Watford Colosseum 29th May 2017
David Bowie's lasting legacy on music and pop culture is irrefutable. The Starman may have left us, but his music is still being discovered and passed down to a new audience. Live On Mars is a new stage show that honours the artistry, creativity, rebellion, revolution and talent of David Bowie without high camp and theatrics.
Life long Bowie fan Alex Thomas and the amazing band place a heavy focus on the music, using film footage and interviews with Bowie to allow his unique stage personas to be shown whilst allowing the music to speak for itself. As Bowie said on the Russell Harty show in 1975 'the impact of the show has to be the astounding thing, not the dressing of it. The dressing is just the dressing, it's sort of pro functionary kind of thing... but the content has to astound. You can dress a show with a trillion dollars or pounds of goodies, but if the show is not substantial there will be no impact.' Live On Mars is very much the kind of show that takes Bowie's words to heart, so much so that film footage of him saying those words is even used in the show just before they play Sound and Vision.
Taking on the stage appearance of The Thin White Duke, Alex bears an uncanny resemblance both in looks and vocal style to Bowie, which helps to make the show even more successful. Like Bowie, Alex is also a multi-instrumentalist playing acoustic guitar and saxophone throughout the set.
There's no modern Bowie in the set, although seeing Alex and the band tackle music from Blackstar would have completed this tribute, bringing it full circle. This time round the show focuses on classic Bowie so you can expect to hear all your favourite Bowie tracks including Space Oddity, Heroes, Life on Mars, Lets Dance alongside album tracks like Queen Bitch and Moonage Daydream. If you want to see a show that features Ziggy makeup and elaborate costumes and stage craft this is not the show for you. If however, you want a tribute than simply honours some of the best music of the century, then it is a must see show! Live On Mars is a very classy tribute to the the man who changed the world.