Arachnocide

D.A. Pennebaker knows a good documentary subject when he encounters it. Asked by David Bowie to film a few songs performed by his then-band Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Pennebaker opted to film an entire performance of the science-fiction pop wonders. Bowie's charisma, the amazing band (most notably Mick Ronson) and the zealous crowd reaction were like nothing ever seen before. Bowie took advantage of the situation with the élan of the consummate professional, famously announcing from the stage to his adoring fans, "[i]t's the last show we'll ever do." And like that, Ziggy and the Spiders were dead, Bowie abandoned glam rock and reinvented himself wholesale — and not for the first nor last time. The legendary Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars screens at 8 p.m. this evening at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue; 314-241-2337), and admission is $4.
Wed., April 7, 2010