OLDER NEWS (2010)
The David Bowie Community of Australia and New Zealand


For the very latest news click here


ZIGGY: THE SONGS OF DAVID BOWIE November, 2010

Ziggy, The Songs Of David Bowie stars four of Australia’s most electrifying live performers – iOTA, Jeff Duff, Steve Balbi and Brydon Stace. Together with a star studded band drawn from the ranks of Silverchair, Noiseworks and Leo Sayer, they re-create Bowie and pay homage to the man and his music.

The show is a theatrical interpretation, a musical journey into Bowie’s songbook. Ziggy, The Songs Of David Bowie is a rare opportunity to see an extraordinary repertoire of extraordinary talent, performed by quintessentially, the best of Australia’s singers and musicians.




'CATCH A FALLING STAR' BOOK LAUNCH 19th November, 2010

Melbourne author Peter Haywood has contacted me with regard to his newly published novel Catch a Falling Star and the forthcoming Melbourne launch at Readings, Carlton.

The novel - pictured left - tells the story of Nicky Nova, a Bowie obsessed young man growing up in Melbourne in the early 1980s who moves into a big, ramshackle share house in Lygon Street, Carlton, with a bunch of musician friends. He forms a band and dreams of becoming a world famous rock 'n' roll star. But it is the band as hell-bent on fame and fortune as their lead singer? Loaded with pop culture references, Catch a Falling Star is part cautionary tale, part travelogue of a recent bygone era of skinny ties, leg-warmers and big hair. This is a post punk story about friendship and betrayal, the impossible dreams of youth, and the compromises we must make in order to survive. If you've ever put together a garage band and dreamed of bigger things; if you've lived through the bohemian grunge and fractious ego mix of the inner suburban share house experience; if you have fond memories of the heady excesses of the 80s, you will love Catch a Falling Star.

Launch:
Readings, 309 Lygon Street, Carlton. Friday 19th November at 6:15 PM.

Available:
Online and on shelf at Readings book stores. Click here.



GET BOWIEFIED IN BRISBANE
16th October, 2010

On Saturday 16th of October, Brisbane's Prince of Retro Kristian Fletcher is presenting the annual DAVID BOWIE PARTY.

All the details on Kristian's facebook page.

David Bowie Party

Time: 8:00 PM, Saturday, 16th of October, 2010
Location: StageDoor Dinner Theatre 4 Cintra Rd Bowen Hills Brisbane, Australia
Cost: $11 per person (all ages event)
Facebook: David Bowie Party

STATION TO STATION RE-RELEASE! September, 2010

Details have come to hand on the forthcoming Station to Station re-release.

Released (at least overseas) in September, there are three editions to choose from - a 3 CD "special edition", a digital edition, and a 5 CD, DVD and heavy weight vinyl "deluxe edition" edition.

Further details available here on Bowienet.


PERTH BOWIE TRIBUTE! July 23, 2010

Perthlings and other Earthlings might be interested to learn about the All Star Showstoppers - a new tribute concept that involves a rotating cast of the same five musicians in addition to having a stand alone tribute to David Bowie.

More info on the Bowie tribute can be found on their website including details on the 'All Star Supergroup' (a situation in which a Bowie tribute can potentially share the same stage as an Elvis Costello tribute, a Mark Knopfler tribute and a Ringo Starr tribute).

Many thanks to drummer Dave Swan for making contact.


DR THE ROCKS OPENS! July 5, 2010

The Dr The Rocks tshirt website we told you about last month has opened. This includes a place to order your Holy Trinity tshirt among 15 other pop culture shirts.


OLD FOOTAGE UNCOVERED! July, 2010

Several minutes of old news footage surrounding David Bowie's 1983 arrival in Perth, Western Australia has been uncovered.

BDU member Stevee had previously written about this event here on BDU. Apart from the airport arrival, this footage also has excerpts from the Perth Press Conference.

Thanks also to David O in Barcelona, Spain who managed to get this footage across to us via Stevee.

Above: News footage of Bowie in Australia, 1983.


Links:
All about Bowie's 1983 visit to Australia/NZ Tour. Stevee's Story About the Perth Arrival

PACIFIC PARTNERS! June 23, 2010
Left: David Bowie intently watching a recent Jeff Beck concert - June 8, 2010. More pics on our facebook page. Right: The Canadian flag.

There are many similarities between Canada and Australia.

Both countries are large, relatively isolated, sparsely inhabited and are fully-independent former settler colonies of Britain. Both use federal systems of government ... and both have serious Bowie fans...

On June 21, BDU's Canadian representative Alys has kindly offered to resolve our recent web host problems. Thus "Canada Day" begins a bit earlier this year.

Many, many thanks Alys!


FINN + BOWIE! June 11, 2010

Today sees the release of a brand new album by arguably the greatest Bowie-inspired antipodean band.

The band in question is Crowded House and the main reason for mentioning them now is that they have recently added a superb take on David Bowie's 'Moonage Daydream' to set lists on their current world tour. Check out a high quality video here featuring none other than legendary Johnny Marr on guitar. http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1631

Crowded House commence the European leg of their world tour on June 14. Their brand new album Intriguer is out today. Remember to also stop by our dedicated page on Neil Finn.

Links:
Crowded House's 'Moonage Daydream' The official Bowie Downunder Page on Neil Finn


VIVID 2010! June 8, 2010

Some stand out events at VIVID Sydney in the past week...
















TAI CHI (with Master Ren & Lou Reed)

As part of the Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson curated VIVID Festival, a series of Tai Chai classes were held on top of the Sydney Opera House steps by Master Ren GuangYi.

Master Ren is the personal trainer of Lou Reed and long term Bowie producer, Tony Visconti. While many first timers joined the class, it was also evident that several were continuing on with years - if not decades - worth of training. Master Ren took participants through a '21 form' (a series of 21 moves) while 'Walk on the Wild Side' rocker Lou Reed provided assistance with posture.

Afterward, people enthused about the internal Chinese martial art and I managed to take some pics including one of Master Ren holding his brand new "Holy Trinity" T-shirt (see left).

Links:
The International Chen Style Taijiquan Association


Above: Tai Chi class, Monday June 7, 2010.


SLOW MUSIC NIGHT (Various Artists)


As described in The Sydney Morning Herald, the multi-act format of Slow Music Night was quite probably the emotional and musical highlight of the festival.

Some outstanding acts included Shara Worden (the powerful and versatile voice of My Brightest Diamond), the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama who performed three songs including The Velvet Underground's 'Jesus' and the extraordinary sounds of Chirgilchin - Tuvan throat singers for whom Laurie Anderson introduced to stage with much enthusiasm.

At one point, VIVID's husband and wife curators shared the stage together alone - Reed singing the lines "how nice it is to disappear / float into a mist / with a young lady on your arm / looking for a kiss" as he turned his gaze to Anderson on violin. Reed also performed 'Perfect Day' (from 1972's Transformer), 'Cremation' (from 1992's Magic and Loss) and a series of instrumentals for which Master Ren performed Tai Chi including a very fast sword form.



KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW

Later the same night but on a different stage, audiences experienced the frenzied sounds of punk blended with soul and jazz - an outfit known as The King Khan and BBQ Show.

When not ripping up the Sydney stage, King Khan also spent time with us at Tai Chi. The picture below shows him in his new robes signifying the reformation of the Black Panther political party - an idea he may or may not have come up with on stage Friday night!




King Khan continue their world tour tonight in Hong Kong with further Asian dates to follow.




MUSIC FOR DOGS (with Laurie Anderson)

On the Saturday morning (June 5), Laurie Anderson held a unique concert at the Opera House forecourt called Music For Dogs.

The idea was to bring along your pet dog to the performance. Contrary to what some were expecting, the sounds were not all undetectable high frequencies. Fortunately, the sun came out for a stunning Winter morning (ending the previous two weeks of almost constant rain) and there was a huge turn out of both people and canines.

Laurie Anderson turned 63 on the same day and the crowd sang an impromptu 'happy birthday' to mark the occasion.

Above: After the concert, Laurie Anderson (cheque shirt), the band Chirgilchin, King Khan and a happy canine.


VIVID winds up this week for 2010.

Fingers firmly crossed for an appearance by the man himself next year ...



Above: Laurie Anderson's 'O Superman' as performed by David Bowie and Gail Ann Dorsey in 1997.


A WALK ON THE JEFF DUFF SIDE... June 8, 2010


Occurring on another Sydney stage over the weekend was an appearance by Jeff Duff with local band The Hipstones.

Performing to a full house at Sydney's Basement club, the venue was enlivened by Jeff's rendition of three songs including a Ray Charles and Lou Reed number. Before launching into 'Walk on the Wild Side', Jeff announced that Mr. Reed was in town and then pointed to the back of the club and said 'oh look there he is now, hello Lou'.

Jeff is on the verge of taking his Bowie tribute to the Sydney's State Theatre and around the country. The show plays this Saturday in Davistown, NSW (more info here). Jeff is also about to release a new album entitled Fragile Spaceman.

Above: Jeff Duff's award winning video for 'Walk On The Wild Side'. Below: Snippets from Duff's Bowie tribute.




BOWIE'S IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCE, 1978! May 5, 2010

A short while ago, I received an email from Peter Maslen, member of the famous Australian rock band Boom Crash Opera.

Peter has had the fortunate experience of performing with David Bowie in Brisbane back in 1978. Moreover, this impromptu club appearance with some unusual musicians appears to have been missing from the Bowie history books until now....

"I came across your web site quite by accident and thought I should tell you about my 1978 Bowie experience to add to your anecdotes, should you wish. Strangely, it's a story I rarely tell, but visiting your web site, bought me back in time...."

Check it all out here.


PAUL DEMPSEY AND DAVID BOWIE! April 16, 2010

Those of you who watched Spicks and Specks a couple of weeks ago may have caught this little pearl of wisdom from David Bowie via Australian singer Paul Dempsey.

Paul's band, Something For Kate, played support for DB in 2004. Cheers to youtuber Honeypotexplosion for sharing this.


DON LANE AND DAVID BOWIE! April 14, 2010

Ria has sent in the 1983 Bowie interview in vastly improved quality. Press the play button (then flick it from 360p to 480p in the bottom right corner if your connection allows). Enjoy!




LABY IN SYDNEY! April 29, 2010

Mythic Flix at Sydney's ANMM is screening Labyrinth on Thursday April 29. The film commences at 7 PM sharp. Thanks to Armen for the pointer.


LOU REED & LAURIE ANDERSON! April 3, 2010

Close friends and collaborators of David Bowie will once again be curating Sydney's VIVID festival.

Following the first festival which took place last year (known as LUMINOUS and curated by BRIAN ENO), Sydney will now experience art rock's husband and wife team - the legendary LOU REED and LAURIE ANDERSON.

Vivid runs from May 27 to June 21.


HEROES! April 2, 2010

A star studded cast of Australian musicians including Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), Missy Higgens, Clare Bowditch and Tim Rogers (You Am I) recently rallied on stage for young people needing extensive care facilities.

During the encore at Brisbane's TIVOLI, the musicians came together to perform an awe-inspiring version of David Bowie's HEROES for the finale.

The event was organised by Fanning and will kick start a $5 million facility on the Gold Coast to accommodate young people who need around-the-clock medical attention and to avoid them having to live in aged care facilities.


A MONTH OF ONLY BOWIE! February, 2010

For the entire month of February, it is nothing but David Bowie on digital station Gold Plus!



DAVID BOWIE DEBUT & REALITY LIVE January, 2010

As most of you will be aware, late January saw the release of two major archival items - David Bowie's debut album from 1967 in an expanded form and Reality Live - the 2 CD edition of the Dublin show from his last world tour in 2003.

These CDs form quite a bookends of his career thus far so if you have not had a chance to see them yet, check them out here and here.


Do you have local Bowie news not included here? Please send it to cricketmenace@yahoo.com

 





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