The Rock’n’Roll Alien at Adelphi Theatre
For any musical tribute act, the primary hurdle is the simple and inescapable fact of the tribute subject’s absence. The performers in question may attack the material with all the requisite theatricality and gusto they have at their disposal, and they still won’t be the real thing. It helps, then, to have an array of production and choreographic fireworks as a ballast, and in this regard, David Bowie tribute show The Rock’n’Roll Alien (returning to the West End for a one-off performance after a UK tour as The Bowie Show from 24th January to 10th February) is delivered at a much higher level than can typically be expected.
Much of The Rock’n’Roll Alien unfolds as a rock opera minus story beats, the fat trimmed to promptly escort us from one iconic number to another (indeed, another plus of having Bowie’s catalogue as the production’s night-long muse is that there are no bad bits). The procession through Bowie’s catalogue is essentially chronological, with spirited performances from lead vocalists Elliot Rose, Sian Crowe and Greg Oliver all effectively essaying different shades of Bowie’s musical persona, from the anthemic to the coolly elusive to the reverential, as a handful of Bowie’s famous covers are also given their due.
Still, for all the performers’ vocal dexterity, it’s the bells and whistles surrounding them that do much to elevate the show. The projected images flanking the performers are often hypnotic, while the troupe of backing dancers seamlessly shapeshift from a merrily shimmying doo-wop backing chorus to clawed, moonlit demons of the night to an eerie, Venetian-masked religious procession that appears to be escorting the onstage Bowie surrogate to a dark gallows.
Exhaustion can set in as we enter the homestretch, and mileage may vary on how far the show’s immersive high concept can truly be sustained (one might question the good taste in one of the performers donning Bowie’s ghostly bandaged appearance from the Lazarus music video, famously released three days before the musician’s death). Still, if there is a truly significant drawback to the production, a concert in everything but name, it may ultimately and inescapably be the stiff upper lip formality of its setting. The Adelphi Theatre was packed with presumed Bowie superfans for the occasion, but the sedentary reception enforced by the West End set-up left the performance feeling hamstrung, adrift in an unequal exchange of energies. Only for the predictably rousing encore of Heroes did the crowd get moving, and the result made the show feel fully complete at last. Without crowd involvement, The Rock’n’Roll Alien feels doomed to simply be a high-energy art exhibition, observed from a distance.
Ultimately, creative director Simon Gwilliam’s stated intent to honour Bowie’s creative mission statement, “This is not a radio, but a colour TV,” is well embodied by the sugar rush of the resulting spectacle, oscillating from one stylishly rendered number to another. However, the truest thing this immersive Bowie homage may capture about the breadth of his work is that it is, ultimately, one interpretation. If ever one feels on the outside of The Rock’n’Roll Alien looking in, it may be because the show is simply immersing you in one individual image of Bowie fandom, which cannot possibly encapsulate all of either the man’s artistry or what he has meant to others. All the result can truly do is invigorate one’s desire to re-discover Bowie’s discography and eras of transformation for oneself. On these grounds, The Rock’n’Roll Alien can be considered an honourable success.
Thomas Messner
Photo: Courtesy of the Adelphi Theatre
The Rock’n’Roll Alien is at Adelphi Theatre from 27th May 2025. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.
Watch the trailer for The Rock’n’Roll Alien at Adelphi Theatre here:
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