It is the third time I have seen and heard Dolenz live on stage. The first time was in May 2016 at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston where he was joined by fellow Monkee, Peter Tork. The second time was nearly three years later in March 2019 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. On this occasion, he was joined by Mike Nesmith. I had not originally planned to attend this show but in light of Tork's passing a month earlier, I reconsidered.
I'm glad I went because, of course, Nesmith passed away in December 2021 leaving Dolenz the last surviving member of The Monkees. Alas, I never saw nor heard Davy Jones live. Jones passed away of a heart attack in February 2012 at the age of 66.
Dolenz, who turned 80 earlier this year, is at the stage of his life where a good many of his contemporaries have left this world. Aside from his bandmates, Bobby Hart (who co-wrote many of The Monkees' hits with Tommy Boyce) passed away in September. During that same month, Mark Volman of The Turtles passed away. Following Volman's death, Dolenz posted a picture of himself, Volman, Keith Moon and Olivia Newton-John at a charity tennis tournament. Yet again, Dolenz is the sole survivor.
Under the circumstances, one could quite easily become maudlin and morose. But this was not in evidence during Dolenz's show this evening. The proceedings began with Dolenz's younger sister Coco singing several 1960's and 1970's covers - Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good", "A Little Bit of Love in Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon and Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit."
From there, her big brother took to the stage launching into The Monkees' "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" followed by the group's 1986 comeback hit "That Was Then, This Is Now" before returning to the 60's with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You." Dolenz then paid tribute to Tork by singing "For Pete's Sake" which was the closing theme to The Monkees' TV show during its second season.
This was followed by Dolenz reminiscing about being at Abbey Road Studios with The Beatles where John Lennon called him "Monkee Man." Dolenz paid homage by singing "Good Morning Good Morning" and the reprise of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". I have to admit I was hoping that Dolenz would segue into "A Day in the Life" but this was not to be.
Instead, Dolenz continued his homage by turning his attention to Chuck Berry and then Jimi Hendrix. He sang "Johnny Be Good" because this was the song he sang at his audition for The Monkees TV show. From there, Dolenz covered "Purple Haze" as Hendrix was the opening act for The Monkees on their first international tour much to the consternation of the band's fan base of 10-year-old girls and their mothers who could not figure out why that man was burning his guitar.
Dolenz and sister Coco sang a duet "Me and Magdalena" which appeared on The Monkees' final studio album Good Times which was released in 2016. Written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, I had actually heard Dolenz and Nesmith sing it together in New York in 2019. But the version I heard tonight struck a deeper chord with me. Dolenz then ended the first set with "Last Train to Clarksville."
Following a 20-minute intermission, Dolenz returned to the stage where he paid homage to Stephen Stills who had auditioned for The Monkees but would recommend his then roommate, Peter Tork, and the rest as they say is history. In honor of Stills, Dolenz sang the Buffalo Springfield classic "For What's Its Worth".
Dolenz then turned his attention to The Troubadour in Los Angeles. I had a feeling I knew where he would be going with this train of thought and sure enough, he was talking about Elton John who made his U.S. debut at the venerated venue in 1970. Dolenz then paid homage to Reginald Dwight with "Your Song."
I had this feeling because these days when I think of The Troubadour, I not only think of John's debut, but I think a great deal of his opening act David Ackles who I wrote about over the summer. Although it was interesting to hear Dolenz meeting up with John at an afterparty and discovering they were wearing the same Andy Warhol/Marilyn Monroe t-shirt, if I had the chance to meet Dolenz in person I would ask if he remembered David Ackles.
After a stirring rendition of "Valleri", Dolenz paid tribute to Nesmith with a trio of his songs - "Different Drum" (which, of course, became a hit for The Stone Poneys featuring the aforementioned Linda Ronstadt, "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow" and "You Just May Be the One". This was followed by "Daydream Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday".
Then came the "encore". Dolenz said he didn't want to walk all the way back to the dressing room only to have to come back to the stage two minutes later. So why bother with the formalities? The encore consisted of "Gimme Some Lovin'" by The Spencer Davis Group and funky version of "We're the Monkees" which morphed into a deep cut called "No Time" from their 1967 album Headquarters. Of course, the evening concluded with "I'm a Believer" with Dolenz making his oft repeated comment, "I sang this song long before Shrek."
I've had some mixed experiences at City Winery particularly with Gilbert O'Sullivan, Leonid and Friends and Wild Taxi although it is mostly with the venue rather than the artists themselves. Tonight, however, was good. While there was a big crowd, I was seated towards the back of the room at the end of a banquet table with no one in my immediate vicinity. This worked out nicely.
The audience itself was fairly enthusiastic, and age demographics were reasonably mixed. Certainly there were people who grew up with them in the 1960's, a fair number of Gen-Xers who watched the Monkees TV show on MTV in the 1980s along with some Millennials and Gen-Zers with a modicum of good taste in music. The room doesn't lend itself to dancing, but that didn't stop two young women from dancing most of the evening. An older gentleman joined them. I think it is fair to say a good time was had by all.
With that, I'm glad Micky Dolenz is still Monkeeing around.
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