While seemingly every talented musician on earth (and Lady Gaga, too) was lining up to pay tribute to David Bowie in the weeks after his death Jan. 10, the guy who led the popular Bowie tribute concerts at First Avenue for 11 years was on the fence about doing it again.
"When everybody starts doing tributes, they tend to get watered-down, and I didn't want ours to be in the same boat," said local pop/rock veJohn Eller, the bandleader for the First Ave tributes — which had been called off in 2015 because of the passing of the shows' longtime drummer, Tommy Alsides.
Thankfully, Eller had a ch-ch-change of heart about this year's installment: "We're doing the show for the same reason we've always done it: because we love his music, not because he died."
Thus brings us "Rock for Pussy XII: A Tribute to David Bowie," happening Friday and so named because it doubles as a benefit for Feline Rescue.
Eller will cover a wide range of the Bowie canon — particularly the '70s-era tunes — with a cast of local all-star musicians, including guest singers such as Chan Poling, Jeremy Messersmith, Lori Barbero, Maria Isa, Venus DeMars, Chris "Little Man" Perricelli, Jayanthi Kyle and the Prairie Fire Lady Choir.
He and other participants contemplated covering something off the new record, "Blackstar," but decided, "It's so personal and so like a deathbed confessional, it wouldn't seem right."
Local radio queenpin and Bowie fanatic Mary Lucia — who co-hosts the show with her former 89.3 the Current co-worker David Campbell — was also a bit wary about doing the tribute when first asked about it the day of the singer's death.
"I was walking into walls and had no idea if I could pull [it] off, let alone could I get dressed and go to work," she said. After hearing the collective mourning from listeners and friends all that day, though, "It was all too obvious we had to do the show," she said.
