Last night, I attended a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Big Bopper at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, WI. This was not an event that would have probably caught my attention, despite my love for all things live music. But when my bestie asked if I’d want to go along with her and her mom, I of course said yes. Live music, the bestie, and Mama H? Always a great combination.
What I hadn’t anticipated was the history lesson in store for me. I thought we were just going to relive some great music from the fifties. I knew who each of these singers were. I knew their music. I knew their fate.
What I didn’t know was that on Feb 1, 1959, these three played their second to last show at the Riverside Ballroom (meaning the specific night and location in relation to their deaths). They would go on to Clear Lake, IA, the next day – and then Holly chartered that fateful plane – for him, Tommy Allsup, and Waylon Jennings. They were, after all, zig-zagging around the Midwest in winter, with several hundred miles between back-to-back venues. (Carl Bunch ended up leaving the tour previous to this due to frost bite.) Jennings would give up his seat to Big Bopper (who had the fly), and Allsup would lose his seat to Valens in a coin toss.
What I didn’t know, which I learned on the car ride to the venue, was that my friend’s mom had been in attendance at that show in 1959 – she had been a few months shy of turning eighteen. This tribute night wouldn’t just be a reminder of their music for her – it would be a reminder of that specific night. (When the ticket cost ninety cents if you showed up early enough, and we’d have been turned away for showing up on blue jeans.)
1959 Tour Schedule
Jan 23 – George Divine’s Million Dollar Ballroom, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 24 – Eagles Ballroom, Kenosha, Wisconsin (Debbie Stevens also performed)
Jan 25 – Kato Ballroom, Mankato, Minnesota
Jan 26 – Fournier’s Ballroom, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Jan 27 – Fiesta Ballroom, Montevideo, Minnesota
Jan 28 – Prom Ballroom, St. Paul, Minnesota
Jan 29 – Capitol Theater, Davenport, Iowa
Jan 30 – Laramar Ballroom, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Jan 31 – National Guard Armory, Duluth, Minnesota
Feb 1 – Riverside Ballroom, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Feb 2 – Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa
Ami Maxine 