The Hilton Show (EU)

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Herman's Hermits are among the least critically respected British Invasion bands, and scorned for not always playing on their records, though some accounts suggest the prevalence of session players has been exaggerated. Even the band's detractors, however, would have to admit that they play and sing pretty well on the live half-hour 1966 Australian TV special that's the main feature of this DVD. The group present an enjoyable set in front of a wildly enthusiastic audience, including the hits "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter," "Silhouettes," "I'm into Something Good," "Listen People," "Wonderful World," and "A Must to Avoid." For a little spice, there are also covers of "Jezebel" and, less impressively, Chuck Berry's "I'm Talking About You." Pandering to the adolescent crowd, Peter Noone's cutesy stage presence can be cloying. But straightforwardly filmed in black and white and preserved pretty well for the most part, this is a worthwhile in-concert document of one of the most commercially successful British Invasion bands. The DVD also features quite a few extras, including a reasonably informative 18-minute 1985 documentary (though it's marred by some unnecessary and distracting graphics effects); a five-minute, saccharine mini-documentary on the making of their Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter movie, narrated by Noone; the trailer to their Hold On film; a 15-minute mimed Norwegian TV appearance; and, best of all, a 1966 appearance on the German program Beat Beat Beat with wholly live versions of "No Milk Today" and "Speed On." Skip the awful "Edit 2007" version of the Hilton concert, however, which bastardizes the original film with all manner of dumb graphics, colorization, and separation of scenes into pseudo-comic book frames. Admittedly this DVD has been superseded by the subsequent 2010 release of Listen People 1964-1969, which has the Hilton special and a wealth of other clips from throughout their career. Live at the Hilton does have some material not on Listen People, however, so it's not wholly extraneous. ~ Richie Unterberger