well, no. as it happens i didn't think going to see David Bowie at the cinema was going to turn into an annual event, look you see. but then here we are. last year it was, of course, Moonage Daydream, and this year it is the turn of Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture. for those of you unaware, it had a recent and supposed one off (they did further screenings) cinema presentation on 3rd July 2023. this date was the 50th anniversary of the gig (famously the last of the tour) itself, if not the film. so far as i am aware, and for whatever reason, the film was only released in 1983. perhaps more on that later.
to go and bear witness to the screening i had two (2) options. one was to pay around, or north of, £75 to see it at the actual venue (since radically changed) where the gig was in Hammersmith, or to pay a regular cinema ticket price to see it. indeed the latter very much won, since i didn't really see the point of paying all that extra to listen to Richard E Grant speak before it. sadly, no escape, as they did a "live feed" thing, meaning i had to witness the train wreck that was the 'panel discussion'. oh.
i really, really cannot stress just how much of a train wreck the bit before the film we had to endure was. truly, it was f*****g awful, and i still have severe abdominal pains from creasing on the inside for the humiliation of it all for those involved. it started badly, with 'Woody' the drummer and only surviving member of the quintet (refer here the theory that The Beatles are dying in the wrong order, if you will) going severely off track and hustled off stage as soon as they could. a reasonable piano bit off Mike Garson followed, and then the true disaster.
perhaps the great tragedy was that an entirely useful, interesting conversation was possible. sat right there was Mike Garson, along with Ken Scott (who produced a few Bowie albums, notably Ziggy). alas it was decided to mostly ignore them and have us listen to Suggs, who for some reason (ahem) kept fiddling with his nose and seemed generally bewildered to be there. further there was Don Letts, who appeared to be under the impression that the audience - gathered, may i remind you, to watch the David Bowie concert film Ziggy Stardust - were there to hear him speak of how much he likes sex, how often he gets it, and how he believes he is rather good at it.
make no mistake, the worst was Richard E Grant. from what i can remember of his films i quite like him, but a friend did warn me that he is the person "most right far up their own @r$e" in human history. and so this was when he spoke. through nervous giggles he seemed to have concocted a tale of how he decided he was "bi" when in Swaziland due to seeing Ziggy, which doesn't tie in with the release date of the film or the time he was in that country. nearly all else he said was basically "sex ha ha ha". should it be so that they do Carry On films again, there's the man to cast.
once they had (finally) shut (the f***) up, at last the film itself was screened. now this is a movie i am reasonably familiar with, with me (moi) watching it several times on video and disc over the last 30 or so years. but, then, this was a "newly restored" print, adding some scenes of interest.
the key restoration was that of some songs what Jeff Beck guested on, notably a medley of The Jean Genie and Love Me Do. why this was cut from the original release is not known, but at a guess it all comes down to money. also, stories of Jeff Beck not being happy with his performance. that you can see in it, as he is very uncomfortable with all the theatrics. at one point he clearly brushes of Ronno, or if you will Mick Ronson, who tries to get him (Beck) to do some fancy step moves like him. nice to see, but the business end of it was already shown in Moonage Daydream.
for some reason the other "extra" scene added in (not back in) was that of Ringo Starr, backstage. this is just weird. Ringo is sat there as Bowie is doing a costume change, and Ringo does seem particularly keen to have a bit of a gander at David's legendary undercarriage. one cannot blame him for such, i suppose, but is it something that enhances the film? not really, not really, no.
go on, then, a selfie of moi before the screening started. you have been warned.
highlights remain exactly as they have, for me. a truly devastating, hammerblow performance of the epic and sadly overlooked Width Of A Circle, and perhaps the best ever performance of Time captured that we are aware of. and, well, just about every song featured, with even the misguided Let's Spend The Night Together cover sounding pretty good at the (very) correct volume.
an open secret, for it is known, amongst Bowie fans is that this most certainly is not the definitive performance of Ziggy Stardust. will do business on this being the "iconic" one, but the greatest recording absolutely has to be Santa Monica 72. still, this is what we have, and that shall do nicely indeed, thank you.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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