David Bowie in NEO illuminates why David Bowie chose Cleveland to kick off his  first-ever US tour, creating an international superstar, presented by Thomas  Mulready and Vanity Crash.

Bowieologist Thomas Mulready, in collaboration with glam punk heroes Vanity Crash, trace  the rise of David Bowie in Northeast Ohio, from the local Space Oddity-era fan club, to  WMMS radio jocks Billy Bass and Denny Sanders pushing Hunky Dory constantly, to his  US debut at Music Hall photographed by Anastasia Pantsios, to his later visits to  Cleveland and collaborations with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. This multi-media event  includes from special guests discussing and performing seminal music from one of the most  creative and influential artists of the past century. Photos & interviews available upon  request.

In addition to live music, the show features highly edited interviews with Bowie’s  drummer Woody Woodmansey, and pianist Mike Garson, whose first gig with Bowie was that  Cleveland debut show, and who plays on two original Vanity Crash tracks, plus others.

From Woody Woodmansey’s book, “Spider From Mars: My Life With Bowie:”  The tour opened at the Cleveland Music Hall on 22 September. The venue held 3,000 and  had sold out in two days thanks to Denny Sanders, musical director, and Billy Bass,  programme director at WMMS Radio, who had played Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust tracks  repeatedly, introducing the area to our music and creating an enthusiastic fan base. We  were already the talk of the town by the time we got to Cleveland.

We began the show with ‘Hang On To Yourself’ and the crowd loved it. Bowie had done a  press conference earlier that day and had been a bit withdrawn, but by stage time he’d shed  any inhibitions and stalked the stage like a madman.