NightShade Productions
- Detroit, MI
- Murder Mystery
- 53 Verified Bookings
Renee H. said “The carolers were great! The were well received by our attendees, especially when they asked for requests. They were easy to work with, as well; we had…”
Your list is empty.
Save musicians, entertainers, speakers, and services, and they’ll appear here.
No one is recreating the BOWIE experience quite like ZIGGY MOONDUST & THE SPIDERS FROM MARS. In a multi media presentation of film, images and of course live band performance of the six piece Spiders featuring guitars, bass, drums, saxophone and synthesizers the SHOW goes on. This latest ZIGGY comes on with a stunningly animated physical energy and vocal delivery that can only be described as an indelible adoption of the spirit of the man who fell to earth. You haven’t seen a real live pretend-to-be-BOWIE until you’ve seen ZIGGY MOONDUST performing songs from Bowie’s most celebrated albums with an old school love-to-rock band that might just put you on the boil — PANIC IN DETROIT!
A great way to celebrate a house party. Ziggy was entertaining and did many Bowie favorites along with some tracks from other not so famous songs of Bowie. If you’re a Bowie fan highly recommend this entertainer, won’t be disappointed!
Price Range: $1000 and up
Gig Length: 90 - 120 minutes
Languages: English
Let’s start with some unsolicited comments on the act…
“great show… amazing performance…” Nicole G.
“unique…. brilliant…. I can’t stop listening….” Mikael L.
“the American Bowie” Max C.
“f#@king amazing” Mona L.
"awesome... I'm a huge fan" Marcus J.
“super talented… love the voice” Michele K.
“dig the voice” Billy B.
The ZIGGY MOONDUST SHOW clocks in as an immersive experience. Even before the band hits the stage the audience is treated to an original and engaging collage of all-things-BOWIE as the instrumental track V2 Schneider from the HEROES album sets the tone and creates the mood. And then we’re off. From the opening glam rock power chords from a band that looks, sounds and plays the part - it’s more than a concert - it’s a SHOW. The band brings an old school love-to-rock attitude to the stage with class A musicianship and a sense of mutual admiration/gratitude at the opportunity to perform classics from DAVID BOWIE’s most celebrated albums. And as the latest ZIGGY appears he seizes the scene with a magnified presence worthy of the role. Surely the “papers want to know who’s shirts he wears.” And while the band is happy to play Stardust classics like SUFFRAGETTE CITY, this is a show that goes all-in across the spectrum of the BOWIE catalogue, hitting highlights from the wealth of material that Mr. BOWIE delivered.
The visuals are all part of the show as the band plays with BOWIE inspired artwork projected behind that sets each song apart with its own theatrical performance space and mood. The sound of the Thin White Duke shows up alongside Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust, Mr. Serious Moonlight, the Man Who Fell to Earth and more. And after all, is there a more intriguing cast of characters than those conjured up by BOWIE? Under the moonlight, the serious moonlight, you’ll find ZIGGY MOONDUST romping along with the SPIDERS FROM MARS. Oh what a thing to see…
AND THE OPENING ACT: THE CINEMATIC FURS (PSYCHEDELIC FURS TRIBUTE ACT)
The band also performs a crack set of songs by the PSYCHEDELIC FURS as the alter ego CINEMATIC FURS. The FURS? What’s loud, furry and fun… AND cinematic…. that would be the CINEMATIC FURS Detroit’s PSYCHEDELIC FURS/80’s tribute act. If you know an 80’s sound when you hear it you surely haven’t escaped the band’s ubiquitous radio/MTV presence with tracks like PRETTY IN PINK, THE GHOST IN YOU and LOVE MY WAY. While they’ve been referred to as the missing link between the glam rock of BOWIE and the alt rock of NIRVANA, they surely beat out their own territory. Whether it’s the guitars and synths, the toms, bass, and sax, or the enigmatic lyrics and nonchalant ramshackle vocals there’s something for everyone who feels things aren’t always what they seem to be…. and the chance to see the animated antics of an old school showman working across the din of the band’s sound. The smoke machines, strobe lights and old school love-to-rock attitude are just the beginning… the band rocks through the classic hits as well as even more riveting tracks like INTO YOU LIKE A TRAIN and RUN AND RUN.
And here too the visuals set the pace. A film collage of swinging London opens the show set to the moody FURS classic SISTER EUROPE before the band opens with IN MY HEAD, a mid tempo rocker that gives the band a chance to unload it’s audio arsenal for maximum effect. Projections provide the mis-en-scene for the band’s setlist. We get a photo of the decaying Northampton Asylum for ALICE’S HOUSE and there’s a dayglow Molly Ringwald poster from the film PRETTY IN PINK. And on it goes with the band unleashing its magazine of the best of the FURS catalogue. Ahh yes it seems as though they’ve been “waiting all night for someone like you…” If anyone would aim to give the BOWIE crowd a run for their money… it has to be THE CINEMATIC FURS…
“Pretending to be a rockstar may actually be better than being a rockstar… all the fun without the baggage.” - FRANKLIN SANE
After years of close calls with his own brush with fame through various record labels and music industry contracts both here in the states and in the U.K., FRANKLIN SANE aka ZIGGY MOONDUST enlisted a talented band of mates to form the act ZIGGY MOONDUST & THE SPIDERS FROM MARS. With a background in classical voice, mime, dance, theatre and performance art Franklin is uniquely qualified to “play the part” in this theatrical show featuring film, slide projections and live band performance. Mr. MOONDUST comes with a fairly complete BOWIE pedigree, a personal career inspired by the starman himself, with all the trappings minus the global fortune and fame of course, but then who’s counting? Even before launching this act those who heard his original recordings had begun to refer to him as THE AMERICAN BOWIE. This act gives FRANKLIN a chance to perform the songs that rocked his world as a fan and a developing artist. A chance to shimmy across the stage with that sense of melodramatic verve which is distinctively BOWIE.
Prior to forming the SPIDERS Franklin had performed on the college and club circuit, on network television, and had his original songs featured on college and modern rock radio, and played supporting slots with national touring acts. He has released two albums of original material, REVOLUTION DAY and LIFT, as well as REMIXAMOOZA, an album of 60’s pop/rock refashioned as 80’s dance floor favorites. Franklin has also been active collaborating on originals with artists from New York, England, Holland, Australia and beyond.
But where were the SPIDERS? Hiding no doubt in the suburban wasteland that surrounds Franklin’s homeland, Detroit. Unaware of their impending doom until Franklin fingered them for their fate - a full on assault on the temple of glam… MARTIN came with his saxophone - the refugee of a handful of biker bands which were given one simple rule when they played the clubs… no QUEEN and no BOWIE (and for that matter no Culture Club)… and ALEX on drums having escaped the Asian metal scene with her sense of timing and her tom work intact…. and JULIE an acoustic coffee house crowdpleaser with an ear for harmony and a fluid voice… her non existent familiarity with synthesizers made her perfect for the role - it would all be new….. and brother MIKE who had dabbled in drums, congas, bongos, harmonica and guitar yet never really connecting till FRANKLIN nudged him on to the bass… he settled in with a fresh level of dedication cutting his teeth on new wave and glam classics… and then the reunification with DAVID, Mr. do anything on guitar - art school chums from ages ago who had jammed on STARDUST tracks from their shared ROXY/BOWIE axis. And there you have it, unlike any other, playing to standing room only audiences. Stage. Lights. It’s a BOWIE SHOW!
Franklin Sane | vocalist |
Mike Szymanski | bass |
Martin Short | saxophone |
CJ Wolfe | drums |
Dave Landry | guitars/backing vocals |
Julie Landry | synthesizers/keyboards/backing vocals |
INFLUENCES
This is a BOWIE tribute act so let’s talk about DAVID BOWIE who is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Rolling Stone sandwiched him between Queen and Michael Jackson on the list of the 100 greatest acts of all time. The range of musical styles he masterfully delivered and the cast of characters he created as a vehicle for his craft is unparalleled. And his love of theatre was evident in the songs he recorded and the live performances he staged. And it is the shared love of the BOWIE sound and style that first brought vocalist FRANKLIN SANE and guitarist DAVID LANDRY, the heart of the SPIDERS, together as they bonded at art school parties systematically hijacking the stereo to play STATION TO STATION every opportunity. They saw him play together in nose bleed arena seats and still cherish the experience. Now they relish the opportunity to bring that experience to audiences in more intimate settings. And some tracks are so engaging, FRANKLIN can recall exactly where he was and what he was doing when he first heard them. The original starman may no longer be with us but his spirit and his sound is alive in the work of ZIGGY MOONDUST & THE SPIDERS FROM MARS.
The Opening Act: THE CINEMATIC FURS
If there’s one act that took the BOWIE model and rebranded and ran with it it would have to be THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS. They’ve been called the missing link between the glam rock of BOWIE and the alt rock of NIRVANA. The sound is more basic, more tribal than the BOWIE sound, simple power chord progressions layered with synthesizers and colored with saxophones driven by primal bass lines and tom-flavored drumming. After all we’re talking about a band whose initial gigs consisted of formless jams which could best be described as noise generation and once featured a running vacuum cleaner to add to the tumult of sound. Vocalist Richard Butler would ramble on over the noise without any sense of traditional song structure or standard lyric composition. Though the band seriously evolved and by their second album, the heralded TALK TALK TALK LP, they produced such classics as PRETTY IN PINK and INTO YOU LIKE A TRAIN, carving their own niche in the 80’s post punk new wave. Richard Butler gave us the style of BOWIE with a handful of Sex Pistol sneer, a compelling combination that hung fire with glam rockers as well as the refugees of the punk scene who were ready to move on to something with a more cultured sense of irreverence.
While the sound of the FURS might be described as less sophisticated than the sound of BOWIE it’s certainly no less powerful and you could argue it’s simplicity makes it more so. And the shared platform is undeniable… rock music delivered with guitars, saxophones and synthesizers with Britishian vocals that only BUTLER and BOWIE could supply. And there was a mutual appreciation between these two acts. BOWIE was looking for a chance to produce a FURS album though their schedules never meshed, for what surely would have been one of the great collaborations in the post punk era, and he once declared LOVE MY WAY to be one of his three favorite songs. And there’s no denying his influence on the FURS. They grabbed a measure of his thunder and injected it into their work and the results make them a perfect opening act for the “gande frommage.”
While there’s no question BOWIE’s light shone brighter when it came to commercial success the fact is when you speak to cult followers from the BOWIE camp and the FURS camp you come to understand the parallels of the mesmerizing experience of seeing these charismatic acts totally committed to their worlds of sound and vision. These are acts that need to be seen AND heard because, after all, when they hit the stage… IT”S SHOWTIME!
Full PA is needed with microphones for 4 vocals and a six piece band
Renee H. said “The carolers were great! The were well received by our attendees, especially when they asked for requests. They were easy to work with, as well; we had…”
Deeann W. said “Erin made our daughter’s private event spectacular! We are looking for a reason to have her again soon! She is as sweet as she is talented!”
Nancy S. said “We LOVED our Muffy. She really was excited to emcee our party. The love and care she showed us was so endearing. You made my event a success.”