Happy Together Tour 2014

Last night went to the OC Fair and the Pacific Amphitheatre for a summer night out and to see some old-time rockers bidding their last hurrahs.

The crowd was one of the oldest I have ever seen, with more bald heads than a Hair For Men convention.

The night began a bit slowly with the friendly Gary Lewis…picked up a bit with the higher energy and pleasantly humble Mitch Ryder, and then got into full swing with Grand Funk’s Mark Farner, who still rocks and prances about the stage as if he were his grandson, sweating profusely but in fine voice…love this guy and frankly went to see him…after only three tunes (Locomotion, Some Kind of Wonderful, and I’m Your Captain), he handed the show to an over-the-hill Chuck Negron, who did his best to relive some of Three Dog Night’s best tunes…

After that the comical Flo and Eddie came out and did an entertaining half-set of Turtles tunes, and frankly did them very well…surprisingly well in fact…supporting all five acts was a solid four-piece backup band throughout…they all did a quick encore…intermission followed…then a surprise…

Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits came on…now, I know what you’re thinking…”Herman’s Hermits? Ya gotta be kidding,” but let me tell you they were terrific. Peter is now a dynamic, humorous, and versatile entertainer, tossing in nice impressions of the likes of Johnny Cash (which was dynamite), Tom Jones, Davy Jones (very well done), John Lydon, and Mick Jagger interspersed with all of the Hermits’ hits…he said that his expert band (without a bass player, mind you) could play any of 300 songs at a word’s notice and appeared to prove it…”Hey lads, Silhouettes!” and they played it. Maybe the highlight was being part of a “I’m Henry the Eighth, I am” sing-along where I think every single one of the crowd participated.

The only drag on the evening was the inordinately early 10 pm curfew placed on the venue…I could have watched the Hermits another couple of hours…and I love to be surprised like that…