Back to the 70s

David Bowie has been a huge part of my life since I was 11. I wrote about my fandom in my old blog here, and his death here.

I haven't been able to listen to his music or watch any of the TV programmes about him since his death.
So I was a little apprehensive when my old mucker Margery (Maddie) and I went to darkest Shepherd's Bush to see Woody Woodmansey's super group Holy Holy performing Ziggy Stardust in its entirety. Woody, as Bowie fans will know, was the original drummer in the Spiders from Mars. Sadly he is the only surviving member.

We checked in at a nearby hotel and it was like the good old days in terms of having a pre-concert snifter. However, in 2017 we prefer crystal champagne flutes carried from home and M&S English rose sparkling wine, rather than Concorde wine in a mug as we did back in the early 80s.

Margery suited and booted ready for the show

In terms of what we wore, Margery is an expert in fnding great clothes from sale rails and charity shops, so she was rocking a cute red jacket, dress and the most amazing gold brogues. I was giving the "Elton John sequin bomber jacket" (Asos) another outing along with new Boden white jeans, my cat t-shirt from Anthropologie (past season) and gold boots from Office (past season). Clutch from Next. 

After a quick dinner we were in our seats at the Shepherd's Bush Empire for the support act, which included Tony Visconti's son and daughter.  Their mother is Mary Hopkin who was a well-known singer - remember "Those were the days?" His daughter, Jessica Lee Morgan, also played during the Holy Holy set.

We didn't see any Aladdin Sane make-up flourishes on the faces of the audience but we did see a few pairs of gold footwear. Not least of all, ours!

The gig itself was wonderful. Moving, yes - particularly the haunting opening drum beats of Five Years, and the moment when Tony Visconti and his daughter started playing Space Oddity, and I could imagine Bowie smiling down on his old friend and producer. The images from the 70s featuring Bowie and his band were also memorable and moving.

Glenn Gregory's vocals were superb: it really is baffling to us how he never became a huge star, because he has a great voice and a lot of charisma.

Keyboard player Berenice Scott is always fascinating to watch - we saw her with Heaven 17 a few months ago. She's the daughter of Robin Scott who was in the group "M" - their big hit was Pop Muzik.

After the Ziggy Stardust album was exhausted we were treated to some of The Man Who Sold the World, which was the album Holy Holy launched with. Holy Holy was a hidden track on the album.

The venue was stuffed to the gunnels and the crowd was in great voice. The band was blown away by the London audience. Yay!

Our next gig will be a huge stadium experience when Depeche Mode play in London. I'm not thinking gold boots for that one.....

Sharing this post with Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style, #IwillwearwhatIwant at Not Dressed As Lamb, Turning Heads Tuesday at Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, and Style with a Smile at Style-splash.

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