Ash Naylor from Even chats with us about the 40th Anniversary of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ celebrations taking place with a performance covering the album at Melbourne’s favourite rock n roll hang – Cherry Bar
How important is David Bowie as an artist?
In my world, his greatest work is among that of Dylan or Lennon.
When an artist can write as many real classics as Bowie has done, the legacy speaks for itself.
And like many great artists his work is often ambiguous.
40 years! This album is practically older than you are Ashley. Why is the ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ album important to you?
This album is so creatively ambitious and a perfect time capsule of early 70’s rock and the overall mood of the era.
The songs are incredible, the band is super tight and at the peak of their powers. I can only imagine what it would have been like to be a teenager when this album came out…..
Will you be bringing a theatrical glam element to your stage production?
Probably not, it may look a bit naff for a bunch of forty somethings to replicate anything from that amazing era……..that said anything is possible.
I might very well dust off the knitted unitard
Will you be trying to do note for note replicas of the songs or re-interpretations or what?
We will be playing the album in sequence and while we’re not aiming to copy the record nuance by nuance, we intend it to be faithful without sounding like a tribute band.
Cherry Bar is recognised as the iconic late night retro rock n roll bar in Australia. Did this make it the logical place to host this special tribute?
Cherry has been part of our culture in Melbourne for a long time and we have had some amazing gigs there.
Long before I ever played Cherry I recall dancing to Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ there one night and thought…where else in the world could I be doing this?
Cherry is all about the music and allowing yourself to cut loose from time to time. It is the perfect venue to host such an event.
How challenging is it to pay tribute to one of your personal favourite and one of the most influential records of your generation?
It is a real challenge. We have played quite a few Bowie songs in the past and we actually played ‘Ziggy Stardust’ and ‘Suffragette City’ back to back at HOMEBAKE one year much to the probable confusion of some of the audience.
We have a big job ahead but we’re looking forward to it.
What can people expect from this Ziggy 40th celebration with the Even?
It’s a party, we will play loud and live versions of those amazing songs.
Ziggy Stardust 40th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday 18 August
Cherry Bar, AC/DC Lane Melbourne
Limited number of Tickets: $25 from www.cherryrock.com.au
