Review: The Solid Silver Sixties Show, Dartford's Orchard Theatre, Saturday, March 17

by Keith Hunt

"Have you seen who they have got appearing here?" said the one with the cheeky grin from Herman's Hermits. "They must go to whoisstillalive.com!"

The irony would not have been lost on Peter Noone, 64, and a rapt audience of mainly mature years clapping and singing along with four 60s acts with a combined age of 271.

And that's not counting Kent-based Vanity Fare, hitmakers in their own right and backing band to the fab four in this year's line-up - Noone, Brian Poole, 70, Brian Hyland, 68, and Chris Montez, wearing well at 69.

Yes, the Solid Silver 60s Show was back at Dartford's Orchard Theatre dishing up a large dollop of nostalgia for those of us old enough to remember those heady, creative days.

Noone, a long time US resident, rightly topped the bill and spun a fine line in humour. "When I was growing up in Manchester, I used to dream of appearing here in Dartford... looking out on Waitrose," he mused.

No doubt he adapts that line for all the other 50-odd venues the show will be visiting from Watford to Edinburgh and no doubt it will go down well in all of them.

If you can remember the 60s, so the saying goes, you weren't there. But there is no problem for those of us who were around in the 'swinging sixties' remembering those infectious hits from the days when four moptops from Liverpool reigned supreme.

First up was Vanity Fare showcasing their hits, among them I Live for the Sun, Hitchin' a Ride and Early in the Morning.

Brian Poole, minus the Tremeloes, then set the ball rolling for the solo acts with Twist and Shout, a double whammy with the Beatles, Candy Man, I Can Dance and Do You Love Me. Perhaps wisely, he did not attempt the high notes of Silence Is Golden.

Montez looked the baby of the bunch as he belted out party favourite Let's Dance and the evergreen The More I See You, stopping occasionally to kneel down and kiss the adoring ladies in the front row waving their light sticks.

Fellow American Hyland, supported by his son on drums and partner on vocals, was something of a revelation in his versatility.

He was able to switch somewhat incongruously from his novelty hit Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Dot Bikini, which made number one in the States, to the more mellifluous Ginny Come Lately and Sealed With A Kiss, a hit in both 1962 and 1975 in the UK, to some fine driving rock.

Finally, on bounced the charismatic Noone to roll back the years even more with his still toothy grin and full head of hair, worn in the same distinctive style.

It was singalong and clapalong time once again to No Milk Today, the cascading Silhouettes, Something's Happening, Sentimental Friend and the appropriately titled I'm Into Something Good.

The Solid Silver 60s Show will be at the Central Theatre, Chatham, on Saturday, April 21.