BowieVision (David Bowie tribute)
This is Not My Beautiful Band (Talking Heads tribute)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 9PM

Doug Fir Lounge 
$12 advance/$14 DOS    21+
http://www.dougfirlounge.com/event/692979-bowievision-david-bowie-portland/

Show description:

Doug Fir Lounge presents two powerhouse Seattle tribute bands in a once-in-a-lifetime moonage daydream for lovers of David Bowie and Talking Heads, two of the smartest and most influential acts of the Seventies and Eighties. BowieVisionand This is Not My Beautiful Band have spent the past year packing out the Northwest’s best venues and now join forces to make you sing yourself hoarse and dance yourself silly while shattering your preconceptions about what “tribute bands” are about.

Don’t expect cheesy imitations featuring the obligatory big suit or lightning bolt face paint. What you’ll get instead is far better, namely a couple of eight-piece musical juggernauts burning down the house and putting out the fire with gasoline (musically speaking, of course.) Delivering classics that run the gamut from “Life on Mars” to “Life During Wartime,”BowieVision and This is Not My Beautiful Band will delight diehards and casual fans alike.

BowieVision bio:

While others imitate, BowieVision elevates. Forgoing 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.

Combining deft musicianship, masterful stage presence, and stunning lighting and video effects, BowieVision’s concert-magnitude experience draws capacity crowds to premiere venues like the Crocodile, the Triple Door, the Showbox, and Nectar in Seattle, and the Crystal Ballroom and Doug Fir in Portland. The band puts 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, Modern Love, 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.

This is Not My Beautiful Band Bio:

In the words of guitarist/vocalist Kenny Darling, “This is a project of passion. A loud, public thank you to one the greatest bands of our lives... TALKING HEADS!” In 2013 Kenny and an ever-evolving group of like-minded musicians coalesced around the idea of delving deeply into the music of the band that he says has haunted his music making for years, bonding over countless conversations that circled through cul de sacs crammed with Talking Heads imagery, an intoxicating loop of Stop Making Sense perpetually on their TV screens and in their heads. Their debut at 2013’s annual “Come As You Aren't” cover night at the Skylark has led to a string of blissful performances in Seattle and Portland with many more planned in 2015.