Will they spill the beans on Bowie? Stars gather in Liverpool this month for the thirdDavid Bowie World Fan Convention
Liverpool prepares for another #BowieCon invasion as stars from Bowie’s private life and career make rare UK appearances
The opulent Bowie Ball returns alongside friends, producers, biographers and bandmates including Alan Yentob, George Murray, Ava Cherry, Carlos Alomar, Ken Scott and Woody Woodmansey
David Bowie World Fan Convention 2024
The Year Of The Diamond Dogs
St George’s Hall – Liverpool, UK
Fri 26 – Sun 28 July 2024
www.bowieconvention.com #BowieCon2024
David Bowie fans gather to dress up and freak out as they hear stories from those who knew him best at the third David Bowie World Fan Convention, taking place in Liverpool between Fri 26 – Sun 28 July 2024. Returning to the UK after last year’s spectacular New York edition, the remarkable line-up of guests is extended to include Alan Yentob, whose 1975 BBC documentary, Cracked Actor: A Film About David Bowie painted an era-defining portrait of the star’s fame and mental fragility.
Photographers who captured the star at close quarters, friends who saw him at his most triumphant and vulnerable and studio collaborators who helped capture his unmistakeable sounds all arrive in Liverpool to tell new tales and set their Bowie stories straight.
Celebrating The Year Of The Diamond Dogs, events pull focus to the album released 50 years ago this year with some guests performing together on a UK stage for the first time in decades. Amongst those musicians expected to perform is the ‘presumed lost’ bass player from some of Bowie’s most legendary recordings, Heroes bassist, George Murray. Flying in from LA, Murray has been seldom heard from after moving into education soon after leaving Bowie’s band in 1980.
With the convention’s schedule now confirmed, Yentob provides a highlight of the Friday programme, discussing the making of the documentary on the road with Bowie during the 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. The same afternoon sees guitarist, Carlos Alomar and singers, Ava Cherry and Dana Gillespie come together to tell stories of life with Bowie on stage, in the tour bus and the hotel room as members of the Diamond Dogs tour band. From the frivolous and salacious to the serious and serene, #BowieCon24 is poised to uncover even more, untold corners of the iconic artist’s work and life.
Beatles collaborator and producer of Bowie’s legendary Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Ken Scott visits the Convention for the first time having recently overseen the release of the comprehensive Rock And Roll Star anthology of recordings covering Bowie’s fertile creative period from 1971 to 1975. Sunday ticket holders will have an audience with Scott as he deconstructs Bowie’s Life On Mars on stage using the original tracks.
Scott says that it's up to fans to ask the right questions to find out what guests really knew about Bowie: “The question that I want to be asked is the one that’s never been asked before! Working with Bowie on these albums was so fast, it had to be in those days. It was done in a couple of weeks and then on to the next one. In revisiting his music for recent releases, including using new technology like Dolby Atmos, I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before. We’re getting new perspectives on David’s life and work all the time.”
Scott will reunite with Woody Woodmansey, the last surviving member of The Spiders From Mars band, in Liverpool having worked together in the studio on four Bowie albums, starting with 1970’s The Man Who Sold The World. Woodmansey arrives in Liverpool on the Friday for a solo interview with Bowie ‘space cadet’, the writer, editor, and the founder of Punk Rock and Groupie Rock Magazines, Hannah Lulu Breschard before joining Scott for a world first, public Q&A on the Rock And Roll Star compilation, exploring the secrets and memories the archive recordings have uncovered.
Dave Pichilingi, Co-Founder of the David Bowie World Fan Convention, says: “Our fascination with Bowie grows ever greater and to have guests of this magnitude, who held such close working and personal relationships with him at pivotal moments in his career, provides us with an insight we can’t get anywhere else. Alongside the Bowie Swap Shop, marketplace and Bowie Ball – part-fashion show and part-party – it’s heaven for fans visiting from around the world.”
Curated by the creator of the influential Bowie Fascination online community, Alan Horne, the full line up of panels and on-stage interviews featuring guests visiting from around the world, is as follows:
Friday 26 July
- Candidate – Four expert guests get #BowieCon underway as they explore the impact of Diamond Dogs. Alan Horne leads the discussion with journalist Hannah Breschard, influential Bowie archivist and filmmaker, Nacho, artist, Mark Wardel and film writer, Sarah Ward
- A Spider From Mars – Spiders From Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey’s memories of life with Bowie as he became Ziggy Stardust are priceless. He discusses the time in detail with author, Simon Goddard and musician, Spizz E.
- Hollywood High - Alan Yentob's Cracked Actor: A rare chance to talk Cracked Actor, the legendary 1975 BBC documentary, with its director Alan Yentob and show new, HD restored clips from the film. Yentob is joined by Nacho and Mark Wardel.
- "My set is amazing" - on Tour in 74: The Diamond Dogs Tour was an evolving tour, from a rock opera-style stage show to a revamped, stripped-down soul tour. This panel gets beneath the experience, both on and off stage. Editor of The Young American blog, Chris Carter is joined by singers Ava Cherry and Dana Gillespie with the welcome return of guitarist, Carlos Alomar.
- Mixing Memory and Desire: An in-depth discussion with the man behind the lens, renowned NME photographer, Kevin Cummins, who captured Bowie from 1973 to 2016. He discusses his four-decade-long photography of Bowie's career with Alan Horne.
- Weren't Born A Man: From very early days as friends in Beckenham to recording with Bowie and Mick Ronson and on to time spent in the USA ahead of 1974’s tour, Dana Gillespie has many stories and nearly as many Polaroids to share. She joins Hannah Breschard to share memories as well as deliver a live vocal performance.
- Absolute Beginner: Guitarist with Bowie, including appearing at Live Aid all the way to the recording of the Outside album, plus recording as a member of Tin Machine, Kevin Armstrong’s career is full of stories and music. He presents his one man show with help from Alan Horne.
Saturday 27 July
- Diamond Dogs Theory: Going into deeper detail on the writing, production and artistic vision for Diamond Dogs, author Simon Goddard meets with writer, composer and musician Leah Kardos for a more forensic discussion on the album.
- Silhouettes and Shadows: After four decades away from the music business, Bowie’s bassist between 1976 and 1980, George Murray returns to the UK. Uncovering secrets behind the avant-garde pop album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), Murray is joined by bandmate, Carlos Alomar, Bowie biographer, Adam Steiner and Nacho.
- Rock ‘N’ Roll Star: The newest Bowie release, exploring recordings from 1971 to the death of Ziggy Stardust, gets dissected by those that were there. Production insights and amazing memories come from producer, Ken Scott, Woody Woodmansey, writer, Steve Tupai Francis and Leah Kardos.
- Dressed To Kill: Looking intently at the fashions of Bowie, designer and collaborator with the man himself, Keanan Duffty (as well as dressing Sex Pistols for their 2003 tour) meets with Hannah Breschard to shares insights and fond memories.
- An Intimate Portrait: After capturing Bowie on his way into Olympic Studios as recording for Diamond Dogs got underway as a young enthusiast, Denis O'Regan took the first opportunity to work more closely with the artist as a professional photographer, starting in 1983. He talks to Mark Wardel about years of touring, friendship and brilliance in the company of Bowie.
- Transition – Transmission: George Murray returns to the stage with Nacho to explore a range of variety of enhanced videos covering the bassist’s period of working with Bowie on stage and in the studio.
Sunday 28 July
- Blackstar Theory: Steve Tupai-Francis and Leah Kardos take a deep dive into Bowie's final studio creation.
- With you by my side it should be fine: Ahead of every great man is a great woman. Amongst it all, the Convention stops to acknowledge the experiences and input of the incredible ladies who shared so many defining moments with David. Hannah Breschard talks to Dana Gillespie and Ava Cherry about the Bowie they knew best.
- Watch That Man: Ken Scott’s engineering and production work across four albums with Bowie is put under the spotlight by the man himself. Deconstructing Life On Mars layer-by-layer, Ken discusses his working methods and top tier outcomes. Finally, Alan Horne puts those searching fan questions to him.
- DAM Trio - Speed Of Life: Sadly missing departed drummer, Dennis Davis, the two remaining members of the legendary DAM Trio, Carlos Alomar and George Murray are back together again after four decades. How did the DAM Trio work so well as their five Bowie studio album friendship was formed? Alan Horne and Nacho join them to find out.
- Bowie Odyssey: An exploration of the years 1970 to 1974 in the company of Spizz E, Steve Tupai-Francis and author, Simon Goddard.
- Sigma Studios - Fascination comes around: Sigma Studios became the setting, in 1974, for the next phase of an already illustrious Bowie career. Here the Convention hears behind closed door memories of how Young Americans was born. Chris Carter and Mark Wardel get eye-witness accounts from Carlos Alomar and Ava Cherry.
- Chant of the Bowie fan family: Could it really happen? The stage is set up for an acoustic set as fans witness the closing BowieCon24. Live music becomes the celebratory, final focus of events, performed by a selection of the special guests.
The now legendary Bowie Ball, a centrepiece of #BowieCon and an unrivalled opportunity for self-expression amongst the most extravagant and reserved of Bowie fans takes place on the Saturday evening at Liverpool’s ornate St George’s Hall.
Fans are urged to check for the final remaining tickets, as well as being the first to know about any updates to the David Bowie World Fan Convention programme by visiting www.bowieconvention.com and signing up for updates.
Updates from the David Bowie World Fan Convention will be shared before, during and after the event via the following social media channels:
https://twitter.com/BowieConvention
https://www.instagram.com/bowieconvention
https://www.facebook.com/bowieconvention
Images:
Top: BowieCon 2022 in Liverpool (c) Rishika Nath
Middle: Fans from LA at BowieCon 2022 in Liverpool (c) Rishika Nath
Bottom: Carlos Alomar on stage at BowieCon 2023 in New York (c) Jazamin Sinclair
