage in all.

If you love Bowie you should definitely check-out Moonage.