Exactly 50 years to the date of David Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust, digitally restored footage of the performance will be shown at the very venue where it happened. On July 3rd, 2023, London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith will host a screening of the 1979 concert film Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture, now restored in 4K.
Known as the Odeon back in 1973, the Eventim Appolo Hammersmith will roll out the red carpet to commemorate Ziggy Stardust’s legacy, welcoming a fleet of some of his frequent collaborators and musical successors for an on-stage panel ahead of the screening.
The restoration of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture also contains famed guitarist Jeff Beck’s performance scenes, which were cut from its original iteration. Shot by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Bob Dylan Don’t Look Back, Depeche Mode 101), the new version — complete with 5.1 sound — revitalized stellar onstage antics along with candid backstage moments of Bowie and The Spiders from Mars, plus a guest appearance from Ringo Starr.
In addition to the Eventim Appolo screening, simultaneous one-night-only screenings of the Q&A and the film will also go down on July 3rd in cinemas in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, and Australia. Screenings in Canada, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary will take place throughout July, while additional screenings will be announced in the US, Latin America, Asia, France, Spain, Belgium, and Scandinavia.
Ticket information and additional details can be found on Bowie’s website. See a trailer for the restoration below.
If you can’t make it to the theater, you can watch Brett Morgen’s 2022 Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream, which is now streaming on HBO Max.