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The Cowsills, having ended a successful cross-country U.S. tour, landed in Italy Monday, where they will take part in the San Remo Music Festival, the world's most prestigious pop music event.
The family of performers wound up their American travels Friday with a screamer of a concert at the Civic Opera House. Those screams came from a horde of micro-boppers - 8 to 12-year-olds - who turned out to cheer for the younger members of the group.
Mostly, the Cowsills catered to the audience, playing several light rockers made popular by Herman's Hermits and the early Beatles.
High points were the big production numbers, particularly the arrangements on "Good Vibrations" and (believe it or not) "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?"
The group opened with their first big single hit, "The Rain, the Park and Other Things," but had to lay off of their current seller. "We Can Fly," because the recording has a big orchestral production difficult to duplicate on stage.
Musical mainstays are Bill, 20, who does most of the vocals and plays lead guitar; and Bob, 18, on rhythm guitar and organ. Barry, 12, the bassist, is a natural front man who enjoys doing the boogaloo when he's playing.
The phenomenal one, though, is John, the 11-year-old drummer who plays with unbelievable authority. His hands are as fast and his moves are as coordinated a anyone twice his age.
Barbara, their "mini-mon," and 8-year-old Susan, also soloed on two tunes each.
The show has its rough moments, mainly due to poor pacing. Like many other record-oriented groups, the Cowsills don't know how to end a tune without an engineer who can fade them out.
The performance also suffered because of an unbalanced sound system and incredibly sloppy lighting. The shrieking and the constant pop of flashbulbs didn't help either.
But the Cowsills are real people, and maybe the many parents who took their children to the concert felt that they were just visiting the neighbors next door.
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