The Monkees: Live in Concert (Saturday, May 31st 2014)

Last Train to Clarksville
Papa Gene's Blues
Your Auntie Grizelda
The Kind of Girl I Could Love
She
Sweet Young Thing
I’m a Believer
(I’m Not Your) Steppin' Stone
You Told Me
Sunny Girlfriend
You Just May Be the One
Mary, Mary
The Girl I Knew Somewhere
Shades of Gray
Randy Scouse Git
For Pete’s Sake
No Time
The Door Into Summer
Words
Tapioca Tundra
Goin’ Down
Porpoise Song
Can You Dig It
Circle Sky
As We Go Along
Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?
Daddy’s Song (Davy on film)
Daydream Believer
What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?
Encore:
Listen to the Band
Pleasant Valley Sunday

When I say that I've been trying to see The MONKEES all of my life, I seriously mean that. After DAVY JONES died and MICHAEL NESMITH came back, I "knew" that my days were numbered.

I missed the first tour after giving hints about what I wanted for my birthday. So when they came back the following year, I knew that I had to make it happen on my own. But surprise - surprise, my wife gave me a birthday/Father's Day gift of tickets to see one of the original boy bands live and in concert. And though she ordered the tickets at the last minute ("best seats available") we were actually in the seventh row, with one walk through row separating us from the VIP/celebrity circle. I've never been that close to anyone in concert. It was like sitting on the couch in my living room, watching a big screen television. That's how close I was to the stage.

You can argue copyright infringement all day long, but for a guy like me who struggles financially ... Thank goodness for folks whole upload content to the internet. Because of some ingenious/ visionary types, I was able to see one incarnation of the first tour welcoming NESMITH back to the fold. Which meant that I had a pretty good idea what the set list would include and the flow of the concert.

To my surprise, the boys tweaked the concert for 2014 and added a lot of rare songs that possibly had never been performed in concert or had rarely been hinted at -- translation: a lot of songs led by Mike Nesmith. Which some people on social media had a problem with, being a little more DAVY centric. But I compare them to the same people can't be exposed to new music unless radio coins it a hit. Which is one of the reasons why I stopped DJing, because many audiences don't want their minds expanded, they only wanted to hear songs that are familiar.

I am the total opposite. I respect good lyrics, good melody, good singing. So I sat in my seat, totally enchanted by songs that I'd never heard before; outside of the same old stale greatest hits that you can get from the local library or in a music store clearance bin for $6.99.

Most of all, I enjoyed seeing Nez play his guitar -- he was always cool to me on the classic tv show for some reason. Maybe because his character seemed to be the leader; the one with the brains. And though I don't know if that was actually his role in the real life group at any phase other than possibly the 1996 project, Justus ... If you read up on his accomplishments over the pass 40 some odd years, you'd have to agree that he definitely is a creative mind.

The best part for me was seeing the boys play. They've gotten such a raw deal over the years my stupid heads who only focus on the television show and the fact that the band was put together. Not to mention the fact that the four didn't always play their own instruments on the records.

However any true Monkee fan knows that Mike and Pete and Mickey are accomplished musicians. And though Mickey was hired to play the role of the drummer on the series, his actual audition tape featured him playing Rock & Roll guitar. CHUCK BERRY to be exact. So to see him play guitar and drums and be in such fine voice ... Such an underrated voice in the lexicon of classic Rock & Roll ... Even now, practically a year later, I get chills thinking about all of the sums that equaled to a whole ... Oh what a time I had.

Last Train To Clarksville

Papa Gene's Blues

Your Auntie Grizelda

The Kind of Girl I Could Love

She

Sweet Young Thing

I'm A Believer

(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

You Told Me

Sunny Girlfriend

You Just May Be The One

Mary, Mary

The Girl I Knew Somewhere

Shades Of Gray

Randy Scouse Git

For Pete's Sake

No Time

The Door Into Summer

Words

Tapioca Tundra

Goin' Down

Porpoise Song

Can You Dig It

Circle Sky

As We Go Along

Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again

What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round

Daydream Believer

(Encore):

Listen To The Band

Pleasant Valley Sunday

TruSoulDJ is a self proclaimed expert on all things trivial to the Mainstream. He is an avid classic comic book reader, non popular music lover and tv-show-on-dvd binge watcher who shops the clearance racks near and far to find the best deals. He would like to think he knows everything important within the realm of Pop culture. But in actuality, he only knows about 99.9 percent of what he thinks he knows.