As instruments are being unpacked and the stage is being set in a quiet room in Vancouver, musician Mike Garson finds himself feeling nostalgic as he looks back on a friendship that spanned decades. He shares stories of his late friend with reverence, the way anyone would speak of a good friend gone too soon.

These stories are about a life of music, breaking barriers and triumph: a life that belonged to music icon David Bowie.

Even several years after his death, Bowie’s music still sells out venues around the world. Garson, a close friend and former pianist for Bowie’s band, started getting requests from fans to bring members of the band back together. And with that, “A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour” came to life.

After making more than 30 stops in Europe and North America on their third and current tour, the alumni band will be in Syracuse on March 7 at The Palace Theatre, kicking off the show at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s not a tribute band,” Garson said. Rather, the group is an alumni band with people who have worked with Bowie throughout the years.

 

Garson said it all started after Lorde sang “Life on Mars” at the BRIT Awards 2016 a few months after Bowie passed. Since then, various celebrities have joined the band for shows, including Evan Rachel Wood from the hit television series “Westworld.”

During an appearance on the “Tonight Show” earlier this year, the actress gushed about both Garson and the tour.

“It’s not a cover band, it’s THE BAND,” Wood said in her interview with Jimmy Fallon.

Each of the performances sees different combinations of Bowie’s band members come together to play the late musician’s greatest hits. Garson said the group coming to upstate New York is “quite exceptional.”

With key members like Bernard Fowler, a longtime backup singer for the Rolling Stones, guitarist and singer Charlie Sexton, Living Colour’s Corey Glover and guitarist Earl Slick, Garson said Syracuse’s show will be a star-packed performance.

“It sounds like what I remember hearing when I worked with David,” Garson said, “and the sound is what I remember and that’s the important point here.”

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The band’s setlist includes some of Bowie’s greatest hits, along with a few lesser-known songs that die-hard fans might know.

Initially, Garson and some of the other musicians worried that audiences would think this tour was a run-of-the-mill tribute band. After the success of their first few shows, those concerns were quieted.

Even if Bowie didn’t become the musical icon that he is known as today, Garson believes that his music would still have made a significant impact. Garson compared Bowie to artists like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett — those who are not only great singers but also have an equal level of songwriting talent.

For Garson, it’s the music itself that makes Bowie’s hits so popular and beloved. He said it’s important that these songs are shared with audiences of all ages.

“These songs need to be heard, and I feel great about bringing them around the world,” Garson said. “I’m seeing people out there singing the words who are 14 years old. So, I’m trying to let people know that there is great music to be heard.”

Even though the impact Bowie had on music and popular culture will be seen for years to come, Garson said how the two connected through music and a shared drive will be how he remembers the singer.

“We both were always trying to push the envelope, always trying to find something new to influence us. Never resting on our laurels,” Garson said. “We’re always pushing the boundaries.”

Published on March 5, 2019 at 10:13 pm

Contact Kerri: kmcanene@syr.edu