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Once he sang about having five years left, now it’s five years since he left us: January 10 marks the fifth anniversary of David Bowie’s death. Two days before that, on January 8, it’s what would have been his seventy-fourth birthday. So it’s the perfect time to ignore the still-generally-awful situation out in the wider world and have a little celebration of the life and times of the Thin White Duke.
Naturally you’ll be wanting to smash his back catalogue, but there are also a couple of very special one-off web events happening to feed your Bowiemania.
First up, there’s ‘A Bowie Celebration: Just for One Day!’. Its a gargantuan three-hour-long streamed concert event in which a glittering array of musical and acting royalty – including Trent Reznor, Duran Duran, Billy Corgan, Macy Gray, Gary Oldman, Gary Barlow, Anna Calvi and loads more – perform covers of the Thin White Duke’s work, both greatest hits and deep cuts.
The event is produced and hosted by Mike Garson, Bowie’s longest-serving band member (best known for that shiver-inducing piano solo on ‘Aladdin Sane’). He heads up a veritable Who’s Who of the great man’s alumni – from Rick Wakeman through to the ‘Blackstar’ band – to provide backing.
As the title suggests, it really is just for one day: the concert begins streaming at 6pm PST on Friday January 8 (that’s 2am GMT on Saturday January 9), and will be available for 24 hours thereafter, with $2 from each $25 ticket sale going to the charity Save the Children. You can book tickets here.
Secondly, there’s a welcome return for ‘Lazarus’, the avant-garde musical Bowie completed in the last months of his life. It had runs in New York and London, and a recording of the latter will be available to watch for three days, from January 8 to 10, streaming at fixed times in GMT, PST, EST, CET and AEDT. Buy a streaming ticket here.
Starring Michael C Hall (who also appears in ‘A Bowie Celebration’), ‘Lazarus’ is a hauntingly weird sequel to the seminal Bowie-starring flick ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ that received a glowing review from Time Out London back in 2016.
And to soundtrack your own tributes, here’s our take on the best Bowie albums and songs.
Now check out some more very cool virtual things to do this week.