BUDDY Holly managed to cram a lot into his tragically short time in the music business.

In the year and a half he had in the limelight before his death in a plane crash in 1959, the Texan rock ‘n’ roll singer released three albums and hit the charts with now iconic songs such as Peggy Sue and That’ll be the Day.

But his impact has lasted way beyond his lifetime.

He has been described as the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney idolised him. And apart from his musical legacy, he was the first star ever to stand up and say it was all right to wear glasses on stage.

It’s a lot to live up to when you take on playing him, and a challenge that Glen Joseph meets with an exuberant delight on the Mayflower stage.

Belting out the hits with a hauntingly similar voice and a joyful energy that never flags, Joseph carries the audience on a magical musical journey that has them standing up to clap, dance and sing along.

Jason Blackwater and Will Pearce put in brilliant cameo appearances as Holly’s friends The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, who died along with him when their place crashed on the way to a concert date, and the rest of the cast seem just as caught up in the enthusiasm for the music and the performer as the audience.

A must-see show for Holly fans and music fans alike.

MORWENNA BLAKE