Buddy Holly: The Day the Music Died

Matty B. brings Buddy Holly back onstage

By Elissa Vickery/BoroOnline.com

This new sound came straight out of the 1950s. Sound unorthodox? That was what Matty B. and the Dirty Pickles set out to do in the first place.

They filled a void in the local music scene with their own homegrown Picklebilly. With vocals by Matty Boland, Matt “Kickin’” Korytowski on drums and Ben “Jammin’” Roemer on bass, it’s been hard to miss them on the local circuit since they started out in 2004.

Now, the independent Roadhouse Theater, 145 W. 11th St., isn’t just overflowing with their sound, but selling out their seats for a Buddy Holly revival, headed by one of Erie’s most inimitable groups.

“On numerous occasions I have seen the band play their old rock-n-roll,” says local artist and poet Joe Gallagher. “A more appropriate person (Matty B.) to play Buddy Holly does not exist. Watching him is like being in a time capsule or seeing a fifties great reincarnated. There is an unexpected and uncanny presence of music here.”

“Buddy Holly: The Day the Music Died” pays homage to the loss of one of the past century’s greatest rock talents. When the theater lights dim on the audience, the feeling is like having been transported inside a 1950s radio. Deejay Steve Casey, played by Ray Steinbacher, sits in a booth at stage right, smoking a cigarette and looking fully bemoaned as he describes the “recent” deaths of Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

In commemoration, he throws on a record, and the stage floods with light to reveal a young and energized Buddy Holly flanked by the Crickets. Though it’s not uncommon to see Matty B. decked out in a tuxedo complete with bow-tie, he now pours over the microphone with the trademark shocking black hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

For about an hour, the Roadhouse audience is given the opportunity to go back 50 years, back before the fateful plane crash and “the day the music died.” Matty B. and the Dirty Pickles recreate such classics as “Peggy Sue” and “Rave On.”

Matty B. and the Dirty Pickles create an onstage rockabilly renaissance throughout Erie County and the tri-state area.

The last performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21 and 22. And Saturday’s show will be followed by an after party in the back of the Roadhouse, featuring a set by Matty B. and the Dirty Pickles. It’s a 1950s theme, so pull out your vintage dresses and zoot suits.