The Cowichan Performing Arts Centre wound up its 2019 season with a lively tribute show entitled Buddy’s Holly Jolly Christmas.
Zachary Stevenson, originally from Parksville, who has taken his top-drawer Holly tribute all over North America, to rave reviews, was the host for an evening that also included Cassandra Frie as Brenda Lee and Ben Klein as the young Elvis Presley.
Since both Brenda and The King recorded Christmas songs that are still really popular today, it was a great mix for a seasonal concert that also included a lot of old faves from the Fifties and Sixties.
The backup band was, as is always the case with these Legends of Roll & Roll shows, sensational. Stevenson was in rare form, showing off his skill on the piano and saxophone as well as the guitar, Frie threw in a Connie Francis tune to top up her gig, and a good-natured Klein kept up a running verbal tussle with a leather-lunged female fan near the back of the huge crowd while tossing off all the Elvis hits we love with aplomb plus taking a turn at the drums.
In other words, everyone had a great time. It was a fine way to bid farewell to the decade.
