Rant #1,549: Crystal Blue Occasion

During this week is my wife's birthday.

You would never know how old she is by the way she looks.

She looks about 10 years younger than she really is, and most people think she is in her 40s.

She works out, takes care of herself, and is fit as a fiddle.

I cannot believe that I am married to this woman. You can pinch me if you like; believe me, I have done it to myself many, many times over the course of our 22-year marriage.

Anyway, as part of her birthday present, I took her to see Tommy James at Westbury Music Fair on Saturday night. Yes, I know it isn't called that anymore, but that is how I will always refer to it being called, so that is what it is to me.

Anyway, accompanied by myself and my son, my wife saw a nice, three-hour show, with Gary Puckett and Peter Noone as acts preceding James.

You get what you pay for at these shows. You want to hear the acts' hits, that is what you will hear, and little else.

But that is fine, because hearing those hits done live really shows you two things: 1) how great these songs are and how most of them stand up to the test of time, and 2) how talented the performers are, because without those voices, these songs might not have become as popular as they still are today.

I personally hadn't seen Puckett in concert in a number of years. He is still long and lean, and while the voice isn't as immaculate as it once was, he can still belt it out.

And anyone who is still able to wear any clothing from 50 years ago without busting its buttons is OK with me. He wore the Revolutionary War jacket that he wore on the cover of the Union Gap's first LP, and his stomach didn't protrude from it. Pretty neat.

He sung the hits--"Lady Willpower," "Young Girl," etc.--just like the records, and gave a nice salute to war veterans, during his time on stage.

Peter Noone is another matter. Just having his own birthday, he played to the audience like the comical Herman of Hermits fame with the same schtick that he has been doing for the past 50 years.

He is funny, but at the same time, he is quite talented. Over the years, he has made himself into an all-around entertainer, not just singing, but telling jokes, doing impressions, and capturing the stage and the audience, and putting each in the palm of his hand.

He did all the Hermits' hits, everything from "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daugher" to "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," with aplomb, but as usual, the highlight of the show was his reading of "The End of the World," a B side which he says is his favorite song, and he must mean it, because he gives it numerous layers live that you don't get on the recording.

Then came Tommy James, and this guy can still close out any oldies show I attend. His set might be a little too long--people were leaving before he was done to escape the usual Music Fair traffic disaster that befalls every show--but he could have sung even more hits, with a catalog like he has under his belt.

And he still sounds the same as he did when these songs were hits, whether he is warbling "I Think We're Alone Now," "Sweet Cherry Wine," or "Crystal Blue Persuasion." The voice has not changed, and really everyone should see this guy sing "Crimson and Clover" live; doing it live gives the song even more power than it had on record way back when.

He still talks about his book being made into a movie, he performs "I Think We're Alone Now" in a ballad form, too, which I don't really like, but in the supposed context of the film, it fits, and like I said, his set might be a song or two too long, but to me, he could have gone on and on and on, and sung even more of his hits.

He was that good.

And the best thing about the venue is that once you get out of the place--anybody who has seen shows there like me over the past 50 years knows just what I am talking about--the trip home is 1-2-3.

The show was over about 11 p.m., and we got home well before 11:30. It literally took us 15 minutes or so to get home.

All in all, a great night, and with my wife's birthday coming up, a nice way to celebrate the occasion.