Ten years after the death of David Bowie, the enduring spirit of the thin white duke lives on in the ‘5 Daze Of Bowie’ festival in Melbourne.
‘5 Daze Of Bowie’ collates the best of David Bowie’s extensive artistry – including his beloved music catalogue and visual works – in a glorious celebration of his life spanning five days at Odeon Richmond.
Bruce Butler is a music industry stalwart and self-admitted Bowie acolyte who runs the venue with his partner Eleni. As members of the Bowie Down Under fan group, the couple share a personal connection with one of the most enigmatic and prolific artists of our time. “We see ourselves at Odeon Richmond as the spiritual home of David Bowie in Australia, and we have a lot of credentials to back that up,” Bruce says.
“Eleni and I are part of a group called Bowie Down Under, which was set up in 2000 – it’s the 25th anniversary this year – to petition Bowie because he hadn’t returned to Australia in 17 years to do live shows.
“We’ve had personal interactions with Bowie. Since his passing we’ve done a lot of things in conjunction with his estate officially. When the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition came to Melbourne in 2015, we were involved in putting on a number of functions, tours and talks during the exhibition.”
Operating as a live music venue as well as an art gallery, Odeon Richmond becomes Bowie Central for the five-day festival. “We’ll be having an exhibition of artwork by Bowie,” Bruce says.
“A number of our members own pieces that were created by Bowie, so we’ve got original pieces, original photographs by people like Masayoshi Sukita signed by Bowie and Sukita. A lot of great artwork including posters from the Australian tours. . . Plus we have display cabinets showcasing people’s memorabilia.”
The event incorporates David’s birthday on 8 January, marking the occasion with a listening party of ‘Blackstar’, his final album before he passed just two days later.
“On the Thursday, which is his birthday, we’re going to do a listening party of 'Blackstar', uninterrupted, through our amazing audio system,” Bruce says.
“A lot of fans find it hard to listen to ‘Blackstar’, because when you know the meaning behind the lyrics and that he was fighting a losing battle with cancer while he was recording, it becomes very hard for some. And we’re featuring the ‘Outside’ album that he did with Brian Eno, which was inspired by an exhibition that they saw of outsider art.”
Complete with live performances from artists like Ash Naylor and The Thin White Ukes, ‘5 Daze Of Bowie’ is the ultimate David Bowie experience for die-hard and casual fans alike.
“We have a lot of connections within the Bowie community, because Bowie Down Under is very much recognised.”
‘5 Daze Of Bowie’ is on at Odeon Richmond 7-11 January.
