Ultimate Bowie @ The Stables

A review of Ultimate Bowie, a David Bowie tribute act at Milton Keynes venue The Stables.

I'd grown up listening to David Bowie, my mum had made sure of that and to this day Labyrinth remains to be one of my all-time favourite films. Bowie’s iconic voice and style transcend time and his spirit certainly lives on since his tragic passing in January 2016.

Prior to this sad day, Mum and I attended the David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which remains to be the bestselling V&A exhibition of all time.

We continued our Bowie journey earlier this year when we saw the play Lazarus at the King's Cross Theatre as well as visited the Bowie memorial in Brixton and the exact spot Ziggy Stardust first made his debut *read here.*

It was only natural we would want to see Ultimate Bowie, a tribute act at The Stables in Wavendon, and Mum and I were delighted when we secured the last two available tickets. I had never visited The Stables, despite the venue only being around five minutes drive from my house in Milton Keynes.

We grabbed our drinks from the bar and took our balcony seats. These seats were perfect for us as we had no-one behind us, so we got up for a boogie and danced the night away.

Whilst Bowie act Ed Blaney is not the spitting image of the legend, more importantly, his voice has the same haunting style as Bowie’s, which has captivated audiences for decades.

Ed took the audience through pinnacle stages of Bowie’s career, singing some of his biggest hits of the 70s and 80s as well as more intimate acoustic performances, which included tracks I hadn't heard before like Time and Amsterdam. He also provided insight into some of the tracks and albums forming an important part of Bowie’s career, which was a nice touch.

The band performed well together as well as individually, with standout performances from the saxophone and piano player. As with Bowie’s own eclectic style, the show took you through a range of emotions with Mum moved to tears during the poignant rendition of Life on Mars.

Set two really had the crowd on their feet, well Bowie said it himself: “let's dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues.” Minus the red shoes, but boy did we dance and towards the end of the show, almost the whole crowd was on their feet.

We had a great time at The Stables and loved how intimate the venue is that it doesn't matter where you sit, you have a good view of the stage regardless.

As we were getting ready to head home Bowie singer Ed came out to the foyer to greet the audience and pose for pictures. As The Stables does not allow photos or videos during performances to protect the artist's’ rights, it was a good opportunity to get photo memories of the evening.

Mum and I had such a good night that Mum is already scouring The Stables upcoming events to see what we can see next! One thing for sure is that we will definitely be seeing Ultimate Bowie when they return!

Have you seen any tribute acts or visited The Stables? Let me know in the comments box underneath.

Jaz

xoxo