CLAREMONT — The Claremont Opera House is a vast hall, yet the air soon grew hot and sticky on Saturday night as patrons filed in to see Being Petty, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band hailing from around New England.
A little after 7:30, once the concertgoers, most of them in their 50s, found their seats, the band strode on stage and a short video cycled through the lanky rocker’s biggest hits, a continuum that ended in 2017, when Petty died of a drug overdose. Then the band launched into their first song: “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.”
In the center of the stage was frontman Bruce Hilton, who was dressed in a green velvet blazer and a shoulder-length blond wig.
“(Tonight’s show) is about sharing this music with you, and you sharing it back to us, too,” he called to the crowd once the first song had ended.
Tribute acts have long been a staple of the opera house’s programming. The next couple months alone promise performances from the Corvettes, a doo-wop cover band on Saturday; Meet Loaf, an homage to the ’70s rocker, on Oct. 18; FJ, a Foreigner and Journey cover group on Oct. 24; and Mamma Mania, an ABBA celebration, on Nov. 22.
While niche and experimental artists pose a risk when it comes to selling tickets, the nostalgia inspired by tribute bands make them a relatively safe investment, Scott Hagar, the opera house’s executive director, said in an interview last week.
“It’s kind of like the comfort of ordering something on the menu of a restaurant that you’ve been to: you tend to get the same thing,” Hagar said.
Indeed, the opera house sold just over 270 tickets to Being Petty — about half the theater’s current capacity — and Mamma Mania has already sold more than 350 tickets, solid turnouts for the opera house.
Reliable sales from the tribute acts means the opera house can afford to take a risk by booking an act with less name recognition such as Americana artist Troy Ramey, who’s slated to perform next Friday.
It usually costs between $3,500 and $7,500 to book a tribute band, which is important for an institution like COH that doesn’t have the same financial backing as Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center or Lebanon Opera House, Hagar said.
When those venues “do fundraising, when they put on a show, the community can get behind them, and it’s harder to do that when communities are struggling to pay taxes and you’re dealing with issues with the SAU,” Hagar said, referring to the Claremont School District’s financial struggles.
Affordable booking fees also means the opera house can keep ticket prices relatively low. Tickets to Saturday’s show went for around $35. (By contrast, tickets for Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy’s Oct. 14 show at Lebanon Opera House are nearly gone, at a cost of $68 to $88 apiece.)
Ticket prices for Being Petty were a draw for concertgoers like Ann Corrette, 58, of Cornish, who noted that tickets to other concerts are “ridiculously priced.”
A big fan of Petty, Corrette dressed up for Saturday’s show in a black vest and top hat that she picked up at a costume store in West Lebanon. Throughout the night, her hat could be spotted bobbing up and down at the front of the theater as she grooved to the music.
Corrette caught Petty in concert a couple years before his death, but for others, watching a band like Being Petty is the closest they’ll get to experiencing the real thing.
Other musical greats have died or stopped touring, yet “people want to experience it still and that’s what we try to do is give people that experience,” Hilton, 61, of Maine, said in an interview before the concert. “It’s not just a rock ‘n’ roll concert. It’s half that and half theater, honestly.”
Even though Being Petty plays covers, Hilton was adamant that the band isn’t just a “Tom Petty jukebox.”
Since getting together a couple years ago, the band has poured over concert footage and Heartbreakers biographies in order to absorb as much about their patron artist as possible. They even invested in the same 1979 Tama Imperialstar drums that the Heartbreakers used on their breakout record, “Damn the Torpedoes,” which came out the same year.
At last weekend’s concert, the band interspersed pieces of Petty trivia between fan favorites like “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and quieter tracks from “Wildflowers.”
When they launched into “I Won’t Back Down,” the crowd erupted into cheers. Some waved their hands in the air and yelled the chorus’ elongated “hey baby” back at the band.
As a member of Generation Z, I’m not very familiar with the Heartbreakers’ catalog. I appreciated the band’s musicianship, and the Heartbreakers definitely have some bangers in their arsenal, but the nostalgia that gives tribute acts their punch eluded me.
Hagar acknowledged that finding tribute bands that appeal to Zoomers has proved tricky, perhaps because the music that we’ll feel nostalgic for is still being released. He did however have success with a Taylor Swift act a while back.
Still, not everyone at Saturday’s show was a huge Heartbreakers fan. Phil St. Pierre, 79, and Brenda Pardy, 75, didn’t grow up listening to Petty. Instead, they saw the concert as an opportunity to dance.
Now and then they’d rise from their front row seats, grasp arms and sway to the band.
“Next week will be even better: our genre,” St. Pierre said, referring to the upcoming doo-wop act.
I guess when it comes to tribute bands, maybe there is something for everybody.
East Thetford pumpkin party
Cedar Circle Farm’s 20th annual Pumpkin Festival is coming up this Sunday with festivities starting at 10 a.m. Live music will be provided by Lyme-based bluegrass bands, the Whipple Hillbillies and the Well-Kept Men. Autumn-themed festivities include cider pressing, hay bale climbs, tractor displays, horse-drawn wagon rides and, of course, pumpkin picking. Food and drink will be served by the farm’s kitchen as well as Moon & Stars, Juel Modern Apothecary, and Fresco Catering and Vermont Maple BBQ. Admission is pay what-you-can starting at $5, but bring extra cash for food and beverages. For more information, visit cedarcirclefarm.org or call 802-785-4737.
Cookbook in the library
On Saturday, Vermont pastry chef Gesine Bullock-Prado will discuss her new cookbook “My Harvest Kitchen: 100+ Recipes to Savor the Seasons” from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock. A proponent of the farm-to-table movement, Bullock-Prado leads baking classes at her cooking school, Sugar Glider Kitchen, in Hartford, and at King Arthur Baking. Copies of her new book will be for sale at Saturday’s event, which is free, with seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit normanwilliams.org.
24 Hours of Theater
The Upper Valley 24-Hour Play Fest is currently seeking actors, directors, writers, tech crew and ushers for the upcoming festival, which is scheduled for Oct. 24 and 25 at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. The event is free for participants and open to people ages 10 and up. To register and learn more, visit uvplayfest.org.
