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 Bowie had done a press conference earlier that day and had been a bit withdrawn, but by stage time he’d shed any inhibitions and stalked the stage like a madman.

The experience we’d gained on our UK tour, plus the addition of Mike Garson, really helped us find our feet and the sound of the band and the performance seemed to have moved up to another level. It was exciting and the audience let us know it was the same for them. At the end we received an ovation that lasted about ten minutes. We’d done our first US concert and it had gone down amazingly, the perfect start to the tour.

Bowie loved all this. He was still in control of the Ziggy persona at the start of the first US tour and was able to adopt and discard his onstage character with relative ease. He’d wanted to be famous for years, and had worked incredibly hard to achieve it – and here he was, the biggest star of the hour.

The live shows will feature special guests Billy Bass (1/9), Anastasia Pantsios (1/10) and Denny Sanders (1/11) in conversation with Mulready, including audience Q&A. A second set each night will feature live original music by musical hosts, Cleveland's glam punk superstars Vanity Crash. Each night Anastasia Pantsios exhibits her Bowie photos for sale.

Performances will take place at 8PM on the following dates:

*Friday, January 9, 2026 at BOP STOP, 2920 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 with

special guest Billy Bass

*Saturday, January 10, 2026 at Jilly’s Music Room, 111 N. Main St, Akron, OH 44308

with special guest Anastasia Pantsios

*Sunday, January 11, 2026 at The Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd., Cleveland,

OH 44110 with special guest Denny Sanders

More information: https://VanityCrash.com Everything is subject to radical change.

Photos of David Bowie in 1972 at Cleveland’s Music Hall by Anastasia Pantsios

Denny Sanders is an actor and voice artist who was a popular radio personality from 1968 to 2001, first in Boston, Massachusetts and then a 30 year run in Cleveland, Ohio. He has a rich history in broadcasting, having contributed significantly to the Ohio music scene, especially during a 15-year run at WMMS where he played a key role in breaking artists such as David Bowie in the US, and shaping progressive and independent radio. Later, he programmed WMJI in their rock and roll oldies days, greatly expanding their playlist, which resulted in WMJI setting the record for the highest ratings of any Cleveland station in the 1990s. He has appeared in various documentaries about radio and popular music as well as in director Marc Meyers' 2017 film "My Friend Dahmer".