By Ellis Koch
David Bowie’s music and mythos cast a long, complex shadow that many tribute shows struggle to navigate. For someone who regards Bowie as more than an artist – as a cultural compass whose restless reinvention shaped generations – the stakes in honouring his legacy feel particularly high. After Bowie’s death, it took me nearly a year before I could listen to his music again – His absence made every song feel raw – too alive with memory. This personal context explains why I usually avoid tribute shows, many of which veer between awkward mimicry and opportunistic cash-ins.
Loving the Alien, however, while imperfect, showed moments when it transcended these pitfalls, offering brief instances of something genuinely moving beyond polite imitation. The lack of signage – both for the venue and the show – was a strange way to start. Inside, the medium-sized black box theatre presented a modest setup: two stools, a piano, a keyboard, and four guitars while the lighting invoked the Aladdin Sane era with its iconic reds and blues, effectively conjuring intimacy without descending into cliché.
Karlis Zaid, who wrote the show and performs its lead vocals, was a clear highlight. Dressed in a black suit paired with striking red boots – a small but bold nod to Bowie’s theatrical flair – his voice grew more confident as the show progressed. Flashes of real character began to break through, especially on songs like “Ashes to Ashes,” “Sound and Vision,” and the reworked “Bring Me the Disco King.” Zaid wisely avoided impersonation, opting instead for a measured performance with glimmers of the theatrical charisma and phrasing that defined Bowie’s sound. Bowie was never about vocal perfection but about voice as identity, and Karlis touched that truth more than once.
Aurora Kurth, meanwhile, had a harder time on the night, appearing unwell, which likely affected her performance. Clearly a wonderful and capable singer, Kurth – dressed in a shimmering blue sequined dress and matching boots that caught the light – couldn’t quite capture the essence of Bowie’s theatricality during this show. She stumbled on lyrics – most notably during “Ziggy Stardust,” which never quite found its footing – and more crucially, her vocals lacked that intangible Bowie quality: not polish, but charisma. Bowie could transform vocally, emotionally, and spiritually within a single breath. The performance needed more of that theatrical intensity, that sense of character held in voice, which unfortunately was uneven due to her condition. In spite of this, one of the show’s true strengths lay in the harmonies Karlis and Aurora crafted together. Their voices intertwined with a natural chemistry, softening some rough edges and adding emotional layers that genuinely resonated and brought warmth to the performance.
The song selection was thoughtful, though the arrangements sometimes felt thinner than Bowie’s originals deserved and while the first few numbers felt rough around the edges and somewhat sparse sonically, the band eventually coalesced and found fuller cohesion as the show progressed. Andrew Patterson’s direction and nuanced piano and synth work, especially on “Ashes to Ashes,” brought much-needed texture and depth and Aaron Syrjenen’s guitar playing, after a somewhat shaky start, found its footing and contributed spirited, authentic riffs, particularly on the late-show highlight “Let’s Dance,” where his Spanish-influenced acoustic intro and Alomar-inspired guitar work injected a vital surge of energy.
Narratively, the show dipped lightly into Bowie’s life and career through anecdotal storytelling, likely aimed at the casual fan. While this approach left me, the diehard fan, wanting more complexity and a deeper dive into Bowie’s artistic evolution – his ground-breaking production work, his transformations, and the man behind the myth – it served to ground the musical tribute in human experience that rendered the performance accessible to all.
Ultimately, Loving the Alien is a tribute caught between ambition and limitation. Zaid and his ensemble approached Bowie’s legacy with sincerity and respect. Moments of musical and emotional resonance shone through while the casual narrative served its role as connective tissue, and though the show’s occasional unevenness kept it from soaring, it never undermined its heartfelt intentions.
Perhaps the central lesson here is that tributes need not be flawless to hold value. In its rough edges, Loving the Alien affirms why we return to Bowie’s work imperfectly but insistently. For those seeking a definitive Bowie experience, it will likely disappoint. However, approached as a heartfelt homage that occasionally brushes Bowie’s stratosphere, it offers moments worth the visit.
