David Bowie Tribute To Be Streamed On Skype, Highlights From First Show

The hottest ticket so far this year has been to the David Bowie tribute shows. Originally created by Michael Dorf to celebrate “legendary artists and their definitive achievements in music,” Dorf told Billboard that he had tried to set up a show for several years, and it was not until last fall that he received approval from the artist.

The show was announced on Bowie’s birthday, January 8, the same day his last album, Blackstar, was issued. Tickets went on sale for the March 31 Carnegie Hall show on January 10, the day Bowie died, and were sold out within two hours. As this no longer became just a celebration of achievements, but now a memorial, a second show at the Radio City Music Hall was added and promptly sold out.

David Bowie fans all over the world can have their own tribute party, as the concert will be streamed by Skype in exchange for $18 for charity.

Most of the organizations that will benefit from this concert are music charities that educate and train children, including Church Street School for Music & Art, FIKS (Fixing Instruments for Kids in Schools), and The Orchestra Now. The complete listing is on the website.

There are “up to 18 artists” expected to perform the streamed event, including many of the Carnegie Hall performers such as the Pixies, Blondie (Debbie Harry), Michael Stipe, and Jakob Dylan. In addition, Amanda Palmer, Miley Cyrus, and hipster favs Mumford & Sons are also scheduled to perform at the Radio City Music Hall for the streamed show. Long-time Bowie producer and musician Tony Visconti will also return, most likely with the supergroup Holy Holy that performs only Bowie songs.

No one knows if the performers who participated in the Carnegie show will sing the same Bowie songs at Radio City Music Hall or if they will change it up a bit. For example, it could be fun if Sean Lennon performed “John, I’m Only Dancing,” a song Bowie wrote for his good friend and Sean’s father, John Lennon. Performance artist Amanda Palmer could honor Bowie with a great mime performance, as Bowie was a student of mime and years ago told NPR how disappointed he was that mime was not so popular in the states.

“And it broke our hearts when we came over here and realized that mimes were kind of – they’re tantamount to – some kind of artistic criminals.”

The 19-song set list from the Carnegie show included songs from Bowie’s entire catalog, but the mostly from the 70s, the Thin White Duke’s most prolific period, especially the iconic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The set list and original Bowie albums are as followed:

Cyndi Lauper – “Suffragette City,” from the 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

Holy Holy – “Width of a Circle.” from the 1970 album, The Man Who Sold The World.
Robyn Hitchcock – “Soul Love,” from the 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

Laurie Anderson – “Always Crashing In The Same Car,” from the 1977 album Low.

Eugene Hurtz of Gogol Bordello – “Breaking Glass,” from the 1977 album Low.

Debbie Harry – “Starman,” from the 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

Joseph Arthur – “The Man Who Sold The World,” from the 1970 album, The Man Who Sold The World.

The Mountain Goats – “Word On A Wing,” from the 1976 album Station to Station.

Bettye LaVette – “It Ain’t Easy,” from the 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

J Mascis & Sean Lennon – “Quicksand/Whatever’s Cool With Me” 1971 Hunky Dory and 1991 Dinosaur Jr. album Whatever’s Cool With Me.

Michael Stipe & Karen Olsen – “Ashes to Ashes,” from the 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

Perry Farrell – “Rebel Rebel,” from the 1974 album Diamond Dogs.

Cat Power – “Five Years,” from the 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

Ann Wilson – “Let’s Dance,” from the 1983 album of the same name.

Rickie Lee Jones – “All The Young Dudes,” from the 1974 album David Live (and the 1972 album of the same name by Mott the Hoople).

Pixies – “Cactus,” on the 2002 album Heathen.

Jakob Dylan – “Heroes,” from the 1977 album Heroes.

The Flaming Lips – “Life On Mars,” from the 1971 album Hunky Dory.

The New York City Children’s Choir and the Carnegie Hall audience – “Space Oddity,” from the 1972 album of the same name (originally 1969 album entitled David Bowie).

[Image via Photobra|Adam Bielawski|Wikimedia Commons|Cropped & Resized| CC BY-SA 3.0]