The Band That Fell to Earth expands for its second Bowie resurrection
In one of the cruelest imaginable displays of fated timing, David Bowie died just three weeks before last January’s debut of the Band That Fell to Earth. The tribute act, organized by Michelle Bacon (Chris Meck and the Guilty Birds), was put together to pay homage to the musician while he was very much alive. Then came the bad news, and Bacon was joined by Nathan Corsi (Not a Planet), Steve Tulipana, Betse Ellis and nearly a dozen other local-music luminaries
“It just kind of snowballed,” recalls drummer Stephanie Williams, whose full-time musical job is with the bluesy roots-rock trio Katy Guillen and the Girls. “We had just totally thrown ourselves into his [Bowie’s] music. The way that I had dove in to learn the parts, I had never done before, so I got really attached to him. We all had. It was so devastating. Like, it felt more like a family member that we were so emotionally invested in — in what he had done and what he was still doing.
In an upside nobody could have wanted, interest in the show surged. The gig was moved from its original location, Knuckleheads, to the larger Uptown Theater, where it sold out almost instantly.
Before all that madness, though, the show had started as a whim, a tribute show to a favorite living musician.
“We really didn’t give ourselves enough time as we probably should have,” Williams recalls. “That’s the tricky thing about Bowie songs: They sound really simple until you’re trying to learn them. Then you find all kinds of crazy time signatures that you don’t hear because they’re all catchy and poppy, and it flows so smoothly.”
In Williams’ case, preparation meant hours of practice and research, in addition to her regular band practice and a day job. She threw herself into YouTube documentaries about Bowie and his music.
“We crammed for that last show,” the drummer says. “We learned the encore — ‘Under Pressure’ — at the practice before the show. That just goes to show the talent of the people I’m working with in this thing.”
That performance of “Under Pressure,” with Corsi and Tulipana in the Freddie Mercury and Bowie roles, respectively, can still draw tears from the driest of eyes, viewed online a year later. By then, Williams and the band had decided that another performance would be needed, but it was an offhand remark by Tulipana into the mic at the show’s very end — “Next year,” he said — that solidified the upcoming RecordBar show.
“It was like, ‘You said what we’re all thinking,’ ” Williams says with a laugh. “It was in the moment. It was just magical, with all the energy in the room, but I think we all knew that we wanted to do it again.”
The core band remains the same, and includes Alex Alexander and Kyle Dahlquist in addition to Bacon, Corsi, Tulipana and Williams. But there are some new guest performers, including Katy Guillen on guitar for a couple of songs, as well as a new set of backing singers. Also different is Williams’ approach to performing. Whereas last year, she learned all of her songs fill for fill and groove for groove, this year sees the drummer putting a little more of herself into the interpretations.
“I learned the album structures, but I’m throwing my own style into it, which is kind of cool,” Williams explains. “After the show last year, I went and watched a bunch of live videos and every single drummer he had, every single guitarist he had — everybody played everything different. I think that’s something he liked.”
The Band That Fell to Earth: A Tribute to David Bowie
Saturday, January 7, at RecordBar
