Herman’s Hermits, Beach Boys play to 3,000 people in Cooperstown
By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
COOPERSTOWN — Fans were dancing on the grass Thursday night as Herman’s Hermits and the Beach Boys played at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.
Herman’s Hermits, led by Peter Noone, opened the concert, playing songs that propelled the group to stardom among teenagers in the 1960s.
In the crowd of about 3,000 were many who came of age in that era. With them were their children, and in some cases, gr
andchildren listening to "Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter," "I’m Into Something Good," "Silhouettes" and "Wonderful World," among the group’s many hits.
"It’s great, and I look around and see a lot of people my age," said Nancy Morton, Otsego County’s 50ish personnel director.
Many people were from nearby, but some, such as Aaron Ritter of Pittsburgh, came from farther away.
Rhoda Messemer of Endicott wore a pink dress that bore autographs of several rock stars, and before she left, she collected one from Noone.
"I also had him sign my album," she said, holding up Herman’s Hermits’ "Greatest Hits."
Cooperstown trustee Stuart Taugher sat by the entrance, greeting concertgoers on their way in and out.
"The music’s good, the crowd is very nice, and even the weather is cooperating," he said.
Dr. William Streck, president of Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, also was by the gate and noted that many volunteers had come together to make the concert possible.
"It’s a community effort and a lot of fun," he said, just after the Mike Love-led Beach Boys took the stage.
Asked if he was a fan, Streck said, "Everyone is a fan of their youth."
The Beach Boys led off with "California Girls," and in one line, Love sang that he wished they could all be "Cooperstown girls," to the delight of the crowd.
As the Beach Boys belted out a succession of surfing songs, beach balls floated across the stage lights. One ball landed on the stage, and Love deftly kicked it back to the audience.
Cooperstown village trustee Jeff Katz said the Beach Boys were the big draw for him, and in a few days, he and his 9-year-old son, Joey, are going to see another version of the band led by Brian Wilson.
Close to the stage were several young fans, including Jaclyn Courter, 10, of Milford, who said she knew these songs long before she came to the concert. With her was a friend, Nicole Cring, who said she too was enjoying the performances.
Thursday’s concert was promoted by Cooperstown residents Ed and Judi Tripp. Tickets sold for $45, but not everyone who heard the concert paid the price of admission. Parties were going on in a couple of houses that border the baseball field, and around the outside of the fences other people gathered to listen.
The concert was the second Cooperstown has staged at Doubleday Field, coming a year after the village played host to a twin bill of Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. That concert drew more than 12,000 people.
Some, including Polly Renckens, executive director of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, have said the summer concert may become an annual affair.
