This was the third Bowie Tribute I have  seen in as many months providing a useful contemporaneous comparison, previously John Mainwaring’s Jean Genie, then Oliver Slee’s Bowie Experience.  I suspect that “better or worse” comes down to the setlist and how that resonate with your own favourite, but Absolute Bowie  are certainly different.

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They are  by far the most lavishly costumed. I did not think that would make a difference, but it does, particularly for the first half when the Spiders are dressed as the Spiders. They play as a five piece, John O’Neill as Bowie, Andy Marr on lead guitar as Ronson/ Slick , Varo Sitsi as Wakeman/ Garson on Keys, Sam Ferrari on bass as Bolder, and Alex Face as Woody on drums. As far as I could tell there were no backing tracks, and mercifully no tacky pyrotechnics just a bit of dry ice.

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What sets Absolute Bowie apart is the Bowie/ Ronson interplay. I had  forgotten how important that is visually, Marr resplendent in black sequins, platforms and blonde wig- and boy can he play guitar!

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They opened with “Let’s Spend the Night Together” which I had never seen performed live before- it works brilliantly and O’Neill uses its refrain  skilfully to connect with the audience. “Ziggy Stardust” is magnificent, but “Moonage Daydream” blows the roof off followed by a rip roaring “Suffragette City” O’Neill establishes a one to one link with the fans as he wails “Keep your electric eye on me babe, put your ray gun to my head” whilst Marr stretches out the solo to provide the standout moment of the night. I am not a fan of swaying my hands in the air, that is best left to a Lionel Richie concert, but for “Dudes” I was swaying them with everyone else, a joyous “Starman” providing a further opportunity for a sing along. The first set closed with a “Life on Mars” which was just a shade bombastic for these ears, sometimes less is more, but was ecstatically received.

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The second half opened with the band out of Ziggy Costumes, but with Marr as rock side man Slick and Setsi wearing a jacket as worn by Garson and blasting into “Blue Jean” a bold choice amongst an eclectic  second half set. I have never been a hugs fan of “Fame” live but Marr made it his own with some clever and inventive improvised licks. However the standout song of the second half, vying with “Moonage Daydream” for song of the night, was “ Ashes to Ashes” in which Setsi was given full rein to stretch out then duel at the end with Marr. It was sublime. Garson would have approved.

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The second was enhanced by a barnstorming “Look back in Anger” , “China Girl” fell between the Bowie and Iggy versions, “Heroes” did what it needed to,  “ Space oddity “ curiously ended rather than opened the evening and a  400 odd crowd, many of whom had returned after their last Derby show, went home happy.

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Absolutely Bowie are unquestionably different. O’Neill embraces Bowie’s sexiness and fey sexual ambivalence and channels Ziggy era Ziggy perfectly, the lavish and on point costumes are an integral part of that. They also visually, and through performance, feature Ronson as an integral part of the show. The same is true of Garson throughout.  Musically they are faultless.

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The set list managed to offer some surprises and unpredictability. Anecdotally, many of the fans I spoke to  are fans of the image and hits, not the minutiae of his back catalogue. This traps any Bowie tribute act. With all their money coming from touring, it is the hits which bring the paying punters in, the glorious offbeat obscurities would be commercial suicide for the performing artist.

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During “Moonage Daydream” I was transported back to Earls Court in 1973- thank you.