David Bowie Con 2023 Presents…DERYCK TODD’S BOWIEBALL On June 17th
LET’S DANCE!
Presenting…
DERYCK TODD’S BOWIEBALL!
Sponsored By Polaroid
Featuring Ava Cherry, Michael T, TheMenWhoFell2Earth and more!
Tickets on-sale 1:00pm EST on Thursday March 2nd.
David Bowie World Fan Convention
Sat – Sun, June 17 – 18, 2023
NYC’s Racket
Star Guests For the Convention Include:
* Producers Tony Visconti, Mark Plati and Tim Palmer
* Guitarists Carlos Alomar and Kevin Armstrong
* Pianist Mike Garson
* Bass guitarists George Murray and Carmine Rojas
* Vocalists Robin Clark and Joey Arias
* Compere: Nicholas Pegg
Overwhelming excitement is building for the 2023 DAVID BOWIE WORLD FAN CONVENTION on June 17-18, 2023 at New York City’s Racket (431 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011) and at the event’s heart is the glamourous Deryck Todd’s BowieBall, an unmissable late night celebration of the music, style, and legacy of David Bowie. Sponsored by Polaroid, the Deryck Todd’s BowieBall will be hosted by renowned Bowie performer Michael T, and features a spectacular selection of performances from acclaimed Bowie tribute Sons Of The Silent Age, special guest vocalist Ava Cherry and Bowie DJs TheMenWhoFell2Earth, so make sure you’ve got your red shoes on!
Marking the anniversaries of Let’s Dance (40th) and Aladdin Sane (50th), the night will also see a return of the “Best Dressed Bowie” competition where the Deryck Todd’s BowieBall invites all attendees to showcase their brightest, boldest and most daring Bowie outfits to celebrate the innovative impact that David Bowie had on the world of fashion. Promising a weekend of stardust-spangled grandeur, performances, presentations, art installments, and panel discussions, the David Bowie World Fan Convention celebrates its second sell out in the convention’s two year history so keep your ‘lectric eyes open as there’s plenty more to be announced.
Deryck Todd
Since 2006, he is the founder of New York’s famed BowieBall at venues such as Don Hills, Le Poisson Rouge and Santos Party House featuring Fred Schneider, Debbie Harry and Chloe Sevigny. His eponymously named boutique creative agency fuses the worlds of event production, public relations, fundraising, celebrity, fashion, music, and art into approachable guest-focused experiences. He’s produced events at venues such as Neuehaus, The Standard, Virgin Hotels Nashville, Public Arts and Soho House. Clients have included Bach Mai, Pernod Ricard, Mavi and MAC Cosmetics with notable event attendees Mary-Kate Olsen, Bailey Bass, Miley Cyrus, Janelle Monae, Alok V Menon, Patricia Field, Carson Kressley, Trixie Mattel, Kim Jones, Malia Obama, among others. His continued goal is to provide noteworthy experiences that leave guests with memories for a lifetime.
Michael T
Iconic performer Michael T is part of the furniture in the Bowie world, renowned for his memorable shows that combine his distinctive singing style and unique artistic showmanship. His performances draw on elements of his favorite music heroes, using influences from Prince to Freddie Mercury, yet the music, fashion, presence and performance of David Bowie lies at the heart of his work. From Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane, Michael T encapsulates the auras of Bowie’s myriad of personalities to create a mesmerising musical and artistic performance that pays homage to David Bowie’s legacy while allowing his own infectious personality shine through.
Sons Of The Silent Age
Chris Connelly and Matt Walker are both 30+ year veterans of the music business. Chris moved from his native Scotland in the 80’s to pursue a career in gratuitous volume and outrage with techno-rednecks The Revolting Cocks and Ministry. Matt has brought his formidable drumming skills to renowned bands over the years including Filter, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, and Morrissey. Matt and Chris were collaborating on a song when the seed was sown to start a band dedicated to the music of David Bowie. A stellar band was culled from Chicago’s elite musicians, all veterans in their own right with excellent musical pedigrees. Songs from Bowie’s canon were selected, played and honed and Sons Of The Silent Age became a living, vital entity. In January 2013, Sons played their inaugural charity show to a sold out crowd at Metro in Chicago. The benefit was so successful they decided to make it an annual event at Metro. Years later, the band continues to thrive, playing select, prestigious shows including the opening of the “David Bowie Is” exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and collaborating with kindred spirits such as Shirley Manson, Sinead O’Connor, Michael Shannon and Ava Cherry. Sons Of The Silent Age are dedicated musicians who love the material and know it intimately. The band pour their collective talents over Bowie’s 40+ years and 30 albums of dazzling music that irrefutably changed the face of music culture forever.
Ava Cherry
Ava Cherry is a singer and model. Her breakthrough as an artist began in 1972 when she met David Bowie in New York City while Bowie was touring for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It began with a period of personal and artistic collaboration that heavily influenced the “Young Americans” ‘blue-eyed soul’ era of Bowie. Following this, she struck out as a solo artist and background singer for musicians such as Luther Vandross and Chaka Khan. Growing up in Chicago with significant exposure to the local African-American music culture, Ava Cherry became an influence in the works of a number of pre-eminent artists, as well as a respected musician in her own right. Ava Cherry’s influence on “Young Americans” through her connections to major soul music institutions such as Sigma Sound Studios and the Apollo Theater has proven a particularly noted part of her legacy, as has her contemporaneous work with proto-new wave band the Astronettes. Ava Cherry’s solo career has been long-running, with her first album Ripe!!! released in 1980. Her solo work, known for its disco influence, has received a lot of positive critical reception. Ava Cherry is still a recording artist and seems to not age at all. She sounds great, has incredible work ethics and has not lost any charisma as a person, singer and model. “Love Shines So Bright” is a collaboration with writer and producer Rob Hardt and David A. Tobin. This exclusive production marks a new phase and brings along a modern Soul tune with a vintage touch.
TheMenWhoFell2Earth
For many years, TheMenWhoFell2Earth DJ’s have been bringing Bowie to the dance floor. From the now infamous indie night Rebel Rebel, which rocked London’s West End in the early naughties, through to their collaboration with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Modern Love at Soho’s Madame Jojo’s. More recently they have been found guesting at parties like Sink The Pink, Guilty Pleasures and Horse Meat Disco and venues like Koko, XOYO & The Clapham Grand (featuring as part of their annual Bowie celebration).
More On Bowie Ball:
Bringing together a cornucopia of collaborators from every period of Bowie’s multi-faceted career, The David Bowie World Fan Convention will be sponsored by VEVO and Waterloo Sparkling Water. The exclusive VIP experience with event partners Hard Rock Hotel New York will include exclusive panels, conversations and music only for VIP ticket holders, with more to be announced…
VIP event partners . It will welcome a host of luminaries including acclaimed producer Tony Visconti, whose partnership with Bowie across five decades spawned fourteen classic albums from 1969’s Space Oddity to 2016’s Blackstar. Joining Tony are other long-time collaborators including pianist Mike Garson, whose association with Bowie spans 30 years from Aladdin Sane to Reality, and guitarist and bandleader Carlos Alomar, a veteran of eleven albums and the co-writer of Bowie’s first US number 1 single, ‘Fame’. Fans will be thrilled to learn that Carlos is to be reunited with his bandmate George Murray, the bass guitarist who played with Carlos on two world tours and six albums including the legendary Berlin trilogy – this will be George’s first ever appearance at a Bowie event. Other guest speakers include guitarist Kevin Armstrong, who played on ‘Absolute Beginners’ and led Bowie’s band at Live Aid; Carmine Rojas, who played bass on the classic Let’s Dance album and the Serious Moonlight tour; multi-instrumentalist and Earthling co-producer Mark Plati; Tin Machine producer Tim Palmer; and performance artist Joey Arias, who appeared alongside Klaus Nomi during Bowie’s groundbreaking Saturday Night Live performance in 1979. And there’s more!
A rousing and exciting sold-out success, the first ever David Bowie World Fan Convention in June 2022 gathered 1,500 fans in Liverpool, England from as far afield as Japan and the US to meet each other and celebrate David Bowie. Moderated by author and Bowie expert extraordinaire Nicholas Pegg (The Complete David Bowie) who returns for the second convention, The David Bowie World Fan Convention immersed attendees into his hidden, hilarious, and sometimes heartbreaking world. Fans were able to come face-to-face with many of his friends and colleagues including Carlos Alomar, Robin Clark, Gail Ann Dorsey, Donny McCaslin, Woody Woodmansey, Jonathan Barnbrook, Kevin Cann, Chris Duffy, and John Cambridge. Fans are urged to connect with the event online for the most up-to-date information by signing up for mailing list updates and following on social media at:
