July 27th 2005 - Singing in the Rain: Peter Noone in Bensalem PAPeter Noone & The Herman's Hermits in Bensalem , PA. –Wednesday July 27th 2005Fans of the popular 60's group the Herman's Hermits & it's quirky lead singer Peter Noone, prepared themselves for extreme heat early Wednesday afternoon and got extreme rain instead. Hundreds of folding chairs, coolers and picnic baskets coated the huge lawn in front of the Commerce Bank's Amphitheater as people settled in for the 7pm start. Unfortunately the nice breeze turned into a nice wind around 6:30pm and down came the rain by 7pm. Fans were told to take shelter under the three pavilions set up for snacks and t-shirt sales. Convinced the storm would be over in time for Peter, nobody was going anywhere.
So when the sky cleared and the sun shone, everyone proudly raced back down to the lawn to sit on soggy chairs. The excitement-weather wise-had ended. Charger from WOGL announced the Rip Cords twenty minutes later and the show was finally on track. Fans relaxed to the easy comedy of the band and loosened up enough to sing and some got up for early dancing. The mood was high. The sky darkened. Drops started hitting people again. The Rip Cords carried on even as thunder rolled, the sun went down and lightening cracked across the sky.
Tension raced across the audience. Whispers of cancellation were running rampant. The rain increased and the Rip Cords continued gamely, making jokes about the weather. But the crowd was nervous, restless and wet, so the Rip Cords finished up a few songs short and announced Peter Noone was up next. Only Charger came back up to stall. Lightening was flashing regularly now and the audience was unreceptive to Charger's stalling. They wanted Peter Noone. Another WOGL staff member came up and bought the roadies a few minutes until finally the Herman's Hermits came out. Than came Peter. The crowd raced forward to take pictures and started dancing.
The weather was awful. Peter could have shortened his set list, but he was from Manchester and this was nothing compared to that. The audience laughed at his teasing of them and the band. He was a great sport in a striped red shirt, jeans and black boots. The band's energy was incredible and happy. The audience caught the fever and people stopped noticing how wet they were getting. Several jokes about his dad being Mick Jagger and Davy Jones being Tom Jones' father later, Peter had everyone on their feet for Henry VIII. A happy, soaked audience sang proudly along with him, pushing forward as he randomly shook hands. The show ended on a slow song, pulling the energy back down to earth.
Entertaining as hell, it was the best value for the dollar ($10 a ticket.) The Herman's Hermits are a band that knows how to reward loyalty and how to treat their fans, old and new. Well done boys, well done.
For history of the band and upcoming concert dates check the Official Site: Herman's Hermits.
-article by Karen Kalbacher
