Space Oddity - David Brighton's tribute to David Bowie - The Cannery, Friday Nov 9, 2012

A chance discovery by John Fallon of this act brought us all to the outskirts of town to the Cannery, land of tribute acts. I am always a bit wary of tribute shows, but some can be fun, in a campy sort of way, as this one was. Brighton looks astonishing like Bowie, especially on stage, and his production is quite well done. A group consisting of two guitarists, bass, drums and a female keyboardist, all of whom could sing amazingly well, they were able to replicate many of the sounds of the different eras of the man's music - the synthesizer was capable of an amazing imitation of a saxophone, for instance.

The set jumped around a bit chronologically, starting with "Fame" & "Let's Dance" along with a few others, before moving into the Ziggy period (along with costume changes - all pretty accurate) and then into the 80's hits. Videos on the large screens bookending the stage helped with transitions & changes, as did some longer guitar jams.

Some of the song choices were a little strange - a Motown cover from a live album that I don't have, the song that Bowie did with Jagger (here with a local, and not very good, Mick Jagger impersonator from a Stones tribute band), and even odder, Cream's "I Feel Free" and, for an encore, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, "The Time Warp"! I would have preferred more 60's/70's Bowie tunes, but the audience was digging on everything that he provided.

We weren't sure who was going to come out for a show like this, but everyone there seemed to be at least our age and while quite frumpy (we were the only ones dressed in anything other than t-shirts & jeans or shorts), all seemed knowledgeable about this music. Makes us wonder what these folks looked like in their youth!

All in all, pretty fun night for $5.00! Obviously, not the same as seeing the real deal, but a good production (though better rock'n'roll wigs would be nice) and worth checking out if he comes your way. For more info, see www.davidbowietribute.com