Bowie tribute 25 years after Civic Hall gig
Theatre-goers will enjoy a tribute to music legend David Bowie tonight – almost 25 years to the day that fans queued to see him on stage in the same city.
The Bowie Experience comes to Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre, more than two decades after 2,000 fans flocked to the Civic Hall to get their hands on a ticket to see the star.
People set up camp outside the city centre venue in the rain ahead of his performance on November 2, 1991, as a member of Tin Machine. Some even arrived a day before the box office opened.
First into the Civic was 23-year-old Dave Burdett who had waited outside for 25 hours. Dave, from Moseley, Birmingham, said: "I am cold, wet and hungry, but it was well worth the wait – it always is to see David Bowie."
The Wolverhampton date kicked off the band's six-date stint in the UK, as part of the worldwide It's My Life tour.
Footage of their cover of The Pixies' Debaser that night has since surfaced online, showing Bowie, dressed head to toe in white, looking the measure of a rock god. The star, who died on January 10, had been working with promoters to stop ticket touts cashing in on the show.
Bowie, who died at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer, was no stranger to the Midlands – he played Stafford, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the 1970s at the height of his popularity as famous alter-ego Ziggy Stardust.
He also acknowledged the rock music that spawned from the region in his 1970 track Black Country Rock taken from the album The Man Who Sold The World.
Bowie died just days after releasing number one album Blackstar.
His last appearance in the region would come in 2003 at the NEC as part of his Reality world tour.
