Thanks to Ian for the superb photos !

                                       Doncaster - March 2008

   Ian Higham hat an einer Gedenkveranstaltung in Doncaster / England aus

   Anlass der 50. Wiederkehr der UK-Tour von Buddy Holly und den Crickets

   teilgenommen und darüber einen Bericht verfasst, wofür ich mich bedanke.

I've just returned from a great weekend in Doncaster.

The event held on March 8th was part of the 50th anniversary of Buddy's

British tour and was organised by John Firminger editor of 'Crickets File'

magazine. 

It was held at the Regent Hotel located directly opposite the Odeon cinema

where Buddy & The Crickets played in March 1958 when it was then known

as the Gaumont Theatre.

The Regent Hotel (Right) and the Odeon cinema (Left) where Buddy played in 1958 when it was known as the Gaumont Theatre.

The event consisted of two distinct halves, a memorabilia fanfare on

Saturday afternoon and an evening concert featuring top northern tribute

band 'Hollydayz'.

Dutch fans Lee De Klerk, Angela Rijnaard & Leny De Klerk

There were visitors from as far afield as Holland and Spain which made

our journey from the south coast seem a comparative stroll! 

The Regent was a friendly family run hotel and proved an ideal venue

for this event.

Display of Ian's sheet music

The Beatles themed Abbey Road Bar was the location for the memorabilia fair

at which I presented a display of Buddy Holly & Crickets items.

Despite being provided with most of the tables, these proved insufficient

to display all I had brought along. 

Jim Carr of 'Holly International' magazine was in attendance and sold

a few more copies of his UK Tour book.

Mr Firminger had a stall with 'Crickets File' and other publications including

the new Spencer Leigh book about Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.

John Firminger Editor of 'Crickets File' chats with Tony Marsh from Liverpool (Right)

Renowned Holly historian John Ingman was there along with many

familiar Cricket perves.

Ian's EP display, Denise Higham chats with Barry Holley

It was a pleasure to also meet Barry Holley, a well respected Holly fan

who I had not met before.

There was also a continuing film show of various Holly related

documentaries.

The fanfare lasted for around three hours between 2-5pm. 

Dedicated fan! Joop Rijnaard's shows off his new tattoo!

The evening tribute show kicked off at 7.30 with the band appearing at 8.30.

classical style guitar playing including excellent versions of 'Learning The

Game'. Believe me, Chris was superb. He plays with Dave Berry & The

Cruisers.

A close up of Joop Rijnaard's new tattoo

from John Firminger. The show featured a chronological presentation of

Buddy's songs, the first half concentrated on the 'Buddy & Bob' and

'Nashville Sessions' years.

After the break, the 'hit' session began and the capacity crowd were really

rocking, helped along with very reasonably priced northern ale.

The hotel where Buddy & The Crickets stayed while in Doncaster.

The event was such a success there is talk of doing a repeat next year.

I imagine a bigger venue will be required! 

                                                        Ian Higham

Proudly presented by

	Keeping the flame alive and burning bright !

Hey Hans!! I found your web site. It's great!! This is your Navajo 'Buddy' from New Mexico, USofA...StanEld. You can bet I'll be a frequent visitor. I was stationed in Sembach Air Base way back in the late 70s; near Kaiserslautern, Rhineland Pfalz. I now have a good reason to try to re-learn my Duetch. I feel honored you even 'talked' to me at the www.buddyholly.com; You know you're a Buddy Holly Fan when... web page. Didn't realize I was chatting with a True Buddy Fan.