2018 in Review: Bowie Days, Part 2

Hi everyone,

When it comes to David Bowie, I apparently can't say enough. Read Bowie Days, Part 1, to learn about the David Bowie is exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, which I visited last summer. Read on to hear about a behind-the-scenes lecture by exhibition curator Matthew Yokobosky, who made the exhibition unforgettable.

David Bowie Is: Celebrating an Artist of Startling Transformations, Smithsonian Associates, Ripley Center, July 20, 2018 

Photo: Greg Gorman (1982)

Several people who attended the David Bowie Is: Celebrating an Artist of Startling Transformations lecture by the Brooklyn Museum's Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture Matthew Yokobosky had not visited the exhibition. (But the people who sat next to me saw it while vacationing in Buenos Aries.) If you want to hear from Mr. Yokobosky himself, you can listen to this interesting pre-lecture preview, the Not Old Better podcast, which gives you more background into David Bowie's life and creative process. 

The lecture also focused on things I never considered before, including: 

• What goes into planning and creating an exhibition, 
• How an exhibition must be tailored to whatever space in which its installed, and
• How much creative freedom a curator has in what and how exhibits are presented. 

 This was fascinating! I suddenly wanted to be a museum curator! 

To prepare for David Bowie is, Mr. Yokobosky traveled to other locations to view the exhibition and figure out how he wanted to present it. For example, in one place, the exhibition opened with a room that covered David Bowie's childhood and what was happening musically and politically at that time. Because the focus wasn't on David Bowie, Mr. Yokobosky decided against opening the Brooklyn Museum's exhibition that way. Instead, he went for an in-your-face approach that I loved. He also got to pick different items from David Bowie's archives that he wanted to feature! Can you imagine? 

Here are some interesting notes from this wonderful presentation:

• David Bowie had archived his items since the 1960s in four different locations around the world – wherever he happened to be closest to at the time. The David Bowie is exhibition opened in 2013 with 400 items. By the time it got to Brooklyn, it had 500 items in a 14,000-square-foot space. 

• The archive warehouses are filled with rows of crates (which made me think of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Each crate is labeled with a Polaroid of its contents. Mr Yokobosky saw one crate with a photo of a giant lighted "W" and asked the managers, "Do you have the other letters?" They did! This is what became the first item visitors saw in the Brooklyn Museum's exhibition, set up behind a glittery iconic costume that screamed David Bowie, the Showman. (Imagine walking up to this with David Bowie music blasting in your ears. It was a fitting welcome to David Bowie is!) 

Photo: Jennifer Picht

• These lighted BOWIE letters were used as a backdrop for the set of shows David Bowie performed in each of New York's boroughs during the New York City Marathon Tour in 2002. For this exhibition, seven of the eight LED lights were covered and the overall brightness was dimmed. 

• One time, when David Bowie was storing a piece of fan art, someone questioned whether it was worth saving, and he responded, "Ours is not to judge; ours is to archive." (I miss this guy's sense of humor.) 

• At one point, David Bowie's waist was 23" to 26", which is why designers loved to dress him and everything looked great. In 2002, Vogue borrowed the suit he wore in the "Life on Mars?" video, and Kate Moss couldn't fit into it. (That's right, Kate Moss!) The magazine staff had to call David Bowie to ask for permission to let out the seams a bit for the photo shoot.

Photo: Nick Knight

• The suits that David Bowie wore in The Man Who Fell to Earth were made by Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash's mom, fashion designer and costumier Ola Hudson. 

Photo: Steve Schapiro

• To soundproof the exhibition's concert room, special insulation was used: "It's made of blue jeans and it's reusable and it's flameproof," Mr. Yokobosky explained. "It's fantastic!"

• One of the rooms in the Brooklyn Museum's exhibition displayed a single from each of David Bowie's albums. Mr. Yokobosky bought them all through eBay. 

• Isn't it impressive to think how the Tonight album cover was done before Photoshop existed? David Bowie never shied away from experimenting with new things.  

Tonight

• The star pieces under the big black star on the Blackstar album cover represent how "Bowie" is spelled in stars. (There's a whole alphabet.) Do you see it?

Blackstar

• After the Brooklyn Museum exhibition ended, all of the items – most of which have been traveling from museum to museum for five years – need to be put back into storage "to rest" for five years. Don't worry, you can experience the David Bowie is exhibition virtually through this app!

• There were at least two people in this audience who didn't really know who David Bowie was. I applaud them for coming to learn, even if one lady didn't know how to say his last name and tried to correct how it had been pronounced for the last hour throughout the lecture and Q&A session. I also appreciated how graciously Mr. Yokobosky set her straight. 

• Fans visited the David Bowie is exhibition multiple times, and some even bought museum memberships just for that purpose. Mr. Yokobosky said that everyone he spoke to at the Brooklyn Museum had a different entrance point into David Bowie's career, like Ziggy Stardust, MTV, Labyrinth, or even Blackstar. They came to the exhibition to revel in that era, full of memories of how this artist changed their lives. 

It's still happening. David Bowie is still around and always will be. 

2018 in Review: Bowie Days, Part 1

Hi everyone,

David Bowie always showed up with something interesting to add to my world and a funny story to tell. He thought and did things differently from everyone else, surprising me with his music, innovation, and style. 

Welcome! (Photo: Explore BK)

I knew about the David Bowie is exhibition while it was in the works and then traveling to far off places, but it wasn't until I saw it mentioned online that it became an emergency must-see event: after a five-year journey, the exhibition was at its last stop in the Brooklyn Museum, just as David Bowie had planned. 

At the time, I was between jobs. I had been laid off for the first time ever from a job that I acquired to avoid being laid off from my previous job. Now, I was working as a temp in a stress-filled office and looking for a permanent job to rescue me. 

David Bowie knew I needed a break. I think he planted that exhibition reminder in whatever article I was reading. He still has those powers. 

Here's a rundown of my overnight trip to New York to see the David Bowie is exhibition. My next post, 2018 in Review: Bowie Days, Part 2, will cover the follow-up lecture by the Brooklyn Museum's Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture Matthew Kokobosky, which the Smithsonian Associates presented in D.C. (I'm sure that David Bowie planned this event for me too.) 

David Bowie is, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, June 30, 2018

Cousin John's cheese blintzes are still the best. 

The Brooklyn Museum is in Park Slope, the neighborhood where I spent my college internship in the '90s. It was fun but felt odd, taking the familiar subway route from Manhattan and climbing the same steps out to Prospect Park. I walked by my old apartment brownstone and ate my favorite meal at Cousin John's Bakery. I had to start the day off right because it was sure to be a long one. 

My entry ticket into the David Bowie is exhibition was slated for 11 a.m., when the Brooklyn Museum opened. I fully expected to be exploring this exhibition and shop until 6 p.m., when the museum closed. But, of course, this exhibition went beyond my lofty expectations, probably because David Bowie was involved in planning it. With access to his archives, this exhibition was a full-on Bowie-esque, immersive experience. I needed more time to read through and hear everything it had to offer, but here are some moments and thoughts from my delirious day, discovering who David Bowie is:

• The exhibition covered the Brooklyn Museum's fourth and fifth floors, and we all followed the signs, up an elevator and through several galleries, to get there. It felt like a school field trip, and everyone was happy to be on it. 

• The gallery entrance opened to a spacious room with sparse seating. The white walls were covered by three giant cutout orange images of David Bowie. This was your only chance to take any photos to prove you were at his exhibition. 

These are walls I can get behind.

• As we entered the exhibition behind the walls, we received magic audio boxes and headsets with minimal controls. Depending on where I stood in the room, it knew what relevant story to tell me. Suddenly, David Bowie was singing and talking in my ears about whatever I was looking at or reading! As soon as I put those headsets on, I thought David Bowie must have requested this unique feature. In fact, he probably invented it. I loved it! But I had to pause it often because it was hard to concentrate on reading descriptions while David Bowie and those who knew him were talking to me at the same time. 

• The exhibition space was quiet because everyone dutifully wore headsets and was listening attentively. We were students, shuffling along from room to room and piece to piece, reading up on our favorite artist – the man behind the different personas.

Age 16!

• Through most of the exhibition, I read and watched everything, sometimes more than once. For example, there were several performances of "Space Oddity," like this one, that I had never seen before. It was interesting to see films of young David Bowie doing performance art as a mime. Even in photos from his teenage years, he looked so confident and ready for what's next. 

• What I loved most about this exhibition was seeing David Bowie's creative process. He was involved in every aspect of whatever he created, from concept to completion. For example, he drew and painted sketches of album covers that ended up looking exactly like the final product. He wrote tidy, hand-written lyrics and sometimes dotted his i's with circles.

• David Bowie carried around a small framed photo of Little Richard for inspiration. One time, he pointed at it and told his producer that he wanted his music to sound how that image looks. (They got it.) 

• I didn't write down who said this, but this quote spoke the truth: There's old music. There's new music. And then there's David Bowie music. 

• The galleries reflected different aspects of David Bowie's life with such titles as, "David Bowie is... a Human Being" or "David Bowie is... a Star." This was a great approach because, as we all know, David Bowie is...so many different things to so many people.

David Bowie and Jeffrey Wright in Basquiat

• One of the rooms covered David Bowie's time in New York. It included his costume from the Elephant Man, which he performed on Broadway in 1980-1981. (Check out his amazing performance in this video clip!) It also showcased a large bright yellow portrait of his wife, Iman, which he created while working on the 1996 film Basquiat. In that movie, he portrayed Andy Warhol, and this painting reflects that artist's pop-art influence.

• By the time I reached the music video and film rooms, I was running out of time and steam. I skimmed through these rooms since I've seen the videos and films plenty of times before (but I still read all of the explanatory descriptions that accompanied each piece). 

• In the film room, my favorite item was a giant black wardrobe case. David Bowie was stenciled on it in white, and it was covered in various stickers, as you would expect of any old, cherished travel case. One side of this case was filled with film costumes, but the other was fitted with shelves to carry David Bowie's 100 favorite books! He brought these books with him to movie sets (I assume because there's a lot of waiting around between shots). 

The Blue Jean costume is on the right, but do you remember
the others too? (Photo: Shintaro Yamanaka)

• Costumes were displayed along the edges of and sometimes above the music video room (and elsewhere throughout the exhibition). I didn't read all of the costume descriptions because people were crowded around them, but I fought my way through to see some Alexander McQueen and other creations. One o the costumes had Japanese writing on it that phonetically read as, "David Bowie." It translates to, "One who spits out words in a fiery manner." Seeing the "Blue Jean" costume and video almost made me cry. The music video room represented how I first met this guy. Thanks, MTV!

• After the music video room, signs instructed us to remove our headsets as we stepped into the next darkened space. In there, we watched, sang, and danced in front of a floor-to-ceiling grid of screens, blasting never-before-scene concert footage of Ziggy Stardust. That's what we were all waiting for.

• I somewhat dreaded the next room. It summarized how David Bowie's death affected everyone and how fans rejoiced around his final gifts to us, his jazz-infused album Blackstar and stage musical Lazarus. 

• The exhibition's final room was covered with fan art. He kept every piece of artwork that he received from his fans! Had I known that it was an option to send David Bowie a gift, I would have added the Kitties to his collection.

I landed in the gift shop at 5:15 p.m. I bought two copies of the exhibition coffee table book (one for my sister and one for me). It's missing the music and videos, but it's got great photos and information. I didn't consider having to lug these giant, heavy volumes to Penn Station and home, but we made it intact, and it was all worth it! 

If you missed the David Bowie is exhibition, check out the online app, and enjoy the ride!

2016 in Review: Turn it up!

Hi everyone,

Continuing my look back at 2016, here's a music roundup. I went to so many concerts last year that I broke this into section. Catching Up With Old Friends offers '80s and '90s favorites, including Belly, a David Bowie tribute, Duran Duran with Nile Rodgers and Chic, Go-Go's, and Sting and Peter Gabriel. Hanging with the Cool Kids includes jazz and hip-hop greats, such as Esperanza Spalding, Jason Moran and Charles Lloyd, Buster Williams, and Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def). Remembering the Classics reviews two concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center, Forever Gershwin and House of Cards in Concert. Browse the list below and read up on whichever peaks your interest. Enjoy!

Catching Up with Old Friends...

Belly (930 Club)
Belly is a '90s guitar-heavy band, whose most famous song might be "Feed the Tree" from their album Star. That album is still one of my favorites, which is why I was excited to see them at 930 club so many years later. This show had a fun, party-like atmosphere. We were all there for the same reason; we remembered how great this band was, and we were ready to hear them. Belly seemed genuinely happy to see us too. After a long day stuck in traffic, the relieved band appreciated our contagious enthusiasm, and we all sang the songs together. Aside from "Feed the Tree," they plays so many other great tunes, including "Dusted," "Slow Dog," "Low Red Moon," "Gepetto," "Full Moon, Empty Heart," "Angel," and "Stay." Thanks for visiting, Belly. Come back soon!

David Bowie Tribute (Wolf Trap)
When I mentioned David Bowie during dinner with a friend, I got invited to tag along with her and her fiance to a tribute concert at Wolf Trap. I'd never been to Wolf Trap, mainly because it's not easily accessible without a car. It's a great outdoor venue, suitable for picnics. In fact, my friends weren't so familiar with David Bowie and just picked this show randomly to have something to listen to while enjoying a summer evening. They made a great choice! This concert played one of David Bowie's best albums, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, in its entirety, followed by a selection of greatest hits. The album includes classics, like "Starman" and "Suffragette City" and the greatest hits spanned from "Changes" to "Modern Love." The professional cover band was good, and some mourning fans in the crowd were dressed like Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Sane. At one point, it began thundering and a few sporadic drops of rain threatened to dampen our good time. I'm convinced this was just Bowie directing the show and voicing his approval.

Duran Duran with Special Guest Nile Rodgers with Chic (Verizon Center)
On the day of this show, I decided I couldn't pass up seeing Duran Duran at Verizon Center, which is walking distance from my apartment. I bought my ticket an hour before showtime and got an great seat next to a group of millennials who had VIP passes. While they were busy taking selfies, I really enjoyed this show, which opened with two special guests. Newcomer Shamir, whose song "On the Regular" I somehow recognized, was odd yet interesting, but I was most excited to see the guest to follow – Nile Rodgers with Chic. (The video bio on the homepage is fantastic!) I've known Nile Rogers from his work with David Bowie and Duran Duran in the '80s. He's also participated in Sting's rainforest benefit concerts before. Coincidentally, I had just seen an old recording of him performing with Chic and thought they'd be really fun to see live because of the dance-party atmosphere they create. And that's what happened: we were all on our feet dancing from the start, when they played a few of their own disco hits, like "Le Freak" and "Good Times." They finished off the set with a slew of impressive chart-toppers that Nile Rodgers cowrote with other people, including Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" and David Bowie's "Let's Dance." Paying tribute to Bowie, he said, "This man changed the whole course of my life. If it wasn’t for David, I don’t know where my life would be right now. So we dedicate this to him.” Duran Duran also saluted Bowie, injecting a bit of "Space Oddity" into "Planet Earth," while displaying a young photo of him that I'd never seen before on the Jumbotron. These things made me happy.

In fact, everything about this show made me happy. Duran Duran kept Chic's dance party going. When they appeared on stage, the level of screaming in the sports arena noticeably increased. While highlighting its latest great effort, Paper Gods, the band revisited signature songs that span Duran Duran's entire catalog of awesomeness, including "Hungry Like the Wolf," "A View to a Kill," "Ordinary World," "Come Undone," "Girls on Film," and "Rio." Nile Rodgers joined Duran Duran on stage for two songs he helped produce, "Notorious" and the new "Pressure Off."  Some surprises, like the band's cover of Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Do It)," had everyone jumping in the aisles in unison. During the encore, lead singer Simon Le Bon dedicated "Save a Prayer" to the victims of the Bataclan nightclub massacre in Paris. "Music should bring people together," he said. "We feel people are good, and music brings people together, so we play this as a protest against those people who want to dim the light." In solidarity, a sea of cellphone flashlights swayed along to that song. By the end of the show, my voice was hoarse from singing, my throat was scratchy from cheering, my feet were sore from dancing, and my face hurt from smiling. Duran Duran still got it.

Go-Go's (Warner Theatre)

After learning about their farewell tour, I made another last-minute decision to see the Go-Go's at Warner Theatre, another venue near my apartment. I snatched a great fourth-row seat, as the show began with two opening acts. Kaya Stewart reminded me of Gwen Stefani and Madonna while Best Coast felt more like a Liz Phair type band. I liked them both, especially Best Coast, who had an super-fan in my row, snapping photos and gazing longingly at the lead singer. I appreciated these performers' girl-power energy and planned to look into their music when I got home, but I was also annoyed that the main attraction didn't come on stage until around 10 p.m. While I waited, I continued to survey the crowd. Like seeing millennials at Duran Duran's show, the audience members attracted to this concert was baffling, as I noticed people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I guess I assumed everyone would be from my generation and look like my sister and me, but the Go-Gos did play older songs I didn't recognize and newer songs I never bothered to learn. Hearing those that I know by heart, however, was exhilarating: "Tonight," "This Town," "Skidmarks on my Heart," "Vacation," "Our Lips Are Sealed,"  and "Head Over Heals." By the time they ended their set with "We Got the Beat," a song I've loved since grade school, I was delirious.

Sting and Peter Gabriel (Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio)
After sharing the stage with Paul Simon during his last tour, Sting invited his old friend Peter Gabriel to tour with him this year. Like the concerts with Paul Simon, these shows included their individual bands playing on stage together, creating all-encompassing sound. My sister and I attended the Rock Paper Scissors tour's opening show at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, which had a Japanese-themed décor with large video screens that looked like handmade paper and even a back-up singers dressed in a kimono-inspired outfit. I've lost count how many times I've seen Sting, but I've never seen Peter Gabriel before; my sister and I were excited!

Described as a Battle of the Bands, this 3-hour concert included nearly 30 songs by both artists. They took turns singing their own songs, sometimes sang together, and even sang a few of each other's songs on their own. (At times, one would sit in a comfy chair on the side of the stage to watch the other perform.) While Sting stayed in one central spot throughout the show, singing and playing bass, Peter Gabriel sometimes played keyboards among the band members and spent the rest of the time roaming the stage, singing and making exercise-like moves. I didn't recognize all of Peter Gabriel's songs, but this concert reminded me to add more to my collection. I loved his slow, jazzy version of Sting's "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" – he turned it into a new song. He also sang all the classics from his popular solo effort, So, including "Red Rain," "Don't Give Up," "In Your Eyes," and "Big Time." During "Sledgehammer," everyone on stage did the dance from the famous video. Peter Gabriel dedicated his own "Love Can Heal" to Jo Cox, the recently assassinated Parliament member, whom he'd met years before as a young activist. Sting dedicated his song "Fragile" to the victims of the recent night-club shooting in Orlando. His selected songs spanned his Police and solo years. I was excited to hear the Police songs "Invisible Sun" "Driven to Tears," and "Walking in Your Footsteps" and solo tunes, like "If I Ever Lose my Faith in You," and "Hounds of Winter." Granted, I've loved both of these headliners since the '80s, but the collective musicianship and showmanship brought together for this concert was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Hanging Out with the Cool Kids...

Esperanza Spaulding (930 Club)

I first saw Esperanza Spalding on The Late Show with David Letterman. I was impressed with her voice, her bass-playing, and her wild hair. Since then, she's shown up in all sorts of places, including Sting's rainforest benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, World Jazz Day at the White House, and Smokey Robinson's Library of Congress Gershwin Prize concert, playing and singing all sorts of music. Although her usual genre is jazz, she showed up at 930 club in support of her latest rock-laden concept album Emily's D+Evolution. I didn't listen to this fantastic album enough before the show to fully understand what was happening on stage. Not only did Esperanza sport a new look of long braids, big glasses, a crown, and a colorful jumpsuit that reminded me of Steven Tyler, but the performance included storytelling with three other singers in specific roles, puppetry, and choreography. Some people who were there because of Esperanza's jazz background were disappointed and confused by this new incarnation, but I knew there had to be a reason behind booking 930 club instead of Blues Alley. Even if we didn't fully grasp the story, the music – which showcased her voice and musicality – made it worth it. Esperanza is ahead of her time and always trying new things that will take her further. We're lucky to be along for the ride.

Jason Moran and Charles Lloyd (Kennedy Center) and Buster Williams (Blues Alley)
I'm lumping these two jazz shows together because I saw them during a jazzy weekend with my dad. Jason Moran, who took over as Artistic Director for Jazz at The Kennedy Center in 2011, has brought so many great shows at different price levels to the Kennedy Center, introducing audiences of all ages to the jazz. We had seen Jason Moran doing amazing things at the piano before, but we only knew saxophonist Charles Lloyd by name. When the 78-year-old shuffled on stage, we knew we were in for something great. While we didn't recognize the music, which we later learned was from their 2013 album Hagar's Song, we loved it. Charles Lloyd has a just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-started-playing coolness and years of hard work and talent to back up that reputation.


Seeing Buster Williams at Blues Alley gave me a similar feeling. You could tell this old bassist was enjoying himself and his happy spirit was infectious. But the reason we bought our tickets for this show was not Buster Williams; it was his quartet's drummer, Jeff "Tain" Watts. We'd seen Jeff Watts before, and like Buster Williams, he loves playing his instrument. Jeff Watts goes into a blissful zone, drumming along with a serene smile and blank gaze. He transports to a different world through his instrument, a world you can only imagine is the best place to visit.

Patty Larkin and Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche 
(The Hamilton)

Once you see Lucy Wainwright Roche, you might be hooked for life. She tells great, funny stories, like the time she and her mom, Suzzy Roche, performed a cover of the Eagles classic "Desperado" at "one of my dad's weddings" without realizing (until they started singing) that its lyrics were inappropriate for the event. She has a disarming demeanor on stage that feels like that of an old friend. Touring with her mom in support of their 2013 album Fairytale and Myrth, everyone at this stop at the Hamilton could see where she gets these endearing traits. (When Lucy announced she was going to sing some songs on her own, her mom decided to take a nap at her feet while she sang.) Between our bouts of laughter were wonderful songs. I've figured out that I love the Wainwrights not only because of their great voices and musicality but because of their ability to write sad songs to happy melodies. That's my kind of music.

Joining them on this tour was Patty Larkin, who I hadn't heard of before but has a well-earned 30-year career behind her and a loyal following in attendance. I liked many of her songs, but I was most impressed by her guitar playing. She played both acoustic and electric guitar with blurry speed and precision. She even used a violin bow on her electric guitar, creating sounds (and sights) I hadn't experienced before. This evening, led by these three powerful ladies, ended up being one of my favorites of the year.

Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def (Kennedy Center)

I don't like going out on New Year's Eve, especially when I have a cold. When Mos Def announced he'd be performing farewell concerts at The Kennedy Center, though, I couldn't miss it. I've always found Mos Def interesting and liked him as an actor. I also have a few of his songs from the great Lackawanna Blues soundtrack on my iPod. Luckily, I attended the concert with a friend who knew more about his music and could ask her questions. This show was improvisational and so laid back that, at times, it felt like a rehearsal to me. Also, throughout the concert, a French film from the '60s, featuring (I assume) African tribal characters, played silently in the background and was never explained. Still, we were all excited to catch Mos Def while we could before he heads off to Africa himself for a new chapter in his life, pursuing painting and focusing on his arts, culture and lifestyle collective, A Country Called Earth. I told you he was interesting.

Remembering the Classics...

Forever Gershwin (Kennedy Center)

You can't go wrong with a concert of George Gershwin music. Forever Gershwin, performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, caught my eye because of Jason Moran's involvement. Everything I've seen Jason Moran work on for The Kennedy Center has been special. Here, he premiered jazz-heavy variations of Gershwin classics, including three preludes, "Embraceable You" and "Fascinating Rhythm." I also really liked the show's introductory piece, "Cuban Overture," which I'd never heard before. You could feel Cuba's energy in it. The second half of the show was a selection of songs from Porgy and Bess, Gershwin's classic opera. I love some of these songs, like "Summertime," "My Man's Gone Now," and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Norm Lewis as "Porgy" had a wonderful deep voice and lots of personality, and Alicia Hall Moran (Jason Moran's wife) as "Bess" was fantastic too. To top things off, they were accompanied at times by the Heritage Signature Chorale, a massive group of voices that shook our seats. This was a night of great music, unaffected by my disappointing, expensive front-row seat that offered very little to see.

House of Cards in Concert (Kennedy Center)

I decided to go to this world-premiere National Symphony Orchestra concert at The Kennedy Center on the day of the show. I kept seeing ads for it, and I also got Season 4, Disc 1 of House of Cards from Netflix that day. I didn't need any more hints and braved a July heat advisory to get there. I'm so glad I did. House of Cards is one of my favorite shows, even if it makes me feel slimy after every episode. Everyone knows I love Robin Wright, and her star turn opposite the equally amazing Kevin Spacey makes it all worth it! But I really went to this concert for the music. I love this show's theme song, and when they played it at the concert, I realized I wasn't alone. Everyone cheered when the signature trumpet notes played; our excitement was similar to hearing the Star Wars theme at the movies. For this performance, composer Jeff Beal created suites that capture the show's themes and characters. He served as conductor and played the trumpet every once in a while. His wife appeared during certain suites to add an operatic voice to it that I had always assumed was some sort of physical musical instrument. His son was in the orchestra playing bass (as he does for the show). The music was paired with snippets of scenes from the series, sometimes with bits of dialogue. I couldn't tell what was happening during the scenes from Season 4, but Jeff Beal was thoughtful about that, ensuring that nothing made too much sense for those of us who hadn't caught up on that season yet. (Thank you, but I also wanted to run home to find out what was happening!) Here's a trailer about the concert to help you see what it was like.

For an extra treat, some cast members (who were sitting in my row) joined Politico's Joe Schatz on stage for a panel discussion about working on the show. No, Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey were not there, but I was excited to see Michael Kelly (who plays Doug Stamper so creepily on the show and is so funny in real life), Michel Gill (President Garrett), Jayne Atkinson (who plays Secretary of State Catherine Durant and seems so nice and down to earth), Rachel Brosnahan (Rachel Posner, even though she didn't say anything),  and Boris McGiver (Tom Hammerschmidt). Executive Producer Beau Willimon and Executive Producer, Author, and Original Book and U.K. Series Creator Lord Michael Dobbs were also there to offer their insights. I loved this immersive House of Cards experience! Bring on Season 5, please!

Wow, 2016 was really filled with music for me, and I'm not quite done! I'll wrap up my look back at 2016 with my next post, revisiting the latest Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. For Sting, I travel.

Best,


Image credits: Belly: B.C. Kagan; David Bowie album cover: RCA Victor; Nile Rodgers and Chic and Duran Duran: Matt Condon; Go-Gos: Matt Condon; Sting and Peter Gabriel: Shawn Farrell;  Esperanza Spalding: Josh Sisk; Jason Moran and Charles Lloyd: TVJazz.tv; Buster Williams: Paola Visone; Lucy Wainwright Roche & Suzzy Roche: unknown (courtesy of Eventsi); Patty Larkin: unknown (courtesy of The Hamilton DC); Yasiin Bey: Jati Lindsay/courtesy of The Kennedy Center); Forever Gershwin: unknown (courtesy of Access Granted Journal); House of Cards panel: unknown (Courtesy of cdninstrgram.com).

Golden Years with David Bowie

The Next Day
Look up here, I'm in heaven. I've got scars that can't be seen. I've got drama, can't be stolen. Everybody knows me now. "Lazarus"

That Monday morning, my radio alarm clock woke me with news about David Bowie that I never expected to hear. My grogginess snapped into shock and disbelief until creating a void in my chest that I assume is permanent. I think Sleater Kinney guitarist and Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein summed it up best for me when she wrote, "It feels like we lost something elemental, as if an entire color is gone."

To me, David Bowie is ageless, contemporary, and set apart from all of my other favorite musicians. He was visionary, always thinking differently and ahead of his time to create his own path no matter what anyone else was doing. He introduced new albums full of veiled

references and unique sounds, often with a new persona to match. As comedian Fred Armisen said, "David Bowie transformed the space he was in," and we were thrilled to share it. (Check out these amazing performances of "The Man Who Sold the World," "TVC-15," and "Boys Keep Swinging" from Saturday Night Live in 1979! Had I seen them then, I think I would have become a fan a few years sooner.)

I didn't follow everything David Bowie did all the time, but I preferred it that way. I pictured him always busy doing interesting things that haven't occurred yet to anyone else. Thinking of him lately, I keep comparing him to Picasso: Bowie was a prolific, larger-than-life kind of artist. He did whatever he wanted in music, movies, fashion, art, and anything else that sparked his interest. He never disappointed us and influenced whatever areas he touched. Since I was 10 years old, David Bowie has shown up over the years like a breath of fresh air, and I fall in love every time.

Hello, Bowie!  
But we're absolute beginners with eyes completely open. "Absolute Beginners"

In the '80s, MTV introduced me to David Bowie through his videos, which got regular airplay on the channel, including "Let's Dance," "China Girl," "Modern Love," "Absolute Beginners," and – of course – the goofy cover of "Dancing in the Street" with Mick Jagger (which still makes me smile). My favorite video of that era is "Blue Jean" because it feels like cool movie, filmed in some exotic location (where they snap fingers instead of clapping), and you get two Bowies in one. Also, as my sister pointed out, David Bowie looks cute with a Band Aid on his nose.

"Blue Jean" © David Bowie (1984) 

At the same time, his older classics got my attention on the radio, and I started my Bowie CD collection with a greatest hits compilation. With songs like "Changes," "Ziggy Stardust," "Heroes," "Suffragette City," "Rebel Rebel," "Young Americans," and "Ashes to Ashes," I'd be in a better mood, singing and dancing along within minutes. When I saw his older performances, I marveled at his changing looks: That unrecognizable alien rock star with electric orange hair and full make-up was a world away from the dapper, suave Bowie I knew. Still, I somehow connected to these great songs, like "Life on Mars?"

"Life on Mars?" © David Bowie (1971)

Every time I heard or saw David Bowie somewhere, I gasped with excitement and was left hungry for more.

Bowie in the '90s
Nothing prepared me for your smile, lighting the darkness of my soul. "Thursday's Child"

At the start of the new decade, I saw a clip of a Sound & Vision Tour press conference on MTV news, during which David Bowie performed the first verse of "Space Oddity" on acoustic guitar for a crowd of reporters. When he stopped and said, "Now, you're going to have to use your imaginations–," everyone interrupted with their own version of the missing blast off sound. "You brought it!" he exclaimed. "Great!" And, he launched into the next verse. It hit me then that I had to see this guy in person.  

I saw Bowie in Cleveland with my sister during that tour in 1990. While he played "Space Oddity" on his guitar, a giant image of David Bowie walked onto the massive screen behind him, knelt down on one knee to peer at the tiny singing musician, and at times sang along with him. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

"Space Oddity" (Sound & Vision Tour, Tokyo, Japan, 1990)

Bowie offered all sorts of other random surprises during the '90s.

• He rebooted his 1975 hit "Fame" with a 1990 version that had a fantastic video to go with it. 
• In 1992, he married supermodel Iman, forming – in my eyes – the coolest of the cool power couples. 
• In 1996, he offered fans BowieNet, his own Internet service that came with exclusive Bowie content for fans. I never ordered it, but swooned at the idea of having an e-mail address with that name attached. That year, he also showed up as Andy Warhol in Julian Schnabel's film Basquiat.
• A year later, he sold his rights to future royalties from anything he'd written before 1990. I considered this a sound investment, but I never bought any because I don't know anything about finances. 
• Also in 1997, he collaborated with Trent Reznor and released Earthling. The video for the first single, "I'm Afraid of Americans," plays like a nightmare. I didn't buy that album at the time, but I liked the songs I heard, and that cover image is one of my favorites. (Although partly inspired by the movie Taxi Driver, it's interesting how relevant that video seems now.) 
• In 1999, he revealed a new, softer look and perform a completely different kind of song, called "Thursday's Child," on a talk show. (Listen to those backing vocals!) I loved it so much that I bought his new CD, Hours, immediately.

"Thursday's Child" (Madrid, 1999)

Bowie in the New Century
I've got a better way. Ready. Set. Go. "New Killer Star"

In 2002, I saw David Bowie on an A&E special, David Bowie: Live By Request, and I lost my mind. I mean, I bought some more older albums as well as his most recent one, Heathen, and soaked it all up. He played in each of New York City's five boroughs in support of Heathen, and everyone who reported that news added things like, "Who does that?," "Has anyone ever done that?," and "Why has no one ever thought to do this before?" (My only question: Why didn't I attend any of them?) A year later, he released another great album called Reality, to which I was hooked as soon as I heard its first single "New Killer Star." (Those guitars rock!)

"New Killer Star" David Bowie (London, 2003)

Then, the Bowie music stopped coming, but I didn't really notice its absence since the artist was occupied. He made a surprise appearance during the Fashion Rocks! TV special in 2005, singing along to a fantastic song called "Wake Up" by a band I'd never heard of – Arcade Fire. With that kind of endorsement and performance, I ordered Arcade Fire's debut album after the show (and noticed the band everywhere after that night). Among other things, David Bowie made a cameo in Ben Stiller's comedy, Zoolander; costarred in Christopher Nolan's drama, The Prestige, as Nikola Tesla; and – my all-time favorite – appeared as David Bowie on Ricky Gervasis's show, Extras.

Extras (BBC, 2005) 

The other day, a snippet of conversation that I had with my friend in 2012 popped into my head. We must have been talking about music when I said, "I wonder what David Bowie is doing." She responded matter-of-factly, "He doesn't have to do anything." It was true, but a few months later, on his birthday, David Bowie reemerged with a surprise album, recorded entirely in secret, called The Next Day. Do you think he heard me?

And, just before Thanksgiving last year, I found out that David Bowie had written a musical – a sort of sequel for his alien character in the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. It was playing a limited, sold-out run off Broadway, but I couldn't justify buying a scalped ticket for $3000, even if I could get my hands on one.

Do it Bowie style! 
This way or no way. You know, I'll be free, just like that bluebird. Ain't that just like me? "Lazarus"

Last month, the outpouring of love and admiration for David Bowie online among friends and strangers was immense, genuine, sincere, and comforting. We lost our most unique, irreplaceable friend. Just two days before, we were celebrating his birthday and the release of his spectacular album Blackstar. Leave it to Bowie to give us a gift on his birthday as solace for what he knew was coming.

After listening to all these new, exciting tunes; coincidentally, I got to a funny anecdote about David Bowie in the book I'm reading now, Elvis Costello's memoir Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink. I had to laugh when I read, "Eventually, David leaned in to me conspiratorially and said, in his best David Bowie voice,..." Every David Bowie fan knows exactly how that looks and sounds. There's only one David Bowie, and no one else will come close.

While we mourned the loss of an artist who had so much more to say and left us too soon, my friend reminded me, "We're lucky to have been around to appreciate him in real time." David Bowie will always be out there with plenty for us to hear, read, watch, learn, and love. Keep exploring. His world is vast and keeps on giving.

The Kitties can rock it! 
We could be heroes....forever and ever. "Heroes"

Sometimes, thank you doesn't seem like enough, but The Kitties are up to the task. Here they are playing dress up, Bowie style!

Mostly taking inspiration for Bowie's varied album covers, from left to right: Tyrone celebrates the Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane era, Comet models Heroes, Norman shows off Diamond Dogs, B.J. knocks out Let's Dance, The Mother Kitty is Aladdin Sane, Simon goes method for The Man Who Sold the World,  Lily tackles Reality, Gordon gets to wear the coat for Earthling, Ashes is Hunky Dory, and Mini is Low.

And, here, The Kitties get down to "Starman!"

There's a Starman, waiting in the sky. He'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds. There's a Starman, waiting in the sky. He told us not to blow it 'cause it's all worthwhile... 

He told me, let the children lose it. Let the children use it. Let all the children boogie...

"Starman" (A&E's Live By Request, 2002)

Play his tunes and play them loud, friends!

Orbit

I can't help it if Illustration Friday's topics remind me of David Bowie two weeks in a row.

I imagine he's orbiting the planets by now, doing sound checks to decide which one to conquer next. (The Mother Kitty's portrayal of Bowie here feeds the controversial theory that they are somehow distant relatives.)

Here's the classic song, if you want to sing along.

"Space Oddity" © David Bowie, performed at the Novello Awards, 1969

Spin

Because my iPod has been playing David Bowie nonstop lately, his 1979 song "D.J." popped into my head as soon as I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic.

(D.J. by David Bowie,  © 1979: https://vimeo.com/61213946) 

The Kitties are believers!

(Illustration Friday: January 15, 2016)