The Barrel House does David Bowie.
On Friday the 26th April, at the Barrel House in Totnes, a group of musicians came together and performed a set dedicated to David Bowie. And before getting into details I’m just going to say it now… it was fantastic! A major success. So many smiling faces and dancing bodies – some even came dressed to impress in their very own Glam Rock or Hoggle stylely.
If you don’t know who Hoggle is, can you really call yourself a Bowie fan?
Demographics
The age range in attendance was also impressive. There were youthful types who never wear coats even when it’s absolutely chucking it down, which it was. To the slightly maturer, wrinkly-eyed, usually-in-bed-by-9pm types (me). Then the hip-bus-pass-holders who never want to go home. And dare I say, there were even a few in attendance who already had their first mortgage by the time Bowie re-emerged onto the early 1970’s Glam Rock scene as his then alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust.
we’re not trying to copy Bowie
This age dynamic is one of the many cool things about Totnes and the Barrel House but more importantly, it’s a fine example of Bowie’s influence and how he’s still bringing diverse groups of people together to celebrate his outstanding catalogue of amazing tunes!
Not a Tribute Act: Just to be clear.
Just to be clear, this was not a tribute act. Lead guitarist and vocalist Will Tyler said, “Nothing against tribute acts but we’re not trying to copy Bowie. It’s actually more difficult than we first imagined and that’s why there’s three of us on vocals tonight.”
These performers consisted of Will Tyler on lead guitar and Charlie Hart on drums, joined by Tess O’Connor and Georgia Swallow on lead vocals. Luke Tomlinson was on keyboard duties and Martin Roberts, who was 100% the best-dressed musician on the night, played the bass guitar. Each brought their own skills and experience to the table.
Unfortunately, I can’t play an instrument because I never took those recorder lessons seriously at primary school so my understanding of how challenging it is to bring something like this together is minimal.
If you don’t know who Hoggle is, can you really call yourself a Bowie fan?
All of the performers mentioned the challenges faced with learning Ashes to Ashes because of it’s complexity but lead vocalist Georgia said she had enjoyed deconstructing the songs, “I have a new appreciation for the technical side of his work as well now.”
Will added, “We only had three live rehearsals leading up to tonight. The rest of the preparation was done in our own time.”
For Tess this meant constantly singing Bowie tunes while parenting and completing all those other necessary jobs that make up normal life away from wearing platform shoes and cool make-up.
Disclaimer – Tess didn’t complete the gig in platform shoes in the end stating Bowie must have been superhuman to achieve this!
Why Bowie?
After Lockdown, Will spoke with some other musicians from the band Abrasive Trees about what they could do to kickstart the local live music scene. It was the 25th anniversary of Never Mind by Nirvana and that seemed a good enough place to start. And after its success, it was only natural to keep that buzz going.
Pink Floyd, Green Day, Jimi Hendrix and even Amy Winehouse followed but how did they end up choosing David Bowie for the next event?
It was to celebrate Tracie Gillies’ birthday. Who the heck is Tracie Gillies? If you’ve ever attended a live music event at the Barrel House you might have noticed a woman wearing a quirky hat, mooching around getting stuff organised and possibly checking you in at the door. Well, that’s Tracie.
“She’s the Mastermind of so much of the music here in Totnes,” Will told me. “And Tracie loves Bowie so here we are.”
Highlights: Piano and Vocal Performance.
At some point in the night, the music stopped. No idea when. I was a few rums in at this point so time was weird and I’d brushed aside notions of having parenting responsibilities the next day. The crowd turned towards the corner of the room where Tracie Gillies and Totnes’ go-to pianist Andy Hill were taking up their positions at the piano.
Together they performed Quicksand from Bowie’s Hunky Dory album released in 1971. It was a nice break. Gave everyone a breather and a chance to look around the room and acknowledge to one and all that it was indeed turning out to be a cracking night!
Now, another highlight, for me anyway, was the inclusion of Magic Dance from Labyrinth. It never occured to me they’d play it so it was an amazing treat and most definitley validated the lady who came dressed as Hoggle!
Can there be another David Bowie? 
I asked the following question several times throughout the night… can there be another Bowie? Most responded with very articulate answers but essentially the resounding answer was simply, no.
How can there be? The real question is what does Bowie mean to you? And we have lead vocalist Tess’ Dad to thank for the perfect answer via text message a few hours before the gig.
He wrote, “The guy was way ahead of his time. You have no idea what it was like in the UK in the 60’s and 70’s. Teachers hitting you with canes, police beating queer people, and suddenly on Top of the Pops this guy stands there at Ziggy Stardust and my middle-class stepdad just about shit his pants. That was one of the days that changed my life as a young person forever.”
I’ll say no more.