By Roger White

A Night of Bowie remembers an icon

Mar 13, 2018 | 5:00 PM

North Battleford locals will soon be able to remember a musical legend with a visit from performer Syl Thompson. 

Thompson, a Victoria, B.C.-based musician and his band Ground Control have been paying homage to David Bowie since the 1980s and the group is bringing its show A Night of Bowie to the Dekker Centre on Friday, March 23 at 8 p.m.

Thompson said he is a lifelong Bowie fan and said his introduction to his music changed his life. 

“I’ve been a fan since I heard his Hunky Dory album because it was so different from the music I was listening to at the time,” Thompson said. “It grabbed me right then and there.”

Several years later while performing at a Richmond, B.C. nightclub, Thompson recalled a conversation he had with the venue’s manager following the show.

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“He told me that I looked and sounded just like David Bowie and asked if I had ever considered doing a tribute show,” he added. “It never crossed my mind until then which is strange because I was such a huge fan of his.”

Subsequently Thompson and his band incorporated a full set of Bowie classics into his band’s repertoire. They renamed the band Major Tom and toured North America for a year.

Following a lengthy hiatus from the rock ‘n’ roll scene, Thompson created A Night of Bowie in 2013 which will give the audience the look and feel of the Heathen/Reality tours that Bowie did between 2002 and 2004 which will also include hits from 1969’s Space Oddity to 2013’s Where Are They Now?

“Bowie fans are very particular,” he said. “This man changed these people’s lives with his music so you certainly won’t fool them so the show needs to be well done.”

Thompson said the performance usually resonates with the audience.

“I have had people approach me after a show with tears streaming down their faces thanking us,” Thompson said. “It has been a real honour to do this show and pay tribute to David Bowie and his music.”

Tickets for A Night of Bowie are available at the Dekker Centre box office or online at www.dekkercentre.com.

roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter