Revisits

You know that sometimes you are wary of revisiting something you immensely enjoyed in case it's not the same the second time around.  Well, I wondered about that before but I was enamoured after and for strangely similar reasons.  At the first gig by The Thin White Ukes, I was quietly sitting listening to perceptive lyrics in admiration while sunk in a very satisfying interpretation by the band.  Given this is Bowie played by 3 mandolins, you could be excused for skepticism, but I found it the same second time around.  Perhaps this time even more aware of lyrics, of emotional depth, of intellectual playfulness and evident empathy.  I think it was Hello Spaceboy , track 4, set 1, a tune I don't think I'd ever heard before, that rekindled this.  Suffice to say this band has a great time playing the original lines on the most improbable of instruments (ukes, of course, not the drums) and laying down harmonies that were sweet and correct and rich and sourced from the originals.  Michael confirmed it from the stage: that they play music of Bowie on "instruments seemingly ill-suited to the purpose".  As for playing other than Bowie, he introduced a self-penned track written on the bus about admiring Bowie but had a second take.  The TWUs played 2 sets, of 9 then 11 tunes, all from Bowie.  There were old standards, some funkies, a few that were unrecognised by me (Hello Spaceboy, Everyone says "Hi").  Everyone says "Hi" just confirmed my chats in the break about Bowie and his empathy.  The stylophone reappeared in Moonage daydream for a bigger solo this time (wow! jazz! Stylophone!).  The band's  joy and humour and interactions were there in this intimate space with a very supportive and Bowie-aware audience.  The final tunes was The man who sold the world.  Bowie spoke of himself often.  I'd just caught a snippet of a show on ABCRN recently which spoke of Bowie being lucky to fall on great backing musos.  Yes, but.  He seems so much more.  Given all this I can't think of him as other than a star of considerable depth.  One chatter had studied Bowie and called him a genius of the C20th including from all musics.  More to think of there, but suffice to say I was not disappointed by my revisit and my admiration for the Duke himself just grows, along with the Ukes, the band that portrays his so well if so implausibly.

The Thin White Ukes play the music of David Bowie, the Thin White Duke.  TWUs performed at Smiths.  They comprise Michael Dwyer, Better France and Robert Stephen (ukes, vocals) with Ashley Davies (drums).

PS.  I just checked how prolific was Bowie.  Bowiebible.com lists 469 songs.  Just to compare: beatlesbible.com lists 342; bobdylanfandom.com suggests 456 songs; jonimitchell.com suggests 212.

Revisiting the Duke

Bowie died a few years ago, aged 69, just 2 days after his final album, Blackstar, was released.  Liver cancer.  I remember him from his earliest days of fame, as Ziggy Stardust, released 1972.  It was just an amusement, I thought, when I suggested to Megan and a few similarly-aged mates to attend The Thin White Ukes at Smiths: a trio (1xfemale, 2xmale) performing Bowie and specifically the Ziggy Stardust album on vocals and 3 ukeleles (!)  Well, just derivative perhaps, but the video was an amusing outing live at a fair with interactions and good harmonies, so why not.  In the end, I found it a much more intriguing affair, as I entered into some Bowie I didn't know, and listened more intently to words.  The band did an amazing job: first set was the album in order, even marking the end of side one with clicks and pops (after track 5).  Then a break and a second set of 11 songs, one lesser known, at least to me, Slip away, but lots of renowned tunes: Fame, Let's dance, Sorrow, Rebel rebel, Space oddity of course, Heroes, The man who sold the world.  Just hearing the list makes me realise I know more of Bowie than I thought.  A few faves that I might have requested (funkies  Young Americans and China girl) didn't even get a mention.  And they put on a great show.  Costumes, especially on Betty, and patter, wry but not too much.  Some history.  Really impressive harmonies that channelled the originals with real respect.  Surprisingly effective instrumentation from just three ukes (oh, and one Stylophone solo, $50 on eBay).  Even the funky tunes worked; Fame was great if Let's dance was more a challenge.  I'm told they  also play with a drummer but he couldn't make it to Canberra.  That's too bad.  I was air drumming throughout (mostly snare on 3, syncopated kick, hi-hat on the beat = rock); it was duly  immersive.  I was touched by some of the lyrics; blissed out by the harmonies;  intrigued by the performative nature of the music; several times intrigued by some wonderfully effective and unexpected chord changes.  There was much to this man, Bowie, as a performer but also for his stories and themes.  It's got me looking into Wikipedia for his history and life changes (what's your name, what's your name).  All this through a band with authentic presentation and glorious harmonies with due respect for Bowie's genius.  So this guy was more than I'd expected and this band reminded me of that.  Great night and thanks to the Thin White Duke and the Thin White Ukes.

The Thin White Ukes performed The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and 11 other Bowie songs at Smiths.  The TWUs are Robert Stephen, Betty France and Michael Dwyer (vocals, ukelele).