That'll Be The Day, Bournemouth Pavilion (From Daily Echo)

That'll Be The Day, Bournemouth Pavilion

11:40am Monday 3rd September 2012 in Stage Reviews By Brendan McCusker

AS THE summer rain and wind battered Bournemouth Pavilion, That’ll Be The Day – surely the sunniest show on the road – delivered happy pop songs and saucy yet inoffensive humour.

This phenomenally successful touring rock ’n’ roll variety show is rewritten every year, although one piece has survived – the roof-raising drum duet Wipe-out, featuring Mark Street and Ollie Gray.

The all-live catchy music ranges from the 50s early culture shocks Rock Around The Clock, Oh Boy, and Shakin’ All Over, through the sophisticated 60s Hollies’ harmonies of I Can’t Let Go, Here I Go Again, Yes I Will, and I’m Alive to the varied 70s of the thumping Hey Rock ’n’ Roll, the country Take It Easy, and the soaring falsetto Sugar Baby Love.

The humour ranges from Bill and Ben The Flowerpot Men getting drunk, through Steptoe Senior rewriting the lyrics to My Favourite Things, to Mick Jagger’s convincingly convoluted words of wisdom.

Highlights this year include Jodie Lawson’s moving You’re My World and Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Nikki Hechavarria’s soulful 2012 Olympics tribute One Moment In Time, and the young dancers from the local Hollywood School in the stompin’ Twist And Shout and On The Beach.

The throbbing finale features Quo’s Caroline, Whatever You Want, and the ubiquitous Rockin’ All Over The World.

And does long-suffering Gary Anderson finally get to sing Pretty Woman? Come along and see.

Runs Wednesdays to Saturdays until September 15.