Saturday, Dec. 16, I won tickets to see the David Bowie tribute “Sound + Vision: The Music of David Bowie” at Outpost in the Burbs, Montclair, New Jersey.
The show was definitely in the Top 3 of all the performances I saw this year! I think they blew our minds. The Sound + Vision performance, which was directed by Richard Barone, was euphoric and touching. Over 20 songs were interpreted in honor of David Bowie, with almost all getting standing ovations.
My favorites:
- Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (BSA) opening up the first set with “Sound + Vision” — from my favorite album “Low.”
- Followed by Wesley Stace, with Richard Barone on stylophone performing “Space Oddity.”
- “The Man Who Sold the World” with Richard Barone and Nick Celeste
- “Ziggy Stardust” by Richard Barone, glammed out in a red sequin jacket for the Ziggy tunes.
- “Breaking Class” by BSA; another “Low” epic.
- “Fame” by Jeffrey Gaines.
- “Fashion” by BSA.
- “Modern Love” by Wesley Stace.
- “Lazarus” by Elvis Perkins, with Danielle Aykroyd on autoharp. From David Bowie’s last album, it was truly a tear-jerker.
- “Heroes” by All (I counted at least 15 musicians onstage)
- And the grand finale “Let’s Dance”
The Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber is made up of: Jared Michael Nickerson (bass); Leon Gruenbaum (keys); Ben Tyree (guitar); Trevor Holder (drums); Mikel Banks (vocals); Shelley Nichole (vocals).
And a shout out to School of Rock Montclair — warming up with Bowie hits. Standouts were “Golden Years” and “Under Pressure.”
Outpost in the Burbs posted several videos of the Sound + Vision performance on YouTube.
Sound + Vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVE1ziiwLTg
Fame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuHruIiTMns
Ziggy Stardust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVE1ziiwLTg&t=132s
Thanks to such great talents for an epic evening. David Bowie will live forever in the hearts of both musicians and fans. This show was definitely proof of that! I truly wish they would do this show over and over again.
From left: Danielle Aykroyd, Jeffrey Gaines, Mikel Banks, Shelley Nichole, Richard Barone, Elvis Perkins, Nick Celeste, and Wesley Stace (Photograph by Mair Lewandowski-Reitz)
Mairr (left) and I — before our mascara ran all over our faces, in memory of Bowie
Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta is the author of “On the Guest List” available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Guest-List-Adventures-Music-Journalist/dp/162903908X
