concert film
David Bowie and the sudden end of an era
British musician David Bowie on stage (1997). photo
© Markus Beck/dpa
50 years after David Bowie’s last appearance as Ziggy Stardust, the restored concert film is being released in its entirety for the first time. Bowie’s longtime pianist Mike Garson remembers the special evening.
The audience that night in July 1973 was as horrified as the musicians, who were caught off guard by Bowie’s announcement. “They were shocked,” recalls Bowie’s pianist Mike Garson (78) in an interview with the German Press Agency in London. Although Garson was on tour, he was not a permanent member of the Spiders. Ironically, Bowie was the only one to previously reveal that he would say goodbye to the fictional character Ziggy Stardust and break up the band. However, he wanted to continue working with Garson.
Celebrity guests
To date, around 5,000 spectators – including Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, members of the Rolling Stones, singer Barbra Streisand and Hollywood star Tony Curtis – have experienced a spectacular show at the Hammersmith Odeon, which will be published in its entirety for the first time in 50 years. After the cinema premiere last month, the restored concert film “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture” by director DA Pennebaker is now also available on Blu-Ray and DVD for the anniversary, the soundtrack on CD, LP and in the stream.
“It was basically the highlight of the tour,” Mike Garson recalls of the special evening. “The band is in full swing, there’s a camaraderie and the music gets better every night. At some point you really feel like you’re becoming one with it and you’ve got it. And then you’re playing in London, David’s hometown, to the best fans the world. You could feel the energy in the room.” New York avant-garde pianist Garson didn’t even know David Bowie before he was hired for his US tour – and stayed on.
Standing in a shadowy corner of the stage at the Hammersmith Odeon, he is virtually invisible in the film, only audible. But Garson had his big performance before the legendary concert. After experimenting with a few songs at rehearsal that afternoon, Bowie suggested that the pianist open the show on his own. “I felt a sense of panic inside me,” says Garson. “But I managed and played those four songs before the band came out. David later told me he was more nervous about me than I was. He was such a good soul.”
fans in ecstasy
The concert film documents the ecstatic atmosphere in the hall. Screaming fans cheer “Space Oddity” or “Suffragette City”. Jeff Beck joined for three songs. The guest appearance at the request of the guitar legend was missing for a long time. “I think he didn’t like his pants, something crazy!” Garson laughs. Other rumors say Beck wasn’t happy with his performance. He finally agreed to the publication before his death in January 2023. “I’m glad it’s in now,” Garson rejoices, “because I’m jamming on piano with Mick Ronson on guitar and Jeff Beck, two of the greatest rock guitarists of all time. How often do you see that?”
He describes the days after the concert as “painful”. The surprising band-off disappointed the members badly. “They probably should have been told beforehand,” said Garson, whom Bowie recruited as the only musician on the tour for his next album, Diamond Dogs. “David was kind of done with that era. He was a creative soul who always had to move on. It has nothing to do with friends, personality or bands. He was always like that. Sometimes I was on an album, sometimes not, just like all other.”
Departure from glam rock
The end of Ziggy Stardust marked the beginning of the next chapter in David Bowie’s eclectic career. While “Diamond Dogs” from 1974 was still stylistically similar, the follow-up “Young Americans” a year later marked a departure from glam rock. “Station To Station” and Bowie’s Berlin trilogy followed. In total there were 26 studio albums. Mike Garson can be heard on about a dozen of them. The pianist continued to work with David Bowie up until his death in 2016, sharing the stage with the singer at an estimated 1,000 shows.
Mike Garson is not surprised that even a concert that was recorded 50 years ago is still met with great interest and enthusiasm. “David’s music never sounded like oldies and it never will because it’s timeless,” says the 78-year-old, who now lives in Los Angeles. “Just like Mozart and Beethoven are timeless, like Chopin and Stravinsky, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane or Miles Davis. Some of the really great artists stand the test of time.”