REVIEW: 'Don't seem to write like that anymore': My Generation Tour fills State Theatre with memories, surprises

EASTON, Pa. — Listen up, Boomers.

Yes, you had the greatest popular music in the history of mankind. But we're older now, and so are the performers who made that music, in some cases 60 years ago — if they're still with us.

So you might have to accept some concessions when hearing that music performed live — even if in a lot of cases, it's still as powerful and relevant, and fun, as ever.

With that in mind, The My Generation Tour of Gary Lewis & The Playboys, The Lovin' Spoonful and The Hollies' Terry Sylvester that stopped Friday, March 13, at Easton's State Theater was a wonderful collection of memories — and an occasional surprise.

Some of those surprises came during the night's headline set by Gary Lewis & The Playboys.

Before a largely Baby Boomer crowd of perhaps 1,000, Lewis and his four-man band played a 55-minute, 14-song set that included all seven of his Top 10 hits.

But many of those songs, largely pop hits back in the day, haven't had the continued exposure of other songs. That, ironically, let the audience rediscover them.

And Lewis and company played them strongly and without reservation, adding to the experience.

He opened with the 1965 hit "Count Me In," including a snippet of 1962 Freddy Cannon hit "Palisades Park" that set the mood for the set, followed by an animated "Save Your Heart for Me."

Even a lesser-known "album cut" such as "Little Miss Go-Go" was fun, with Lewis's signature "everyman" vocals still connecting.

"All right, rock 'n' roll," he said. "I love it."

Lewis added some of the perfunctory oldies show patter — he introduced "Sure Gonna Miss Her" as his last hit before he got drafted into the Vietnam War, and, when missing lyrics, told the crowd, "I'm old, yoou know?"

But there was no holding back on his singing on the hit "Everybody Loves a Clown" — perhaps the best example of making a song "new" and relevant again.

Lewis filled out the set with some hits that weren't his — "Wooly Bully" from Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, with whom he said Gary Lewis & The Playboys first toured with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, The Champs' "Tequila," Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" — which was a clear example of how that era's music still resonates today.

But it was clear the audience wanted his hits: They cheered loudest for the 1965 chart-topper "This Diamond Ring," and his closing "She's Just My Style" got a partial standing ovation.

To which Lewis reacted: "A great time in music — I love it!" Lewis said.

The Lovin' Spoonful

The Lovin' Spoonful's set was a 12-song, 43-minute greatest-hits presentation.

With original singer John Sebastian no longer with the band and the final original member, bassist Steve Boone, recovering from illness, the four-member band nevertheless performed those hits faithfully and with intent.

And, as with Gary Lewis, the audience reacted to those hits, cheering from the opening 1965 No. 1 "Do You Believe in Magic," the 1966 No. 2 hit "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" and the 1966 Top 10 hit "Nashville Cats."

But some of the set's best were lesser known.

Sebastian's solo song "Six O' Clock," sung by bassist Bill Cinque, was full of energy and the night's best to that point. He also was similarly strong on "She is Still a Mystery," the 1966 minor hit.

Cinque also used humor, noting the State Theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

"I won't turn 100 till next year," Cinque said.

The 1966 No. 10 hit "Rain on the Roof," sung by guitarist Rob Bonfiglio, a Souderton, Montgomery County, native and sometimes Beach Boys member, also was very good.

He also did a good version of Sebastian's solo song "Welcome Back," which he told the crowd Sebastian suggested they sing.

But the biggest reaction came to the biggest hits, sometimes deservedly so. The group perfectly captured the quirkiness of the No. 2 hit "Daydream," on which Cinque even played a slide whistle that the audience cheered.

They recreated the depth and depth and intricate melody of "Didn't Have to Be So Nice," and did justice to one of The Lovin' Spoonful's best songs, "Darlin' Be Home Soon."

And it was hard to argue with the performance of perhaps the group's best, the blistering "Summer in the City," to which the crowd appropriately rocked before the group closed with a reprise of "Do You Believe in Magic."

Terry Sylvester of The Hollies

The Lovin' Spoonful musicians also were the backing band for the night's opener, The Hollies rhythm guitarist Terry Sylvester doing a Greatest Hits set from that band.

Sylvester did a five-song, 25-minute set that started the night well, with Mersey Beat hits such as the 1966 Top 5 "Bus Stop" and the 1974 gold hit "The Air That I Breathe."

Audience members began swaying in their seats, their heads bopping.

Dressed in an open-collar blue suit, Sylvester, 79, also used history — telling the crowd that "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" got new life when used in the Denzel Washington movie "Remember the Titians."

And humor, when he said, "My ex-wife is making a fortune."

And before his set-closing "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," which he introduced by noting that "the queen of England, Elton John" played on the song before he found fame.

But that song — undeniably great music — also illustrated how those hits still hit home these years later. The first melodic notes got a cheer, and it got big applause at the end.

"They don't seem to write like that anymore," Sylvester, 79, said.

And it's the truth.