A FORMER Echo delivery boy has finally turned his dream of fronting a Status Quo cover band into reality.

David Wood, 18, who lives Rayleigh, has loved Status Quo since seeing them at his first-ever gig when he was four, so jumped at the chance to replace the guitarist in the Quo Experience and take up the role of legendary rocker Francis Rossi.

The former Sweyne Park School student said: “I’m loving every minute of it.

“A couple of months ago, I never thought I would have seen myself as a performer but this whole experience has completely changed my perspective of it.”

David studied music technology at Southend College and only graduated this year before going straight into a job as the guitarist technician for the tribute group.

He added: “Fortunately for me, their lead guitarist left in July and he asked me to replace him.

“I was extremely nervous because the band is a very theatre-based band and perform to big audiences but I was up for the challenge.

“I only had about ten days to learn all the songs which was a daunting task as the show is made up of two one-hour sets with about 15 songs in each part.

“I already knew most of them but I had to learn how to play them live because some parts are different to the recordings.”

David has followed Status Quo since he was a youngster and, as his favourite band, he has studied every detail of Rossi’s looks, playing style and stage performances to make sure he is as close to the real thing on stage as is possible.

Dave Crawte takes up the role of Rick Parfitt and they duo are supported by Graham Partridge on keyboards, Del Fletcher on bass and Leon Smith on drums.

The group are booked up with dates all over East Anglia right through until 2019 and the commitment meant David had to give up his shift as an Echo delivery boy which he had done for five years.

He said: “I absolutely love being on the road.

“The band are like a second family and we have a really good laugh.

“I speak to my family on a regular basis so don’t miss them too much and we do the occasional gig near home so I get to stay home then.”

The band held a Rayleigh-based gig so David could perform in front of a home crowd at the MegaCentre.

He said: “I want to do this for the foreseeable future because I’m loving it.

“I get to play the music of my favourite band so it’s great.”