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inger songwriter Don McLean described the death of Buddy Holly as “the day the music died” which makes a snippet from his all time classic, ‘American Pie’, a fitting start to a show that not only laments a career that was cut short after just a year-and-a-half but also celebrates the sheer joy of good ol’ rock ‘n roll.
To recap, Buddy Holly climbed to fame together with a band billed as The Crickets. When this ended, his career hit a pause. However, he was offered a three-week tour across the Midwest with performers such as Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Tortuous bus rides from city to city eventually saw Buddy charter a small plane to travel in comfort. The plane crashed soon after take off on 3 February, 1959. His death, together with Ritchie Valens, Richardson and the pilot shocked America.
This tragedy could have acted as a downer for the entire show, instead, front men Andrew Webster, Barry Thomson and John Didlick capture the sheer energy of hits like ‘Ready Teddy’, ‘That’ll Be The Day’, ‘Peggy Sue’ and ‘Oh Boy’. There are also beautiful covers of his ballads which include ‘Raining In My Heart’ and an incredibly beautiful rendition of ‘True Love Ways’ by Andrew Webster.
The “and Friends” component is covered via an Everly Brothers medley (‘Dream’, ‘Bird Dog’, ‘Bye Bye Love’ and ‘Wake Up Suzy’), a Little Richard medley and collections from the Beatles (‘Words Of Love’, ‘Hard Day’s Night’, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’, ‘From Me To You’ and ‘Twist And Shout’) and the Rolling Stones ( ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ and ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’).
Buddy and Friends could never be complete without John Didlick’s memorable version of ‘Chantilly Lac’e from The Big Bopper and a foot-tapping version of Richie Valens’ La Bamba from Andrew.
Andrew, who moves well on stage and interacts beautifully with the audience is undoubtedly the star of the show. He and Barry gel amazingly well on guitar and you get the impression that the two are enjoying the show as much as the audience. Other band members include musical director Dawn Selby on keyboards, Steve du Plessis on drums and Glen Turrell on bass.
The tragedy of review nights is that they happen at the beginning of shows and there are still one or two glitches. In this case, some work needs to be done on the sound. However, this has probably been ironed ‘as we speak’. Buddy and Friends runs until 14 March. Tickets are R190 per person from Wednesday to Saturdays and R165 per person for the Tuesday evening show and Sunday matinee. Prices include a two-course meal. |
