I was too young to see Herman’s Hermits on a double bill with The Who when they came to Winnipeg back in the mid-60’s. Fast forward 45 years in time, and I was finally given my chance to catch “Herman” (aka Peter Noone) in action at the McPhillips Street Station.
Peter Noone bounded on stage amid fanfare and applause, dressed in a black suit and looking like he’d barely aged a day, in sharp contrast to the appearance of the vast majority of his 60’s British Invasion peers.
But then Peter was only 16 years old when Herman’s Hermits scored their first No 1 – “I’m into Something Good” in 1964.
The 62-year-old Noone’s voice is instantly recognizable and he’s lost none of his boyish looks, energy, charm or appeal as evidenced by the sold out McPhillips Street Station audience – largely consisting of baby boomer females.
The “Henry the VIIIth” hitmaker’s 4 plus decades onstage have made him a consummate showman. The crowd loved Noone’s irreverent humor and storytelling almost as much as they did listening to his numerous hits.
The singer’s ability to adlib and poke fun is formidable. He’d often eschew Herman’s Hermits hits to banter playfully with the audience and toss off totally unorthodox 60’s era songs (for a British Invasion act) such as Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison” or Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans”, and still have the crowd eating out of his hand.
After much teasing and kibitzing, Noone finally gave the crowd what they came to hear, knocking out hits like “I’m into Something Good,” “Listen People,” Silhouettes” “No Milk Today” and “Leaning on a Lamp.”
Noone’s pipes are still extremely strong, and his tight 4 piece backing band did a fine job of the arrangements.
Remarkably, even though he’s probably played these songs literally thousands of times, he continues to bring great energy, freshness and enthusiasm to the numbers.
Noone brought the night home with a crowd participation packed power medley which included, “End of the World,” Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat,” “Mrs Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter,” “Henry the XIII” and finishing with “There’s Kind of Hush” which brought the packed house to it’s feet and left them milling out at the end of the night with shining eyes, clearly having recaptured their youth if only for a few brief moments, courtesy of Peter Noone and company.