Live Review: The Mind Warp Pavilion: David Bowie Celebration

It is hard to believe it has been almost a year since David Bowie shuffled off this mortal coil to the big gig in the sky. For those fans who wanted to celebrate what would have been The Thin White Duke's 70th birthday, Saturday offered a chance to see him off in style and to remember the sounds that made him such a touchstone in popular music for five decades.

Red Parrot Reunion organised a who's who of local artists. There were musos from bands new and old with reps from Perth mainstays including (but not limited to) Jebediah, The Caballeros, Schvendes, Polite Society, The Bible Bashers, Sugar Army and The Devil Rides Out. If you have been to a local show in the last 20 years, it is likely you knew someone on stage. Plus, MC duties for the evening were provided by "perthonality" Bob Gordon.

Just as Bowie was not simply a musician this show was multi-discipline, with live VJs playing classic music videos and an incredible live-painted canvas by Rahalie McGuirk. All the while Claude Mono provided a soundtrack of Bowie originals, remixes and reinterpretations.

Gate One Theatre is a new venue, having previously been Wool Pavilion (think shearing demonstrations at the Royal Show). Sadly, it seems they haven't quite worked out all the kinks with the sound; it was muddy towards the front and a little airy towards the back. Hopefully they will get these issues resolved for future shows.

The live music was split into three different sets, showcasing different elements of Bowie's back catalogue. The first group riffed on the rockier side with cuts like Diamond Dogs, Rebel Rebel, Queen Bitch and Ziggy Stardust. The band played with a stripped-back, garage-rock sound.

The middle set focused on ballads. There were some interesting interpretations, such as Lewis Rice O'Donnell channelling Bob Dylan while singing Young Americans. The highlights in our opinion were Rachael Dease's mournful, bluesy rendition of Wild Is The Wind and Maurice Flavel's version of Sorrow.

The final set focused on some of the biggest hits of Bowie's career. Golden Years, Space Oddity, Fashion and Starman caused a giant party to break out at the front of the stage with couples dancing along in time. Timothy Nelson took to the stage playing an extended rendition of Let's Dance, with all the previous musicians joining him on stage for a singalong. However it was Dez Richardson who channelled the recently passed star with a heartbreaking version of Lazarus off Bowie's final album Blackstar. There were tears all around, which quickly changed to laughter with the crowd singing, "happy birthday, David!"