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Entertainment

Retro rock concert

Expect to see a mix of classic '60s and '70s bands at Saturday's QFest Kick-Off 2006.

By STEVE BAAL
Published January 6, 2006

CLEARWATER - When the bands hit the stage for the QFest Kick-Off 2006 concert at Bright House Field on Saturday, Peter Noone won't be sitting around backstage.

Herman of the 1960s band Herman's Hermits, Noone plans to be mixing with the crowd, watching the performers and gauging the audience.

"I like to feel the crowd, find out what they're reacting to, what kind of mood they're in," said Noone from his California home.

"That's why I don't really have a play list for concerts. We know about 300 songs, and I just shout them out to the band as we go along."

Joining Noone at QFest, which will be hosted by classic rock radio station Q105, will be Micky Dolenz of Monkees fame, Foghat, the Bay City Rollers, Rob Grill and the Grass Roots, and the Trampps.

Herman's Hermits' repertoire at QFest will include a liberal sampling of their classic hits like Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter, There's A Kind of Hush and I'm Henry VIII, I Am, among others.

Flashback 40 years, and Noone and his band were among the leaders of the British invasion, at times rivaling the Beatles in popularity. In fact, rock icons like the Who and (gulp) the Rolling Stones opened for them.

"It was quite a magical time," said Noone. "But through it all we remained regular fellows. That's why we lasted 10 years together."

During that period, Herman's Hermits sold more than 60-million records and earned 14 gold singles and seven gold albums. And front and center was Noone, as Herman, appearing in three movies and seemingly smiling from virtually every magazine cover, including Time.

Not bad for a kid from Manchester, England named Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone at birth.

"My parents weren't indecisive," said Noone, who explained that each name came from another member of his extended family. "They just wanted to please everybody."

As a child actor, Noone appeared in several TV series but made his mark as Stanley Fairclough in the popular British soap opera Coronation Street.

"But music was always my true love," he said. In 1963, Noone hooked up with a local Manchester band named the Heartbeats.

"We were kids, but we wanted to lose the boy band image and began kicking around names at practice," recalled Noone. "A barkeep yelled, "Call yourself Herman and the Hermits,' that's what you look like anyway." The name was shortened to Herman's Hermits and by 1965, when Noone was only 15, he and the band were international stars.

After the breakup of the Hermits in the '70s, Noone really unleashed his versatility. He composed, produced and performed songs with the likes of David Bowie and Debbie Boone. He also took on leading roles in British stage productions of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Dick Wittington. In the 1980s, he hit Broadway, starring as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and took the show on the road, touring the United States and Europe.

Later, Noone went on to host VH1's popular My Generation, a half-hour retrospective show, for four years. And in 2003, he popped up in a recurring role as Paddington in the CBS soap As The World Turns.

Today, at 59, Noone barely seems to have aged. He still tours extensively, nationally and internationally, belting out songs from his days with the Hermits as well as hits from the many stars he has performed with and admired over the years: Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and the Stones.

"I've been around a lot of great artists, and I learned something from every one of them," said Noone. "It's an honor to perform their work. It's not about me. It's about the audience and the music."

Information from Billboard was used in this report.

WHAT: QFest Kick-Off 2006 concert

WHERE: Bright House Networks Field, 601 N Old Coachman Road, north of Drew Street.

WHEN: Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.

TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased in advance for $20 ($25 day of show) through TicketMaster or at Bright House Networks Field box office. Call 562-4839.

[Last modified January 6, 2006, 01:28:07]