LONDON: 100 Club

Saturday 16th March, 2024

7:30pm

Event information

KillerStar UK album release gig.

KillerStar is a new band led by Rob Fleming (vocals, guitar, synths) and James Sedge (drums) together with an array of David Bowie’s most trusted collaborators: Mike Garson on piano, Earl Slick and Mark Plati on guitar, Gail Ann Dorsey and Tim Lefebvre on bass, Emm Gryner on backing vocals, and Donny McCaslin on saxophone. KillerStar have crafted a sound which fuses the scale of classic rock with sophisticated harmonies and elements of art rock.

Collectively, KillerStar’s musicians have contributed to almost every era of Bowie’s vast discography, from the landmark ‘Aladdin Sane’ to the final goodbye of ‘Blackstar’. Although, while the KillerStar name references one of Bowie’s relatively deeper cuts the album really doesn’t feel like an homage to The Thin White Duke. And that’s simply because it was never intended to be one. Rob and James had recorded the first KillerStar demos independently, without any advance planning on who else would be involved.

Earl Slick says, Since Bowie died, we’ve all gone off in different directions, but with this album we worked on new material and that was great.”

As you’ll hear on KillerStar’s eponymously named album, there are fleeting touches that recall classic Bowie moments, but really this is something altogether new and exciting. Bowie chose these musicians for their unique style and ability, and that is what they have brought to the record: reunited friends and some new connections, all playing to complement the songwriting rather than to retread the iconic music they created alongside their visionary former leader.

As Emm Gryner considers, “The Bowie alumni have a very special bond and we always will. David united us in a truly special way, where we spent a lot of time together, and to be able to hear each other again in this way was unique. I am sure David would have loved this album.”