This Saturday, I’ll be back behind the drum kit to pay tribute to David Bowie at Maxwell’s Tavern in Hoboken, NJ. You may remember the first iteration of this tribute back in August. Well, now it’s time to do it again – The David Bowie Engagement 2.0.
Saturday, October 29th at 8pm. Maxwell’s Tavern
1039 Washington Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
Tickets $10 on Ticketfly
Join me and dozens of other musicians as we pay tribute to one of the musical greats. I’ll be playing on classics like “Ziggy Stardust,” “Fame,” “Rebel, Rebel,” and “Heroes.” Here’s a nice article about the event from hMAG. And here is the Facebook Event where you can see photos from our rehearsal and other behind-the-scenes happenings. This is an event not to be missed! Be sure to get your tickets today before it sells out!
I remember the night I learned it all was happening.
I was riding an Uber from Hoboken back into the city. I had just played a solo acoustic show at Northern Soul. It was the day we learned of Prince’s passing. I was sharing the Uber with Jaime de Jesus, mastermind of ALEO Productions and also the man who not only booked me for the night but also ran the soundboard.
He said, “Hey man, I’m putting together a tribute for David Bowie. It’s going to be on the waterfront. We’ll have the Manhattan skyline in the background. The sun will be going down. It’s going to be extraordinary. You should be part of it.”
How couldn’t I?
“Oh… And instead of doing the thing where I have a core backing band and then swap out the singers, I’m going to open it up. I want to feature everyone… the full breadth of this music community.”
It was then that I knew this man had to be insane. Not only is he trying to put together a tribute to a brilliant and musically-challenging artist, but he’s also trying to organize the entire music community? Just thinking about getting a rehearsal scheduled made my head spin, let alone how we were going to orchestrate the changes during the performance. Each drummer will have to use the same exact setup… there’s no time to make adjustments when we would be constantly swapping!
But wow, did it happen. The community pulled together and more than 35 musicians paid tribute to the music of David Bowie in front of the most beautiful skyline there is. It was an amazing display of community, artistry, and camaraderie. I felt proud to be part of something so special.
Here is the final song of the evening, “Young Americans,” where the role of backing vocals was assigned to EVERYONE. So here we are. Everyone involved in the performance on stage at once. Enjoying the moment.
