AFTER being a regular follower of That’ll be The Day’s excellent shows, I as tempted by Barry Steele’s Roy Orbison and Friends (Venue Cymru, Saturday August 24). What an excellent show it was! From the moment he stepped onstage, Barry Steele WAS Roy Orbison. The dark glasses, the guitar, the stance, and of course, the voice, all passed muster, and we were treated to a veritable juke box full of hits. From the early London American roster, with Leah, Crying, It’s Over and Running Scared all hitting the mark, Barry picked a fine selection of the Big O’s hits. As if this wen’t enough, there were three great ‘guests’ in the form of Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and the band’s classy keyboard player Boogie Williams as Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams pounded the piano keys to great effect, with Crazy Arms. What’d I Say, Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On all standing out. The Man in Black, Peter Jackson excelled as deep voiced Johnny Cash, with Folsom Prison Blues, A Boy Named Sue and Ring of Fire all pleasing the audience. Marc J Robinson made a huge impact as a wiry Buddy Holly. An excellent look alike and sound alike, he covered a cross section of Holly hits including That’ll Be The Day, Rave On, True Love Ways and Paul Anka’s composition It Doesn’t Matter Anymore. These guests each made a couple of appearances giving the five piece band a chance to shine, and allowing Barry Steele a few breaks to recharge the batteries. Standing stone cold still at the mic, the hits kept coming , with Walk On, Penny Arcade and Blue Bayou preceding his 80s period which included I Drove All Night, You Got It and She’s a Mystery To Me. The night could not have been complete without the inevitable Pretty Woman - the audience would not have allowed such an omission. So ended a show that had everyone singing, clapping - and later, dancing along. Another Venue Cymru triumph.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:25:50 +0000
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