Dubbed the "No. 1 tribute show in the nation," the musical revue "I Remember Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison" returns to Detroit Lakes' Historic Holmes Theatre this Friday, July 16, at 7 p.m.
This tribute to two of America's biggest rock and roll icons features 19- year-old sensation Richie Lee as Buddy Holly and the incredible voice of Wayne Luchau as Roy Orbison.
Tribute organizer Dick Dunkirk said of Lee that he is "a major talent," and Luchau is "one of the finest singers I've known in 50 years (of performing)."
He said last year's show, also held during the Northwest Water Carnival, had played to a sold-out house at the Holmes Theatre, and had great crowds for similar shows in Fargo, Grand Forks and Fergus Falls as well.
Dunkirk said the arrangements for the show are original -- "note for note what's on the records."
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"It's like listening to the original recording, but with strings," he said, referring to the fact that the show is accompanied not only by his own band, The Shadows, but also by a string ensemble from the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony.
New to the show is Detroit Lakes native Jenn Dunkirk McPherson --Dick's daughter, and a 2005 graduate of DLHS -- paying a fabulous tribute to sixties female singers like Patsy Cline and Connie Francis.
There will even be dancing in the Holmes Ballroom following the concert!
For ticket information, call our Box Office at 218-844-SHOW, visit us at 806 Summit Ave., or buy online at www.dlccc.org . Tickets are $19 in advance and $23 at the door; all seats are reserved.
The Shadows: A brief
history
In early 1959, two jazz musicians, drummer Bob Korum and bassist Dick Dunkirk, working in different bands, decided to form a rock and roll band called "The Shadows."
They teamed up with country and rock lead guitarist Bill Velline, who soon brought in his 15-year-old kid brother Bobby Velline (who changed his name to Bobby Vee).
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Only six weeks later the group was called to fill in for Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper at the Moorhead Armory, February 3, 1959 (also known as "the day the music died," when the trio of famous performers died in a plane crash en route to Moorhead).
Bobby Vee soon became one of the biggest stars of the early 1960s, with two gold records, 13 million in total record sales and 20 albums. The Shadows were Bobby Vee's official touring band, playing hundreds of theatre and concert dates, television appearances such as the Miss USA pageant, and numerous recording sessions.
"It was unbelievable," Dunkirk recalled. "We thought it would last forever -- but you can never really recreate an experience like that -- playing in front of 18,000 people in Toronto, three shows a day at the Paramount Theater in New York City.
"It was fun," he added. "We had a great time... very people get to live through something like that, and I'm very happy to have experienced it."
The band broke up in 1965 after Bob and Dick opted to pursue other careers. Bill Velline died of a heart attack in 1997.
The Shadows were revived in 2005 after they were elected to the Mid-America Music Hall of Fame, nominated by their former lead singer, Bobby Vee.
