THE ULTIMATE BOWIE TRIBUTE SHOW

Thurs 6^th Dec 2001  

It was one event not to be missed, Rob Storm, Little Wonder (later known as Changes Bowie) and myself were all booked to play during the course of the evening. There was an  unveiling of a Plaque dedicated to Bowie as a living legend which took place in the early afternoon. This was performed by Mary Finnigan, a good friend of David during the late sixties. Another friend and one time fellow ‘Arts Labber’ Steve Harley turned up and performed a great set during the afternoon. I met some wonderful people over the course of the next few hours including Stephen Roberts who also performed at the Three Tuns during the same period as David. He gave some great accounts of the shenanigans which occurred at the venue during those times. 

I was introduced to Mark Carr Pritchett (Bowies 2^nd lead guitarist back then) and his wife Linda and spent a lot of time in their company. We had been chatting for quite a while, when Mark disappeared only to reappear after half an hour with David's 12 string Hagstrom guitar (David gave the guitar to Mark after the 1980 Floor Show), Mark presented the guitar to me with the words “If you’re going to play those songs, you may as well play them on the guitar David used to write and perform them on!” Like I was going to refuse that honour! Cheers Mark!!! I was absolutely thrilled to be performing many of those early Bowie songs in practically the same spot as David performed them all those years before and with the same guitar and in front of many of his long time friends and fans. It was, I must say a strange, overwhelming but fantastic experience. The set I performed was all acoustic, playing many songs from David’s early repertoire. Here I think are most of them but in no particular order

 Janine - An Occasional Dream - After All - Space Oddity - Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud -  Kooks - Five Years - The Man Who Sold The World - Billy Porter (Mick Ronson)- Let Me Sleep Beside You.

Rob Storm played a great set of Bowies classics as did Tone with his band Little Wonder, that seven piece band rocked. I met both Rob, Tone and the band for the first time there and we are all good mates to this day.

Sat 1^st Feb 2003

A year and a bit later we did it all again. Many familiar faces were there including George Underwood and his wife Birgit  who were a pleasure to chat with.  It was an honour for me to have Mark Carr Pritchett join me on stage with his guitar for Queen Bitch and Moonage Daydream.  Rob Storm and Changes Bowie followed with their sets bringing the night to a climax with all of us on stage sharing the vocals to All The Young Dudes. A superb ending to another great day. Finally, thanks need to go to all the people who organised both events and the many real hardcore Bowie fans that made it all a success for all who attended and also for the charities who benefited from peoples generosity. Paul x

Click the pictures to enlarge

Paul with Bowies guitar & a rare shot of the man himself with the same guitar!!