Sunday Blog 59 – 30th October 2022
It was the long ago, faraway world of 1983 and I was in Year 13 – the first year out of school. I was dating someone older than me so that meant I was adopting all his preferences, in this case music. I found myself camped outside of the old Perth Entertainment Centre waiting to buy tickets to a concert. This place has since disappeared but looked like the lid of a coke bottle. It has been replaced by something that looks like blue origami created by someone on acid.
There was some excitement back in 1983 as Perth often missed out on these types of concerts – and because it was David Bowie was back after a five year break from touring. At some point in the middle of the coldish night of camping out I found myself admitting “I don’t really like David Bowie.”
But I was swept along on the passivity of a young woman and helped that group of friends get tickets for us all. While that concert did not turn me into a raving fan, I had to acknowledge Bowie’s talent. This talent only continued to blossom and spread and iterate over several art forms over the years.
So yesterday I took myself off to see Moonage Daydream, not so much a documentary as an immersion into Bowie’s creative life. It does follow a chronology but is described as immersive. For me this meant I often felt a bit lost but on a very picturesque path which every now and then had a signpost for me to orientate. I had to google him afterwards and there were just so many interesting details I learned that might have been in a traditional documentary but this was really an anthem to creativity.
He got to go right through all the life stages of development to get to a tranquil but very creatively productive maturity. His advice towards the end was to enjoy the creative process. How radical a thought – forget the tortured artist and truck loads of drugs – just give time to your art and do what you enjoy.
What a radical dude he was, right to the end.