David Bowie's long-time producer Tony Visconti has celebrated the musician's life at a tribute concert in Canada.
About 900 people packed into Toronto's Opera House on Tuesday to pay tribute to the pop star, who died on Sunday. They heard the band Holy Holy, featuring Visconti on bass and former Bowie cohort Woody Woodmansey on drums.
"There is no better way to work through grief (than) through music," Visconti told the audience, before playing a selection of Bowie's biggest hits.
They also performed the 1970 album The Man Who Sold The World in its entirety.
"This is some of the best music that's ever been written," said Visconti - who was Bowie's producer throughout his career, starting with the 1969 album Space Oddity right up to his swansong Blackstar, which was released last week.
Before the show, Visconti told fans that Monday, when he had learned of Bowie's death, had been one of the worst days of his life.
"We actually had to talk about whether we were going to perform more on this tour," he said.
"[But] music is magic. It's better than any pill to take, It's better than any drug."
The sold-out crowd signed a book of condolence before the show; while many had painted a lightning bolt across their face, mimicking the cover of Bowie's 1973 album Aladdin Sane.
"This is some celebration," said Visconti later.
'I wept'
Tuesday night also saw the first performance of Bowie's stage musical Lazarus since his death.
Cast members did not acknowledge the star's absence or make any changes to the show - although a video screen in the lobby showed a photo of the musician with the words "In Memoriam, 1947-2016."
"We actually had to talk about whether we were going to perform more on this tour," he said.
"[But] music is magic. It's better than any pill to take, It's better than any drug."
The sold-out crowd signed a book of condolence before the show; while many had painted a lightning bolt across their face, mimicking the cover of Bowie's 1973 album Aladdin Sane.
"This is some celebration," said Visconti later.
'I wept'
Tuesday night also saw the first performance of Bowie's stage musical Lazarus since his death.
Cast members did not acknowledge the star's absence or make any changes to the show - although a video screen in the lobby showed a photo of the musician with the words "In Memoriam, 1947-2016."
