Tribute show all about the Starman

A FAITHFUL homage to one of the most influential music artists of all time, David Bowie, hits the stage at the Golden Vine tomorrow evening.

Bowie, born David Robert Jones, was renowned for periodically changing his image, his style, and his genre-blending sound, which is considered to have helped shape everything from glam rock to electronic and experimental music.

The elfin focal point of the performance, Jon Harris-Black, who spent his high school years in Bendigo, said his STARMAN tribute began to evolve after a friend told him he had striking Bowie feel to him.

“I went away and thought, hang on a minute, actually, let’s have a look at this,” he said.

“I was familiar with him prior to that, but I’d never really done a deep dive into his discography before.

“So, I spent over a year delving into his music, how he acted and what his voice was like, and realised there’s a lot of things that I identify in him as being quite similar to myself.”

Harris-Black said tomorrow’s performance will aim to be as close to perfectly emulating the Thin White Duke as possible.

“One thing that stood out to me from one fan was that they’d been burned in the past by some previous tributes they’d seen,” he said.

“They’d seen several acts where they felt that it was a little bit of a piss take, dressing up vaguely like Bowie and singing some of his songs and kind of mocking him a little bit.

“That’s certainly the furthest thing from what I want to accomplish.

“People can tell that there’s a love and a respect there for the man himself and for the music and the counterculture he created.

“I’d definitely say if you’re a Bowie fan who wants to actually sit down and listen to as close to how he performed back in the day, then come along and give it a try.”

STARMAN – The David Bowie Tribute Show Live takes place tomorrow at the Golden Vine Hotel, 135 King Street.

Tickets are available at Humanitix.