While others imitate, BowieVision elevates. Foregoing the pretense of wigs and makeup and focusing instead on interpreting David Bowie’s eclectic and expansive musical catalog, BowieVision raises the bar for what a tribute band can be.
In fact, a BowieVision performance is better described as a celebration than a tribute. While lead singer Stefan Mitchell’s dynamic vocals and sense of showmanship are impressive enough, he also shares Bowie’s rare gift for connecting with an audience by creating an atmosphere that’s simultaneously epic and intimate, an approach that resonates with audiences on a deeper level than mere impersonation ever could.
Members of Northwest lounge-pop mainstays the Dudley Manlove Quartet and special guests joined forces in 2013 to share their love of Bowie’s music with audiences in Seattle and beyond. Combining deft musicianship, masterful stage presence, and stunning lighting effects, BowieVision brings a concert-magnitude experience to every size venue, putting its unique stamp on rock anthems like Rebel Rebel and Suffragette City; the wide-screen balladry of Life on Mars?, Space Oddity, and Changes; mid-70s “plastic soul” (Golden Years, Young Americans, Fame;) art-pop experiments like Fashion, Heroes, and Ashes to Ashes; and the high-sheen Eighties classics Let’s Dance, China Girl, and Blue Jean.
Although Bowie’s personas have been ever-changing, his music is timeless.
It’s this realization that elevates BowieVision above the realm of trite nostalgia. It may be a bold statement to make about a “tribute” band, but it’s a fact: BowieVision is the real deal. Accept no imitations.