May is Mental Health Awareness Month

Bowieologist Thomas Mulready partners with glam rock superstars Vanity Crash to mark the 50th anniversary of the artist’s classic album Aladdin Sane in a performance featuring live music by the band and David Bowie, interviews, and a compelling live presentation entitled, Cracked Actor, with a focus on how the artist nurtured his own mental health. Bowie’s mother was schizophrenic, and his brother was institutionalized for years before taking his own life. David Bowie’s lyrics and themes are rife with allusions to alienation, suicide, fear and death, but he used these to fire his imagination and create his ever-changing personas.

This dazzling presentation features a synchronized light show, interviews, a slew of new original songs by Vanity Crash from their forthcoming sixth release, plus a selection of Bowie deep cuts and favorites, all performed in the Glam Punk style foreshadowed by Bowie’s band The Spiders From Mars, which influenced Punk, Post-Punk, Glam, New Wave, Goth, New Romantic, and decades of styles since.

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Aladdin Sane, Bowie’s first album as a bonafide superstar, written mainly on the road during the artist’s first tour of the United States following his US debut at Cleveland’s Music Hall on September 22, 1972. 

That night was jazz pianist Mike Garson’s first gig with Bowie, and he eventually performed and recorded with the artist for decades, right up to his last public performances before his passing in 2016.

An exclusive interview with Mike Garson is featured in the show, and Vanity Crash will perform their song, Angel and Me, which showcases Mike Garson on piano. 

Woody Woodmansey, drummer for Bowie’s groundbreaking early-1970’s band, The Spiders From Mars, is featured in an exclusive interview, along with psychotherapists, an expert from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a musician colleague of Bowie’s, as the show explores the issues of mental health and madness that Bowie explicitly deals with in his music.

A special brunch menu will be available a la carte for purchase.

Photo of David Bowie at his US premiere in Cleveland, Ohio on 09.22.72 by Anastasia Pantsios

Cultural archeologist and avant-garde impresario Thomas Mulready teams up with glam punk superstars Vanity Crash to celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday by revisiting the artist’s pivotal Ziggy Stardust tour, character, music and backstory in a unique, multi-media extravaganza.

The show features exclusive interviews with members of Bowie’s band, The Spiders From Mars. We’ll hear from drummer Woody Woodmansey, pianist Mike Garson, and author Clinton Heylin.

A photo exhibit by photographer Anastasia Pantsios of Bowie’s first US appearance in 1972 will hang on the walls, with prints available.

Vanity Crash presents live original music alternating with Bowie classics and deep cuts. 

All live shows will require proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, and the utmost in care is taken at BOP STOP and Jilly’s Music Room to ensure social distancing, sanitized surfaces, and masking. Audience discretion is advised for those under 18 years of age.