Wembley Aftershow Pictures

And other friends of mine…

The stars were out for David Bowie’s Wembley shows last week… and photographer Jason Fraser was there to record the evidence. We’ll start with the above photo taken on the first night. Clockwise from left we have: Roxy Music‘s very tall guitarist, Phil Manzanera; The five-foot-ten-and-a-half Rock God, David Bowie; A gigantic Paul Merton (either that or he’s tip-toeing); Short-arsed Ricky Gervais; and last, but vertically-challenged, Eddie Izzard, …oh sorry, he’s kneeling.

I had a quick chat with Ricky this morning, and he told me that he thought the Bowie gig at Wembley was easily the best show he had seen this year. He also asked if I could use a shot from the aftershow that “Izzard hadn’t managed to push his way in to”. So, just for you Ricky… here’s a lovely shot of David and Eddie alone.

Another comedian my wife spotted on the night was Jack Dee… and I also bumped into ex-Roxy Music member Brian Eno the following evening… I guess that’s the closest him and Phil get to a reunion.

The next couple of shots are also from the aftershow on the second night of Wembley:

As you can see, DB was visited by singer Beverly Knight and self-proclaimed Bowie freak, Travis bass player Dougie Payne. Dougie has never made a secret of his love for all things Bowie, as readers of these pages will know. Not only did Dougie sing lead vocals on a live Travis version of All The Young Dudes (later released as bonus track), but, the band’s latest album, 12 Memories, features a picture of Dougie sporting a Bowie T-shirt. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ll leave you with a bit from Dougie’s biog on the official Travis website:

My first musical memory is, being made to sing ‘Bye Bye Baby’ (the Bay City Rollers), by 2 of my older sisters . A slightly more pleasant memory is my sister Gill playing me Hunky Dory by David Bowie when I was about 6. It was the first album I ever listened to, and I was immediately smitten. I was lucky to grow up with a sister in the next room who had very good taste in music. Years later I would buy albums by the Beatles and Bowie, and wonder how I knew all the words.