If you closed your eyes, it all worked.
You were there, in the glare of early 70 s glam, freaking out in a moon-age daydream with the beautifully androgynous sorcerer David Bowie.
When you opened your eyes, you were at the Summit Music Hall in Denver on a snowy spring Sunday night. It was 2016, and Bowie was dead.
Such is the power of long-time Bowie producer/bassist Tony Visconti and drummer Mick “Woody Woodmansey’s Holy Holy, a tribute band that provides a tangible lifeline to both the music and the man.
Holy Holy is more legitimate super-group than tribute band, but their show at the Summit on Sunday was both homage and celebration of the extraordinary music of David Bowie: First in their performance of the entire 1970 Bowie album The Man Who Sold The World, and then in a well-curated series of early 70 s Bowie favorites.
Holy Holy s bassist Tony Visconti produced over a dozen Bowie albums including The Man Who Sold The World, Young Americans, Heroes, and Bowie s final, extraordinary recording, Blackstar. Drummer Woody Woodmansey lent his thundering drumming to The Man Who Sold The World along with some of Bowie s most important records, including Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. At 65, he is the last surviving member of the Spiders from Mars. The Holy Holy collaboration began before Bowie s death in January, but they decided that continuing the tour and presenting this important period of his work was a fitting way to honor their friend.
Related: Tony Visconti talks Bowie’s last days, new music
Anyone who s ever tried in earnest to cover a Bowie song knows that his agile, four-octave range, theatrical song-acting and poetic lyrics make it a daunting task. My vague familiarity with UK techno pop trio Heaven 17 left me feeling skeptical that lead singer Glenn Gregory was the right man for the tough job of carrying Bowie s vocals. That assumption turned out to be entirely false. Above the lush, layered orchestrations of The Man Who Sold The World , Gregory s voice soared. Furthermore, he was able to summon just enough of young Bowie s dramatic, lilting sneer to keep his representation realistic but not given over to theatrics.
The rest of the eight-piece Holy Holy ensemble was a similarly impressive group of accomplished musicians, including the twin guitar wizardry of James Stevenson (the Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel, the Cult) and Paul Cudderford (Bob Geldof, Tom Jones, Cat Stevens). The age-diverse Summit Music Hall crowd responded with a kind of gratitude and jubilance that clearly inspired the band, and after their third and final encore- a raucous Suffragette City — Woodmansey stepped to the microphone to offer an emotional adieu: “That was really, that was really special. The exchange (between audience and band) was so good. Thanks for coming here tonight to help us celebrate the man.”
Based on the smiles (and some tears) of the audience streaming out into the chilly April night, the gratitude was mutual.
Set list: Holy Holy, Summit Music Hall, 04/17/16
