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The Angels



Australian hard rock band The Angels (known as Angel City in the US) supported Bowie on his 1978 tour of Australia.


Their 1978 album Face To Face was already making an impact on Australian charts but their position as "special guests" on the Bowie tour (apparently insisted by Bowie) and their terrific performances earned them the respect of many more music fans.....

 

"My first sight of him was at the Adelaide Oval. I thought 'That could be David Bowie', then, 'No, that's not David Bowie'. He was in slacks and a V-neck, a very well-dressed English gentleman.

He invited us to dinner that evening ... and that set the tone for the tour."

~ Rick Brewster (guitarist)

Bowie sat himself down right opposite me for dinner, and I couldn't think of anything to say. I just said, 'Good food, eh?'

And from then on we watched every bloody show, and learned heaps."

~ Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup (drums)

"Bowie was fantastic. He treated us as his guests.

He came down to our very first sound check and he offered us everything on stage in terms of lighting except for one special one that he wanted to keep"

~ Doc Neeson (lead singer)

 

Bowie, Adrian Belew and Carlos Alomar also offered their guitars to The Angels for the performances. During a break in the schedule in Sydney, The Angels booked to play at the Bondi Lifesaver club in Bondi Junction.

That same night, David Bowie came to watch!


 

"We'd started our show and all of a sudden David Bowie and his entourage came in front of the punter barrier [the security fence separating the audience and the stage] and watched our show.

It blew me away, here's this superstar watching our show. They wanted to spend their night off coming and supporting our band.

We thought that was pretty amazing, actually. He didn't come to the show for any other reason other to enjoy it."

~ Rick Brewster (The Angels guitarist)

 

 

According to an article in The Age (January, 2016), Bowie joined The Angels for post-gig drinks in Brisbane, a dinner at The Sebel in Sydney and at a party in London.

Bidstrup said Bowie seemed humble and quiety spoken at those social events but he would always remember him as he was on stage, for his stunnings showmanship.

 

The Angels in the 1970s. Images courtesy of Rock on Vinyl Blogspot


 

Take a Long Line
The Angels 'Take a Long Line' (1978)

 
Mick Ronson
In later years, there appears to be an interesting connection to The Angels via Bowie's long term guitarist Mick Ronson.

Perhaps it was the crunchy, melodic riffing that Ronno and the Brewsters shared or perhaps it was mere coincidence.

Regardless, in the early 90s both musicians were found covering each others songs:

The Angels doing Ian Hunter's 'One Bitten Twice Shy' (originally in collaboration with Mick)

and

Mick Ronson doing The Angels classic 'Take a Long Line' on his album Heaven and Hull.