Audiences are in for high-octane entertainment on August 20 when Franco Vigliotta’s Ziggy and the Stardust tribute to David Bowie free concert comes to the Red Crow café in Lac La Hache.
Franco Vigliotta, a Toronto/Vancouver based singer, songwriter, performer and audio engineer is performing two free shows on Saturday, August 20 at 9:30p.m. and 11 p.m.
This is his sixth year playing at the café. “Six years ago I was performing a David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust concert in Lillooet and stopped at the Red Crow,” he said.
“I saw this little pizzeria with a full stage, and asked Rick Duncan, the owner, ‘Do you have bands here?’ He answered. ‘When I can find one,. We closed the deal, he hung some posters and that was that.”
He plays in a top 40 five-piece rock band in Ontario doing cover tunes, does the Ziggy and the Stardust shows and also does an original country song project as Franco Ross with modern country songs he has written.
He opens his David Bowie tribute concerts with some of his country tunes, including Every Single Friday Night and Moving to Mexico, and will have CDs available at the concert at the Red Crow.
He said it’s a great honour to do a tribute to David Bowie. “Many years ago the producer who does my original songs said, ‘You have some characteristics of David Bowie’ and I always had that at the back of my mind to do something with that.”
“Nine years ago my girlfriend and I created the tribute, with costumes and dancing. I really enjoy doing it. When he passed away this past January, I wanted to continue carrying his legacy. He was an amazing artist, and was always on the cutting edge his whole career. I’m into it even more.”
He said that audience response to the David Bowie tribute has always been great. “A lot of times people get dressed up in costumes to come to the concert. Bella Coola was one of the first places we did a show where the audience got into it like that. I always love engaging with people during performances,” he continued.
He said he finds that audiences in the Cariboo Chilcotin are drawn to entertainment and are very engaged. “When you’re on stage here people are really connected to you.
They appreciate the fact that you came out and shared this experience with them. “I’m so looking forward to meeting everyone at the Red Crow,” he stated.
“There’s nothing I love more than to see people having fun.”