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Yes, as Brixton keeps reminding us, David Bowie was born there. And what did he achieve in Brixton? Nothing: he was not a revolutionary seven-year-old. If we’re talking the Man Who Changed The World, the true spiritual home of David Bowie in London is undoubtedly Beckenham. It’s in BR3 that the Bromley-raised superstar held his Arts Lab music nights, it’s where he lived in a big old manor house with the Spiders from Mars while they recorded their seminal albums ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, ‘Hunky Dory’ and ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’, and it’s in the Croydon Rec park that he organised, compered and performed at the one-day Growth Summer Festival on August 16 1969.
The last decade or so has seen an annual festival held in the park in tribute to the Thin White Duke, and to serve as a fundraiser for the restoration of the park’s iconic Victorian bandstand (which the original festival was held on). Bowie was actually alive when the fundraising effort began, leading one to wonder how the hell much a Victorian bandstand costs, but we’re told the end is finally in sight and work will finally start in September and wrap up next April.
Launched as Memory of a Free Festival and latterly renamed Beckenham’s Bowie Oddity, the latterday festival is a bloody good day out for any self-respecting Bowie fan. The vibe is basically tribute gig-meets-church fête, and while line-up details tend to be kept under wraps, it’s typically a mix of acoustic acts doing their own thing, a memorabilia auction, and, inevitably, at least one straight-up tribute act, and occasional Bowie-related guests: his legendary producer Tony Visconti popped in in 2019. Plus you can enjoy sundry food, drink and merch stalls and spend a pleasant afternoon in the company of lots of people with lightning bolts facepainted on. It’s definitely not a big, slick affair, but it is charming, for a good cause, and there are lots of Bowie tunes – who could possibly want more?
Bowie’s Beckenham Oddity is in Croydon Road Recreation Ground, Beckenham. Sat Aug 13, noon to 8.30pm.