VENICE — “There’s a hush all over the world” but never in Venice when Peter Noone comes to town with his fellow Hermits — at least not until the closing song.
“Music is my thing,” he said by phone from Santa Barbara last week. “I am constantly seeking perfection.”
Now 76, he has been performing professionally since the age of 15, when he dropped out of school to become the lead singer of the Hermits, a group that in 1965 outsold the Beatles all over the world.
“You don’t need an education to be a lead singer,” he said. “You create a following and you grow it.”
What he did not mention is intelligence, which he has in abundance. His intellect, passion and drive would have led to success in almost any field.
He also did not mention the professional work he had done in theater as a youngster when he performed as Stanley Fairclough in “Coronation Street,” a British soap opera.
He studied at the Manchester School of Music and Drama in the city of his birth.
That he is still selling out 100 concerts a year — an average of three per weekend, primarily in the U.S. — is proof of his work ethic and charisma. He and his wife live in California but he visits England often, especially to see his daughter.
The Hermits have sold out concerts everywhere in the states from Cleveland to Omaha, Wilkes-Barre to Venice (this past weekend), and countless other cities on this side of “the pond” (the Atlantic Ocean that separates England and the U.S.).
Fortunately, that ocean did not prevent the British Invasion that spread over the U.S. in the mid-’60s, including 1965, when the Hermits outsold the Beatles.
Noone’s most recent show in Omaha was mentioned as one of his better concerts. Although that city has some 450,000 people versus the 25,000 or so residents of Venice, there obviously is a common appreciation of quality entertainment.
That city’s community theater, The Omaha Playhouse, is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for community theaters while Venice Theatre ranks No. 2, with similar productions, budget and facilities, although many more volunteers (nearly 1,500).
Were it not for Hurricane Ian’s damage to Venice Theatre, Noone and the Hermits would be back there, where they performed a package of three concerts annually for nearly 10 years until COVID-19 and Ian reared their ugly heads.
“I’m Henry VIII, I Am” continues to be his most popular song in the U.S. It dates to 1910 in England but was adapted by Noone for the Hermits early in 1965 and became a hit that year.
“Everybody in England knows that song,” Noone said.
They also probably know the Hermit’s version just as well. But then it is easier to learn the Hermit version because it does not include the three lengthy verses of the 1911 version.
At the Venice Performing Arts center, he sang it his way for several verses.
“Second verse, same as the first ...”
It was No. 1 in the U.S. in 1965 and remains one of the Hermits’ all-time hits.
Sunday night, it was the second-to-last song to be performed. Too soon “There was a kind of hush all over the world” and the concert was over, after 90 exhilarating minutes.
There would be just one concert in Venice this year, because VPAC holds nearly three times as many seats as Venice Theatre’s 432-seat Willliam H. Jervey Jr. main stage auditorium, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.
But what a concert it was. And because of that phone interview, I knew the secret of his concert success: That he wants to give the audience a really good show is paramount and he made that quite clear in our 20-minute conversation but it was at the concert that I could see the results.
By phone he said that every day he picks a group like the Beatles or the Stones or an individual and sings their signature songs all day. He sang a variety of those songs during the first part of Sunday’s concert.
As a youngster, his grandmother and his mother would take him to concerts. He saw the Monkees and others.
But it also was the result of the choice he and his group made to not go the route of groups like the Rolling Stones. He was aware of his fans early on and has continued to give them what he and they want for all these years.
Sunday night, when he came on stage about 7:35 p.m., he recognized some of his fan friends in the audience. Two ladies wearing sparkling “deely-bobber” headpieces were immediately pointed out by Noone.
They were seated about four rows back at the south side of the auditorium. It seems they have been to some 500 of his concerts, and not all of them in the U.S.
In the front row in the middle section downstairs, several ladies in British flag clothing had brought copies of the Hermits’ first LP, pictures of Noone and other gear to prove they were ardent fans, or perhaps for autographs after the show.
Other fans honored Peter and the Hermits by dressing up for the occasion instead of in costumes, while others just came in casual clothes.
Peter noticed several men in khaki shorts and made mention of their attire but in a way that certainly endeared him to them.
But then, this was an auditorium filled with fans, while also being a benefit for Venice Theatre and its monumental rebuild efforts since Hurricane Ian.
Venice Theatre’s executive director, Kris Geddie, was there to introduce the Hermits and then it was nonstop entertainment during which band members were sometimes featured on certain songs.
The one constant was entertainment, as we met Billy Sullivan on guitar, drummer Dave Ferrara, Vance Brescia on guitar and keyboard player Rich Spina. I was there with former Hermits keyboardist George DeJong and his wife, Barbara Wagner.
DeJong played with the Hermits for some 12 years before moving to Venice and becoming a major musician in this area.
In addition to area gigs, DeJong was the music director for the recent Pinky’s Players show featuring performers from the Haven. This is at least his third year doing that.
That may be one of the secrets to the success of Noone and the Hermits — a bunch of nice guys who really enjoy what they are doing.
Most of all, Noone, at 76 performs a show that would tax many younger entertainers.
He had a lot of fun performing on the campus at Venice High School, possibly because his Hermit career began when he was just 15. He never went to the British version of high school.
He also seemed to know Venice really well. He has been here several times to perform concerts at Venice Theatre (pre-Ian).
As the show got underway, he mentioned shopping at Marshalls and one of the band members picking up a new guitar at Dollar General, ferrying “across the Mersey but it is here I’ll stay.”
He mentioned some local restaurants, and even nearby Nokomis. And while many in the audience were close to Noone’s age, he said this was “one of the youngest audiences we’ve seen all year.”
There’s no need for security guards because “there is no one here who can rush the stage,” he said.
He talked about performing on the Ed Sullivan show, and what a nice man Sullivan was. He sang many songs from other groups, fitting them perfectly into his banter, which was definitely Venice-centric.
Soon, he found a way to make his way into the audience from stage right, paused to chat with a lady with a first-edition Hermit album, which he borrowed for a while as he walked through most the downstairs area of the audience.
He came across the mid-section and down the other aisle. He returned to stage right in front of those seated in the front row.
While there, he took a British-flag-style purse from a diehard fan and placed it on stage for part of the concert. (Yes, he did return every item to the right people.)
Noone genuinely likes his fans and they like him.
He also likes his fellow musicians. He made sure each one was featured in the evening’s concert not only for their musical ability but in one case, the ability to throw rolled up T-shirts from the stage into the “upper” balcony.
I learned later the arm belonged to guitarist Vance Brescia. Baseball’s loss was our gain, even if we didn’t catch a T-shirt. It was something to see.
It seemed like the evening had just begun when all of a sudden, Noone sang “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”:
“I’m her eighth old man, I’m Henry,
Henry the eighth, I am.”
And then no matter what verse, “Next verse, same as the first!”
There were at least eight verses Sunday night. And then too soon:
“There’s a kind of hush all over the world tonight
All over the world, you can hear
the sounds of lovers in love ….”
Then Noone left the stage.
He and his fellow musicians came over briefly to greet DeJong, Wagner and her daughter, and his daughter and son-in-law, the people I was with for this wonderful evening.
As a native of the Cleveland area, I have been to many a rock concert from AC/DC to Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult to the Pink Floyd “Animals” concert at Cleveland Stadium (the old stadium that held 125,000 for that concert).
But even that concert did not compare to the entertainment value of this performance and the obvious enjoyment by the fans of this man and his Hermits.
While it was just after 9 p.m., there would be no autograph session. The musicians had to pack up all their equipment, get to bed for a few minutes at their local hotel and then depart for the Tampa airport by 3 a.m. for the flight to the next concert city.
Noone’s energy seems boundless. He and his fellow musicians put on quite a show after flying in from Wilkes Barr, Pennsylvania, in the morning.
They are living a fast-paced life and their fans are with them all the way. The two that have been to 500 concerts may be the extreme example, but they and their kind are not alone.
I hope Noone and the Hermits will return again next year and, as wonderful as the VPAC is, it will be even more wonderful to see them back at Venice Theatre, in the fully restored William H. Jervey Jr. mainstage even if it is near the end of the theater’s 75th anniversary.
And with Noone’s energy, he and the Hermits may be back for several more Venice Theatre anniversaries.
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