On Feb. 6, Billy McGuigan was Buddy Holly at the Fine and Performing Arts Center. This was a part of the FPAC’s Galaxy of Stars Series. The show sold out fairly quickly and the house was packed. This event took place thirty years and three days after Buddy Holly was tragically killed in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959. The crash killed Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).
The eight-piece band beautifully performed timeless classics like “That’ll be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” which are numbers that everyone remembers. The audience reaction was a feeling of nostalgia and appreciation.
Rave On! was not cheap or superficial, like many Elvis Impersonations can be. The people putting on the show obviously loved what they were doing. For a few moments, I felt like I was watching Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
The backing band is what really brought me back to reality because it was like a symphony, unlike the barebones nature of Buddy Holly’s original music. Many of his songs were composed mainly of guitar, stand up bass and drums. The full band adds a cool touch to the show, nonetheless. The Rave On! band has been jamming out Buddy Holly tunes for several years now and it shows.
Buddy Holly’s music was immortalized after his untimely death like Tupac and Kurt Cobain’s music. This makes me wonder if, in 30 years, we will be seeing shows for those deceased artists that have made significant contributions to the music world. Only time will tell. If it does happen, we could be hard pressed to find a group of musicians as dedicated to their craft as the Rave On! Band.