Dundee is celebrating the life and art of David Bowie, the legendary musician and actor—who had performed in the city itself! On top of introducing things to do and how Scotland shaped Bowie, I also asked students about what the star means to them.
Things to Do
I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture I was living in.
David Bowie
Tickets are starting to sell out for the V&A Dundee’s David Bowie: On Tour, the debut of a UK-wide V&A exhibition of Bowie’s costumes, instruments, photos, scripts, and lyrics. This includes many items that have never been put on public display before.
The V&A promises a ‘rare glimpse into Bowie’s creative process and enduring impact.’ Indeed, I have not only seen his handwritten (and doodle-filled) lyrics and candid film production photos, but also press interviews from 1970s Aberdeen and Bowie concert tickets stretching from Dundee’s Caird Hall to the Hong Kong Coliseum.
University students can get concession tickets for £7 until the exhibition ends on the 15th of February. I would book now to avoid disappointment, as tickets for November’s weekends have already gone!
CANVAS, the taproom and creative venue 5 minutes’ walk north from University campus, will also host some free live music and stories relating to Bowie. A listening party of Phillip Glass’ symphonies inspired by Bowie and Brian Eno’s Berlin trilogy landed on Wednesday night, to be followed by an eclectic lineup of bands throughout Saturday afternoon and night (7th). This will include Dundee’s own Connor Liam Byrne (booking needed), replaying some of Bowie’s hits. Even Canvas’ staple Sunday jazz afternoon and film club evening (8th) will have Bowie-inspired twists.
The DCA is also bringing Bowie’s films to Dundee, with the usual students’ concession ticket price of £7. Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth will have its 50th anniversary screening at the DCA on 23rd November. I have yet to watch this film, but the DCA promises that Bowie was perfectly cast as an alien visitor to Earth in this British cult classic with experimental editing.
On 13th December, the DCA will screen Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. It is a picture of human persistence and dignity under the cruel reign of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, with Bowie playing a British Army officer who must liaise between his captors and his fellow prisoners.
On 10th January, the DCA will screen the ever-whimsical Labyrinth with Jennifer Connelly as a girl who finds a realm of fantastical and fantastic puppets by Jim Henson and his studio of the Muppets’ fame—and David Bowie as the dancing and singing villain Goblin King.
Past Gigs in the City
Adjacent to the DCA on South Tay Street was the Palais, a popular dance hall for university students, at which David Bowie himself performed sixty years ago! This was just a year before the University of Dundee became independent from St Andrews.
His performance at the Palais on 3rd April 1966 with his band called the ‘Buzz’ was followed by another gig in Hawick, down south in the Borders, before they returned to England. These marked Bowie’s first tour in Scotland.
Bowie was billed to perform at Dundee’s Caird Hall three years later, in 1969, but his gig was cancelled due to low ticket sales. That year, he stayed at the first and largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the West, at the two-year-old Samye Ling in Eskdalemuir in Scotland’s Dumfriesshire, and nearly left his career to become a monk!
Nevertheless, Bowie took his Tibetan mentor’s advice to ‘try to make each moment of one’s life one of the happiest, and if it’s not, try to find out why.’ He decided that he would be happier making music with other people.
Bowie got back into music and, after skyrocketing to fame with his Ziggy Stardust tour, he returned to Dundee and performed to a sell-out crowd at the Caird Hall in 1973. The more enthusiastic fans of the 2,500-strong crowd trapped Bowie at his car following the concert. His bodyguard had to drag him safely away to the after-show party at the Angus Hotel, since replaced by the Overgate shopping centre.
This turned out to be one of the last Ziggy Stardust shows, before Bowie moved on from the persona to other projects. From his first small gigs in Dundee and Hawick to his Tibetan Buddhist explorations and that sell-out concert in the Caird Hall, Scotland has played its part in shaping Bowie.
Now, in 2026, Dundee is Bowie Town. How has the star shaped the citizens of today?
I have therefore began asking students at the University of Dundee their thoughts on the events in the city and what Bowie means to them.
Student Voices
Third year Philosophy and Literature student Leah Bateman, who is a drummer and among Spotify’s 0.001% top listeners of Bowie last year, told me that the appeal of his music is that ‘it’s so alive, so electric—it zaps you.’
Asked about what Dundee’s community could gain from events put on by art institutions, she said,
When David Bowie first performed here, he wasn’t that big. We could gain appreciation for our lesser-known artists out and about in Dundee and get to support new music groups.
Replying to a follow-up question about whether the city has enough venues for local musical artists, she said,
“I don’t think there are enough venues. I think we definitely need nicer venues because bars and pubs aren’t enough. They’re accessible but only to a certain community.
“We need to open it to as many communities as possible, to as many venues as possible, like the place that David Bowie played in.”
I also spoke about Dundee’s Bowie events with fellow DUSA Vice President Sam Murray (VP Student Activities), who is also a musician. He said,
“It’s amazing to be able to go and look at the instruments [Bowie] used and the costumes that he wore. It’s really like being able to touch a part of history. Personally, I’d also be most interested in seeing his films at the DCA, because he’s a really underrated actor.”
Mature student Tania Dawn Shaw, who joined DUSA Media’s Tay Productions filmmaking group this year, had even seen David Bowie in-person—once at his concert in Milton Keynes, England, and once at his concert in Pistoia, Italy. She told me they were the ‘best concerts ever‘, adding,
He was the greatest showman!
With so much to experience and so much chatter of Bowie on the streets, The Jute Journal will be bringing you a series of articles about everything Bowie in the coming months, on top of more local stories.
Get in touch with us with your thoughts on Bowie Town and contribute to our coverage!
As for myself, an undated, handwritten thought by Bowie remains with me after my visit to the V&A:
‘Music is not some place we are going to, but a place we are creating. The paths are not to be discovered, but made, and the activity of of making music changes both the maker and the destination.‘