THE "total theatre" of David Bowie's "outstanding" 1973 performance at Brighton Dome has lived on in the lives of fans who were there.

The Argus's review of the gig reported that 18 seats were ripped from the auditorium and four fans fainted.

The review has been reprinted today following the Thin White Duke's death on Sunday at the age of 69, following an 18 month battle with cancer.

On May 24, 1973, The Argus review said: "As performers they are streets ahead on most other pop groups.

"The act is total theatre. The stroboscobic lighting , the weird costumes and Bowie's charisma transformed the Dome immediately into science fiction."

The Keep city archive tweeted their copy of the review.

Hoards of fans have recalled the concert - at the height of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars fame - from the moment he stuck his head through the curtain at the start of the show to fans dragging themselves home having changed forever after.

The 16 year old Jan Cushing from Haywards Heath admits she was with people responsible for the damaged seating.The inimitable Ziggy Stardust performance stayed with her ever since.

The concert left such an impression on Jan's life that when her daughter graduated from university at the Dome 30 years later it was still forefront in her mind.

She said: "Since 1973 I have seen Bowie perform several times and he is a true artist but the 1973 Dome experience was special."

Steve Webb, who now lives in Florida, was also at the gig having snuck out at 5am to queue for tickets.

He said: "At thirteen I was totally gobsmacked.

"At the end there were loads of flyers for the Aladdin Sane album and a huge poster. One guy had it and I tore it from his hands saying "that's mine."

"If you are that guy sorry mate. I kept that poster for 15 years."

Trevor Scott added: "It was amazing and I can remember all the screaming girls rushing the stage from their seats as he came on stage.

"We climbed over the seats in front to get closer to the stage and as the gig went on so the stalls nearest the front started to collapse."

Patrick Wilson, of Hove, "stumbled upon the gig by happy accident" when he heard the music having left the King and Queen pub.

He wandered into the show without a ticket and found a "highly colourful, vivacious if not momentous event."

Kate Elms at The Keep, a Bowie fan who dug out the review, said: "It's a shock when somebody like that, who seemed almost ageless, dies.

"The newspaper archive is one of the most popular at The Keep, we have a lot of people try to user it so we promote it on social media."