By Frank “Smokin” Truatt
I was at Middletown’s Paramount Theater this past weekend to once again relive my childhood with Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits performing those catchy tunes that we know remember the words to. Peter and his group were a part of the British invasion started by the Beatles. It seemed that almost immediately, our music charts were swamped with acts originating from Great Britain, and we ate it up! The music was fun and uplifting.
As kids, we attached ourselves to songs that we could relate to. Songs like “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” got us going, after all, we had just learned about him in history class. The music wasn’t full of sappy love songs, after all we had just turned ten years old and weren’t ready for that, yet. We all remember “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” and “There’s a Kind of Hush.” Peter and the band performed all those songs and pretty much his entire hit catalog. They also played songs that were popular back in the day of their recordings. All in all, it was a musical trip down memory lane when we were all innocent, not yet ready for the world listening to the early days of rock and roll. Peter Noone with his performance at the Paramount has defied aging. At 76 years of age, he still sounds like he did in the 1960’s when he was recording those songs.
What made the concert special was his involvement with the audience. Throughout the concert, the theater lights were left on, and Peter would engage the audience with his storytelling and jokes. He made several trips off the stage and gave away t-shirts. After the concert, he went out to the lobby to sign autographs, pose for photos, and talk to his fans. The line was long, yet he took the time to talk to everyone, spending as much time as needed to make that happen. When do you see that at concerts today? Some concerts feature great music, some have great entertainers, this one featured both. Peter Noone was at the Paramount last year, and said he will return next year.
There are not many entertainers that I would come to see every time they perform in the area, but when it comes to Peter and the band, let me know when those tickets go on sale, I can’t wait to score some great seats!
