Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone – Sunset Music Festival
Though I was born in the early 80s, I grew up listening to a lot of Oldies, thanks to my mother’s love of them. One band I remember hearing on her rotation regularly was Herman’s Hermits. Though Peter Noone is better known to me as Dwayne, the shady band manager in the Quantum Leap episode, “Glitter Rock,” I found myself humming, if not singing, along to most of the songs in the band’s set.
Sometimes, it is evident when an artist is not up for performing that evening, or that their voice has left them years earlier, Peter, happily, does not fall into either one of these camps. He, and his band, performed with enthusiasm, as he engaged the audience with friendly banter, and humorous stories, like trip from Kansas City International (where everyone who works there looks like an original cast member of ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’), and blaming his driving on the wrong side of the road on the British voice guiding his GPS. Of course people came out to hear him sing, and he did for a 90+ minute set, with a voice that has aged remarkably better than some of his peers.
Looking like Nick Nolte (and painting a humorous picture of Nick Nolte being asked to sing Henry VII), Peter led the crowd with renditions of songs by Johnny Cash, The Monkees and The Rolling Stones, even strutting across the stage like Mick Jagger. Another memorable moment was when Peter had someone up front pass up their copy of Herman’s Hermits debut album, and Peter realized he was wearing the same outfit 50 years later. It’s refreshing when an artist can laugh at himself.
Perhaps most impressive, is Peter’s genuine appreciation for his fans. Peter would periodically break from his performance to toss out CDs, and t-shirts to the appreciative crowd; Peter even tossed one to a waitress at the neighboring restaurant. While many artists (contemporary and otherwise), like to sell meet & greet packages for their shows, Peter was happily signing autographs, and taking photos with everyone who waited in line to greet him.
