Interview: Matt Hahn of EVOLUTIONARIES REVISITED at Shadowbox Live

After attending a Beatles tribute concert many summers ago, I remember being impressed with how the band that night was able to transform from the collarless suits of the “Love Me Do” Days to the psychedelic Sgt. Pepper outfits to the denim jeans era of “Let It Be.”

I wondered out loud to my friend how many bands could one mark the passage of time by their outfits and music. The question hung in the air for a second before my friend said “Prince” at the same time as I said “David Bowie.”

Shadowbox Live says we were both right.

For the second time in seven years, Shadowbox Live is performing EVOLUTIONARIES REMASTERED, a tribute to both Ziggy Stardust and the Purple One. The show opens at 7:30 p.m. June 6 and runs through Aug. 11 at Shadowbox’s home stage (503 S. Front Street in Columbus’ Brewery District.)

“Being huge fans of both Prince and David Bowie made this even more of a passion project for the entire Shadowbox Live cast and crew,” SBX’s producing director Julie Klein said. “We can’t wait to bring this back to Columbus, and we know it will be a huge hit.”

EVOLUTIONARIES REMASTERED first graced Shadowbox Live’s stage in 2017, a year after the death of Bowie and Prince. The show features 13 Prince songs interwoven with 11 Bowie pieces as actors and singers tell stories of how the two icons revolutionized the worlds of music, fashion, and pop culture. The songs will be performed by the Shadowbox Live house band, vocalists, and dancers and further enhanced by the company’s costume, sound, lighting, and video teams.

Shadowbox has done a fair share of tribute shows in the past, including individual tributes to the Beatles (LEGENDS FROM LIVERPOOL and BIGGER THAN JESUS), Pink Floyd (WHICH ONE’S PINK?), and Joe Cocker (BY WITH A LITTLE HELP)  to name a few, as well as themed shows like last spring’s THE DREAM AND BEYOND, which celebrated the music of the Civil Rights movement, BACK TO THE GARDEN, which featured the music of the Woodstock Era, and FLOWER POWER, which presented a catalog of protest song classics from the 1960s.

“All of these shows presented their own challenges because we want to play the music with respect to the way it was written and recorded,” SBX music director Matt Hahn said. “Sometimes, that’s doable and sometimes, there are a lot of challenges.

“With Prince, it’s difficult because for like the BATMAN soundtrack he just went into the studio and cut everything himself. You must really dig into it because he laid down some unusual notes and chords.”

Hahn grew up as a Prince fan, buying the BATMAN soundtrack with the money he earned on his paper route.

“I knew every song on that one by heart … and all the ones that came after it,” he said. “All my musician friends (marvel) at what he did. He wasn’t just a singer. He could play drums, piano, guitar, bass. You name it.”

Bowie, however, was more of an acquired taste for Hahn. Growing up, he was familiar with Bowie’s songs like “Space Oddity” and “Changes.” Hahn liked Bowie’s performance in the movies, LABYRINTH, BASQUIAT, and THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST more than what he heard in Bowie’s music.

Oddly enough, Hahn owes Nine Inch Nails for his appreciation of Bowie. Hahn’s girlfriend at the time, a die-hard Bowie fan, convinced him to see Bowie and NIN on the Dissonance Tour when the show pulled into the Polaris Amphitheater Oct. 4, 1995.

“It was not a great day for Nine Inch Nails, but Bowie blew me away,” Hahn said, laughing. “Bowie played ‘Hurt’ (with NIN) and it was one of the coolest versions of that song I’ve ever heard.

“After the show, I had to admit to my girlfriend, ‘Ok, yes, he’s awesome.’”

Hahn remembers feeling a sense of loss after the two stars passed away 102 days from each other. Bowie had battled liver cancer for 18 months but kept his diagnosis from the public as he did one final album, “Blackstar.” He was 69.

Like Bowie, Prince kept working almost to the day he died. He performed on his Piano and Microphone tour on April 14 in Atlanta. He died seven days later due to a fentanyl overdose he used to treat a lingering hip injury. He was 57.

“(The suddenness of their deaths) gave me a new respect for how deep both of their legacies are,” he said. “Sometimes, you don't realize just how valuable someone's contribution to the history of pop music is until they're gone.”

“We'll do our best to give their music justice. We can’t do every song people will want to hear. Otherwise, we would be playing for a week. If the audience enjoys the music and leaves, saying ‘Ohh, I didn't know that (about Bowie or Prince.) That's neat,’ I think we've done our job.”

Photo credits: Tommy Feisel

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