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David Bowie only came through Portland a handful of times, but he was a huge fan of at least one of the city's more successful bands, the Dandy Warhols.
After allegedly witnessing their set at Glastonbury in 2000—as singer Courtney Taylor told it to Mojo, "He looked at me and thought: that guy with the yarn turban on his head has done something I've always wanted to do, and that is put a band together where everybody is as cool as me"—the late Starman invited the Dandies to play the 2002 Meltdown Festival, which he curated, even taking the stage with them at one point to perform a Velvet Underground cover.
A year later, Bowie launched what would end up being his final tour, and selected the band to support him on the European leg, giving them the distinction of being the last opening act he ever had—on his native continent, at least. (The Polyphonic Spree opened the later North American dates.)
After Bowie's death earlier this week, at age 69, Taylor spoke to the U.K. lad-mag Loaded about his relationship with the rock icon. The Dandies learned of Bowie's passing while on tour. "I was in the cattle stalls of Houston Airport," he says. "My tour manager went 'Hey man, I don't know if you heard, but Bowie died.' What I felt then, I will never forget. I thought I was going to vomit."
Taylor goes on to discuss Bowie's latest album, Blackstar:
Read the full thing here, and check out this old clip from MTV where the Dandies discuss meeting Bowie, whether the kids of 2003 know who David Bowie is, and that time Avril Lavigne mispronounced his name.
Willamette Week