Peter Noone Reviews & Such

At The Paramount Theater

By Ed Barna, Herald Correspondent

One of the Clown Princes of the rock world had a largely Boomer crowd swinging their arms back and forth, singing along to songs, cheering and calling out "I love you!" Saturday, as Peter Noone and his reconstituted Herman’s Hermits took the place by storm.

Had Noone and his four-piece band just done reasonable covers of some of his 24 number one hits, the packed house would probably have been happy enough. But Noone’s wit and humor and stage presence showed him to be an entertainer worthy of a lifetime award from the Music Hall world, if Britain has such an award, as well as being a fine crooner.

It didn’t hurt that Noone was clearly impressed with Vermont in general and with the Paramount in particular ("You should keep this one!" he said). The audience’s warm reaction helped keep things lively, too, and may have had a role in bringing Noone to the lobby afterward for a generously unstinting autograph session.

CD and photo sales were brisk, but Noone would have done even better had he put together a book on health, fitness and skin care. Perhaps the most amazing part of the concert was his Peter Pan appearance, more like that of a twentysomething surfer than a fiftysomething from foggy old England. He matched his seeming youthfulness with astonishing physical exuberance, hopping and skipping and prancing around the stage and keeping the band on track with an endless series of inventive arm gestures. It could have been the group’s big night on the Ed Sullivan show _ and the audience, some of whom brought vintage 33 LP records for him to sign, absolutely adored it.

At one point, Noone took a sly dig at fellow veteran touring rocker Mick Jagger, whose various escapades have made him as weatherbeaten as Noone is smooth. Sharing a stage at one point, Noone’s guitarist, old friend Frank Annunziata, remarked on the lines that time had etched into Jagger face.

Jagger said, "After a $600 million tour, these are laugh lines." Annunziata shot back, "Nothing could be that funny."

Bob Dylan didn’t escape either. Noone did an imitation of Dylan singing, in a pinched and hoarse voice, then suddenly broke into the Woody Woodpecker call, to the delight of the many who had grown up with that both the cartoon character and gravel-voiced Dylan.

With 53 million records sold, Herman’s Hermits do have some right to brag. Old favorites ruled Saturday, starting with one of the many songs that Noone himself didn’t write, "Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good."

"Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter" (sprung on the audience through a clever story about a guy going to his girl’s house and finding a beautiful, scantily clad woman at the door,. namely the mother) clearly was a major favorite. And the ending of the concert was a foregone conclusion: how could any Herman’s Hermits concert omit the 1911 music hall classic "I’m Henry the Eighth"?

Noone divided the crowd into sections, one being "the cheap seats" (the balcony) and another being "the ashtrays" (the side box seats), and had everyone roaring out the well known words. "Make the people outside sorry they’re missing a concert by... the Monkees!" he quipped.

The event illustrated three things worth noting about Paramount concerts, the first and most obvious being that acts tailored to the Boomer years are likely to fill the house.

Another is that really top acts are likely to draw fans from considerable distances. One of the evenings funniest moments was the brainchild of two Noonatics (fans who follow Noone the way Deadheads and Phishheads follow the Grateful Dead and Phish) from Boston and New York City.

The two ladies, if that is the correct word, had gotten to know each other via the chat room on Noone Web site, and had devised an Eastertide tribute to their good-looking hero. The two approached the stage from two sides, and one flung up a pair of pink panties with a white bunnytail attached to the back, while the other tossed up a set of wearable lavender-and-white rabbit ears.

To the immense delight of the crowd, Noone, who had shed his light blue jacket and was all in black, donned the panties and ears. "No pictures!" he said, an admonition that was promptly greeted by a barrage of photo flashes. Hippity hoppity Easter was definitely on its way.

Finally, those who contributed to make the Paramount a success can take satisfaction in the way the facility can help singers reach to new levels, not only through the acoustics but because Vermont’s air is still much purer than in metropolitan areas. Noone kept remarking on it, and asking what altitude Rutland was at _ and had the voice to do an unusually long and good concert.

Noone reached out to the significant number of young listeners in his audience, too. He asked for a show of hands of those under 10, then started giving out CD’s ("Here, catch this!").

"Come back in 10 years and see if we’re still here," Noone said. If anyone from the Sixties British Invasion is still performing then, chances are it will be Herman’s Hermits.

Peter Noone Reviews & Such

At The Paramount Theater

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