Monkees back on TV (once!) – Ent Weekly

Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”iso-8859-1″; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
From: Brad Waddell

I’m off to the Vegas and Phoenix Monkees shows, I’ll send out another alert=

when i return! By the way, there are lots of new tour photos up on the web=

page now. See ya!

brad
www.monkees.net

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Kim

Monkees – One Man Shy
Type: Syndicated / Sitcom
Duration: 30 min
Description: Peter escorts a debutante to her coming-out party.
Airing: Fri 4/13/01 8:30am EST

This is showing on my local UPN station, which runs Screen Gems Network
programming in the daytime. It would be nice if this was the start of SGN
re-running the show, but it’s probably just part of some theme for the day.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Stefanie

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly has a small Monkee mention…in their
Time Capsule paragraph, they review the date of March 30, 1967 and say..

“MUSIC, The Monkees (a.k.a. the Prefab Four) swing as their LP’s ‘More of
the Monkees’ and ‘The Monkees’ reside at Nos. 1 and 3, repectively on the
Billboard chart.”

Stefanie

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: “Karen Brostrom”

Brad,
I live in Chicago and am planning on going to the Monkees show in phoenix
on Friday 4/6. I have three tickets but my two friends from Tucson are
not able to go to the show so now I need to sell two of the tickets.
The seats are located in Section A2, Row 10 and they cost me $58 a piece.
Do you know of anyone in the area looking for tickets?
I desperately need to sell these seats. You can pass my email address onto=

anyone who may be interested.
Thank you so much for your help.

My email address is somesay1@hotmail.com

Karen

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: SuzanneTigger

http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Apr-01-Sun-2001/living/15733957.html

Brad, In searching for a Los Vegas concert review I came across this
interesting article. Thought you
might want to read it. Sue

Sunday, April 01, 2001
Copyright =A9 Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: Mike Weatherford
Strip needs new genre

Micky Dolenz of the Monkees had a request:
“Why don’t you ask your readers to coin a term for a show that is somewhere=

between a musical and a concert?”
Funny, it was the second time that day the subject came up. It’s actually
something that, with any luck, will be discussed more on the Strip.
Dolenz was talking about a plan to take the Monkees to Broadway in a
theatrical musical. “There was an old famous Broadway show, which became a=

(1941) movie called `Hellzapoppin.’ I guess you would call it a musical,
just a slightly different form. Musical variety, something like that.”
David Caldwell — who works for Broadway producer Richard Frankel — moved=

to Las Vegas a month ago to try to talk the casinos into similar ideas,
including a revue based on the career of rock impresario Don Kirshner.
I mention this coincidence not to get caught up in semantics, though I
admit the phrase I’ve been using for Cirque du Soleil or De La Guarda —
“nonverbal theater” — is a little dry.
No, I mention this because, by any name, this sounds like a genre we could =
use.
Caldwell reminded me how dreary the showroom scene really is by the way you=

can basically put every main-room offering into one of four categories:
1. Magic. 2. Traditional revues or production shows. 3. Singing and/or
comic impressionists. 4. Avant-garde or nonverbal performance art.
Sure there’s a couple of square pegs, such as Clint Holmes and the original=

musical “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.” But basically, the Strip=

works within defined genres, and three out of four don’t much need the
English language.
That’s a trend Caldwell doesn’t believe you have to fight. He’s not trying=

to pitch the hotels “book” musicals such as “Damn Yankees,” which for
various reasons are a hard sell. Instead, he’s shopping “The Rocky Horror
Show,” a pop musical so well-known that Asian and European patrons sing
right along.
One potential problem is that the wrong shows or third-generation companies=

may have made it to town first, prematurely souring entertainment buyers.
The Rio hosted “Footloose” to mediocre response last year. “Fame” is due at=

the Aladdin April 18-22 and may fare better.
But out-of-town critics were far more gung ho about “Momma Mia!” — a show=

that uses ABBA songs for a score. And the Who’s “Tommy” never got a fair
shake here; it finally arrived last year at Community College of Southern
Nevada
A longtime Pink Floyd fan had a great idea he doesn’t mind giving up for
free, since composer Roger Waters would probably never go for it anyway:
“The Wall.”
Here’s one of the best-known albums in the world, offering a nightly dose
of requisite Vegas spectacle when the wall collapses.
Call it what you will, just call me when it opens.
Mike Weatherford’s entertainment column appears Tuesdays and Sundays.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Maryann Treppiedi Jacobs

You know, I hate spreading negative reviews like this, but then again, I do=

so LOVE it when you guys jump all over the perpetrator, so I’m throwing
another bone your way. 🙂

A friend (who was at the Monkees’ Friday Taj Mahal concert and had a blast)=

sent me this review from the Press of Atlantic City. While it doesn’t seem=

quite as scathing as the DC review (at least he was kinder regarding
physical descriptions of Davy and Peter… but not so nice about Micky),
still, here is yet another idiot with no research skills passing himself
off as a reviewer. Among other little issues (uh, like the series’ air
date!), you’ll see one song title he totally botched (how could anyone get=

that wrong even if they’d never heard it before – his screwy title makes NO=

sense whatsoever!), and a couple others that are off. Also, at the bottom I=

have included two links to pages with responses to the review – both well
written (I don’t know the reporter’s e-mail address, but then I haven’t
really looked for it on the site, either) Have fun…

By JOHN CURRAN
For The Press

It must be the reruns.

How else to describe the scene Friday night at Trump Taj Mahal Casino
Resort’s Xanadu Theater, where a sellout crowd of screaming, sign-waving
fans =97 many of them young women and girls who weren’t even around in the=

1960s =97 welcomed pop legends The Monkees?

It was like something out of Beatlemania: They rushed the stage to give
bouquets of flowers to Micky Dolenz. They squealed like love-struck
schoolgirls when Davy Jones shook his mop top. Groups of women stood in
place at their seats, swaying and singing along.

They held signs: “Hey, Hey, We Love The Monkees” and “I’m Your Homecoming
Queen,” for example. The latter was waved by a girl who was 18 at most,
wearing a tiara and a beauty queen’s sash across the front of her dress.

The show, for my money anyway, was pure dreck, a bloated 2-and-a-half-hour=

sham perpetrated by a made-for-TV band that had no musical talent when they=

were cast as rock stars in the 1965 television show and, miraculously, have=

just as little now. The only one of the originals with any chops was
Michael Nesmith, and he is conspicuously absent from this 35th anniversary=

tour.

Worse still was the fact that Dolenz, Jones and Peter Tork spent much of
the time trying to prove that, yes, they really can play the music and sing=

the songs Guess what? With two or three exceptions, they sounded positively=

awful.

Then again, it’s not my money. Critics get paid to go to shows like this,
we don’t pay for the tickets. Maybe I was the only one in the 1,460-seat
house that felt this way.

Taking the stage three minutes late for the scheduled 10 p.m. show, The
Monkees’ eight-man backup band stood beneath their logo, an orange neon
sign in the shape of a guitar, with “Monkees” inside. The band whetted the=

rabid crowd’s appetite, playing an instrumental medley of the group’s hits.

The place erupted when Jones, Dolenz and Tork strolled on stage and lit
into “Last Train to Clarksville,” one of a handful of their true pop
masterpieces.

Tork, 59, looked trim and healthy, his sandy-colored mop top replaced by a=

receding hairline with a spiky perm. Jones, 55, looked substantially the
same, just older, with shoulder-length brown hair. But the years have not
been kind to Dolenz, 56, who looked considerably heavier all over, his long=

hair replaced with a close-cropped, slicked-back ‘do that tried mightily to=

cover his thinning top.

They played “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” another of their big hits,=

with Jones on lead vocals. The crowd’s screams came in waves, triggered
either by a favorite lyric or some stage posing by Jones.

The backing band sounded great through “Here Comes Tomorrow” and “Randy
Scouse Git,” before Tork sang lead on “Auntie Griselda,” one of The
Monkees’ goofy filler tracks. Then came “Mary, Mary,” “Girl” and a
screeching Dolenz-led rendition of “Going Down,” followed by Little
Richard’s “Lucille” and “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher,” both sung by=

Tork.

Dolenz reminded the crowd about the time when Jimi Hendrix was the band’s
warm-up act, and when a fan near the front nodded her assent, as if she
remembered, he replied: “Aw, c’mon, you weren’t even born yet. Your mothe=
r
wasn’t born yet.”

After that came “Since I Fell For You,” a blues wail sung by Dolenz that
was absolutely atrocious.

The show could have been cut by an hour and lost nothing. Filler like
“Lucille,” “Since I Fell For You,” Jones’ campy rendition of Louis Jordan’s=

“Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” was pointless =97 and painful to liste=
n to.

Then there was the bit where Jones called the keyboard player and drummer
to center stage so they could imitate Edith and Archie from “All in the
Family.” It had nothing to do with the music, or anything else, and had
people in the crowd looking at each other as if to say “What gives?”

The highlights were “Shades of Gray,” “Valleri” and “I’m a Believer,” all
of which came before The Monkees broke at 11:10 p.m. and gave the stage
over to Natural, a new boy band from hitmaker Lou Pearlman. They played a
35-minute set that was big on Backstreet Boys-style choreography and vocals=
.

When The Monkees returned, they played “What Am I Doing Hanging Around?”
and “Take a Giant Step Outside (You’re Mine),” which sounded nothing like=

the original. “Daydream Believer” got the crowd back on its feet, singing
and swaying, before “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” and “Pleasant Valley
Sunday” rounded out the set.

Nostalgia is one thing. But unlike many of the oldies acts out there, The
Monkees really didn’t have a prime They were a flash in the pan, four
struggling actors who got lucky at a casting call and rode it for all it
was worth. Charging people $40 and $60 a ticket for a “reunion tour” 35
years later seems ridiculous.

But not everyone feels that way, obviously: Saturday night’s show was sold=

out, too.

—Maryann Treppiedi Jacobs
http://www.ladyshutterbug.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR REGARDING THIS ARTICLE:

Hey, hey: Don’t bash Monkees

Regarding the March 18 John Curran review of the Monkees concert in
Atlantic City:

Curran obviously failed to do his research, as he had several song titles
wrong and couldn’t even get the proper title for “Higher and Higher,’=
‘ a
song made famous by Jackie Wilson.

And, contrary to Curran’s reporting, each Monkee had musical experience
before joining the band; they weren’t merely four actors who “got lucky=
in
a casting call.”

It’s a shame that there is to this day a contingent in the media that sti=
ll
doesn’t “get” what the Monkees were and are about. They never pret=
ended to
be anything more than what they were from the start.

I was at the concert and I thought their vocals were superb. The Monkees
are still a breath of fresh air and set a good example for our children,
while Puff Daddy and Eminem disgrace themselves in their recordings and in=

court.

MARK THOMPSON Wilmington, Del.

Curran too hard
on the Monkees
I am sure that John Curran was very impressed with his own review of the
Monkees concert. But he confuses serious fine art with people having fun.
The kids who are the fans of the Monkees, my 12-year-old among them, go to=

these concerts because they enjoy them. The Monkees, for their part, seem
to enjoy them, too, based on the obvious warmth with which they return
their fans’ affection.
I think it’s great that a bunch of modern kids have taken so strongly to
this ’60s group. The tickets don’t cost a fortune; the show is clean, and
the performers are nice. My daughter got a kiss from Davey at the recent
concert and loved the show.
I am sorry that the show offended Curran. Perhaps he should confine his
future critical efforts to musical groups who are passing themselves off as=

serious artists and avoid subjecting himself to the offensive sounds of
people just having fun.
My daughter does not understand why he wrote such a nasty article. Neither=

do I. Be proud of yourself, Mr. Curran, that you were able to pull a little=

of the smile off of a child’s face. Great contribution to the paper, sir.
SCOTT C. MARSH
Malaga

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Krista Kegerreis

Brad,

Would you please post this for me? Thanks!

To anyone who attended the Monkees concert in Easton
PA: If anyone took pictures and wpuld be willing to
share them with me I would really appreciate it. I
will gladly pay for them. I took plenty of pictures,
but unfortunately I was having trouble with me flash,
As I was afraid of they came out too dark. I was
really disappointed that my shot of Micky and the
birthday cake did not turn out. Thank you in advance
for your help.

Sincerely.
daydreambelievin@yahoo.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reviews:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Callie AKA Blush

Las Vegas Concert!

Oh, the joy!

I just got done writing a six page concert review to my friends, but
I’ve shortened it a good deal for you guys. 🙂

Saturday, March 31, my three little sisters (ages 14, 15, and
16), and my folks (hey, we wanted drivers!) my friend Candace (20),
her little sister (15), and I (20) went to Las Vegas to see the
Monkees. We were so stoked! We’re all big fans, and this was a dream
come true!
We didn’t know where our seats would be until we picked up our
tickets, and I was kind of scared that they’d be a bit away from the
stage. I wanted to be noticed. Oh, how I wanted to be noticed. So I
came up with this clever idea about two weeks before the show. Why
not dress in a way that HAS to be noticed? Monkee Men! Candace and I
had already made T-shirts to wear, so I proposed the idea to the
sisters. They were a bit hesitant. What teenager wouldn’t be? Go to
a concert dressed in red tights, black shorts, a long-sleeved, red
turtleneck with a pink `M’ on it, and a black cape? But it wasn’t
hard to convince them. I set right to work at making costumes.
Jump back to March 31. We got to Vegas and got our tickets.
Row D. As we were wandering around the casino, Candace said to me,
“Callie, I keep seeing all of these posters for the concert, and they
all say that it’s the final tour. I have an extra $50 and I’m so
tempted to get tickets for the 10:30 show as well.” I was having
similar thoughts, so we went to get more tickets. The lady said that
she did indeed have extra tickets and then said that they were first
and second row. Then (get this) she asked if that was okay with us!
OH MY GOSH!
We asked if we could exchange our 8:00 tickets for 10:30 ones,
so that my sisters could be front row as well. The lady said that
that would be fine, so I ran to find my dad and get the tickets from
him. Candace and I ended up keeping our aisle Row D seats for 8:00,
and then we got everyone front row seats for the 10:30 . Candace and
I would be front row, stage right, and our sisters were front row,
stage left. So we’d be separated from the Monkee Girls but we would
still be front row
Blah blah blah…At 6:45 Candace and I headed towards MGM.
The theater is set up with tables, so row D was actually a lot farther
back than you would have imagined. We could still see alright, but
there was no way the guys would have seen us. We were SO happy we had
gotten those other tickets as well.
The show started with Natural, and they were awesome! But
then, THE MONKEES CAME OUT!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!! They did the Monkee
walk, and Last Train to Clarksville started. I was dying. It was
unreal! I couldn’t contain my happiness! Candace just kind of sat
there, letting it all soak in. She wanted to save her energy for the
second concert. I eventually calmed down and did the same thing.
They skipped out on a lot of songs. I guess if they have two
shows in one night, they make them shorter. So I didn’t get to hear
Peter sing Can You Dig It, which was a bit of a bummer, since that’s
my favorite song of his. Oh well.
We’ll skip on now to the little break before the second
concert. Candace and I went out into the casino and found our
sisters. They were in their costumes, and looked great. The time
came to go into the theater again. As we’re waiting for an usher,
right to our left was this guy in a colorful Hawaiian shirt, talking
to the head usher. The bright shirt guy looks at the Monkee Girls and
says, “What is this?”
I said, “They’re Monkee Men! Or Women. Whatever.” He turned
to the head usher and said, “Let these girls backstage after the
show.”
=09
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

We all go take our seats and try to be patient. Candace and I
had a much easier time of it, since we knew what to expect. But we
were still so stoked, because we were right AT the stage. I had my
knees touching the stage, and I could lean forward and put my arms on
it.
Yadda, yadda, yadda…The Monkees come out. They’re doing the
Monkee walk, and Peter looks over at our sisters, who are on their
feet screaming, and points them out to the other two! Since he was on
their side of the stage, he was making faces at them the whole time!
The lady next to me (never met her before, but she was so much fun!)
and I stood up and were cheering so loud!! Micky was right there!!
His mic stand was no more than five feet away from us!
When they brought out the timpani drums for Randy Scouse Git,
we were going crazy! You should have seen my sisters! Micky sure
did! He looked over at them and grinned. Then he looked at the rest
of the audience and said, “Watch this.” He looked back at our sisters
and said, “Cucumber!” They screamed so loud! The guys were laughing
at them! Peter gave them this adorable look and said, “You guys are
such suckers!”
Then Peter did Auntie Grizelda! He was doing this dance all
around the edge of the stage. The lady and I jumped up and were
screaming! We were reaching up every time any of the guys came close
to us. Micky was such a tease! He’d reach his hand out to touch
ours, and then pull it away last minute. All of the guys were so
funny! The lady and I kept looking at each other and laughing.
OH! During Steppin’ Stone, Micky came over to us. He pointed
right at me! I don’t remember what line he was singing, but he was
pointing right at me, smiling! He was so close! I reached my hand
out, and he started backing away! But he had the cutest mischievous
look on his face, so it was easy to get over it. Plus, since I’d been
to the first concert, I knew he would come over to shake hands after
the show.
Poor Peter was sick. Occasionally he’d cough in the middle of
a song. I felt bad for him! And I was afraid that he wouldn’t come
backstage to meet us all! He’s my favorite Monkee!
There were all kinds of other really cool parts! Micky sang
this awesome blues song called Since I Fell For You. He did a
wonderful job on it!
I have never had so much fun in my entire life! I was
dancing, screaming…You can’t imagine the joy! I was SO close to all
of them! After the last song, they walked around the stage grabbing
people’s hands. Before that, the only one that touched anyone’s hands
was Davy, and that was mostly our sisters. But Micky came straight
over to Candace and I and shook our hands. He looked at Candace and
said “Thank you!” She had been yelling, “We/I love you Micky!”
through the whole show. He looked at me and smiled, and I smiled
back.
Then Peter came over. We reached out our hands, and he
reached his out, but then turned away really quickly and coughed.
Candace and I looked at each other and said, “Poor Peter!” He was so
sick!! But he turned back and took our hands. Sure, he had just
coughed into his, but it was Peter germs! That made it alright.
Then Davy came. The lady next to me started freaking out! He
opened his arms wide, came right at her, and gave her a big huge hug.
She was so happy, she started screaming. He pulled away and held his
ear. It was funny, but he didn’t make it to me, because he was
rubbing his ear for so long. Then they all got together and walked
away.
And so the concert ended, and it was time for backstage!!!!!
The Hawaiian shirt guy (the tour manager, I assume) came
through the door to let in pass holders. A lot of other people were
gathered trying to get in as well. He said, “Monkee Girls only!” I
said, “And sisters! Our names are on the paper!” So we ran through.
We were warned that the Monkees might not come into the room.
Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. I was starting to get a
little worried. But then someone said, “Here comes Peter!”
Peter walked into the room, saw our girls, and paused. He got
this huge grin on his face and said, “MONKEE MEN!” Then he proceeded
to tell the whole room about how there were a couple episodes where
they dressed up as super heroes and said, “This looks like a job
for…Monkee Men!”, and that the girls were wearing costumes JUST like
them. He walked right over to us and started signing autographs. I
asked if I could get a picture of him with my sisters, and he said,
“Sure!” He seemed to really liked the costumes. As they were getting
together to pose I was telling about how we tried to make them look as
genuine as possible. But then I started feeling like I was rambling,
so I shut up and took the picture. But Peter was cool. We got a pic
of him with Candace and I as well.
It was great! I mostly just sat there and listened and
watched. He’s so cool! Eventually he got up to go.
After Peter left we sat around for another minute or two, and
someone said, “Davy and Micky aren’t coming. Everyone needs to
leave.”
NO! How could this be? Peter was so sick, and yet he came!
But I’m sure Micky and Davy had their reasons for not coming.
Oh well. I got to go backstage and meet Peter! Why should I
be upset? I’m so lucky! And it was a great show, and I had a ton of
fun. I’m going to be on a high for years to come!
(pictures of the Monkee Girls with Peter will be scanned
soon…let me know if you wanna see! (hundredpapes@hotmail.com) )

Callie AKA Blush

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Laurie Nason

What a dissapointment it was to meet Mickey and Davy yesterday in Las
Vegas. I had some surgery and came home a day early just so that I could
meet them. I stood on the line to get an autograph and it was so
impersonal. They never even looked up to see who they were signing for.
I asked Mickey a question and Daveys response was “just another ploy to
make the line run longer” I was shooed away by the big guy standing
there. It was just a yes or no question. I was standing behind the stage
when it was all over. ( i have friends that are on the stage) We asked
for a quick picture as they were walking back to the Limo, (only a very
few people standing there) and they waved and kept walking. I used to be
SUCH a big fan, and was so hurt by this. If there were an address on
this site i would mail my autograph back to them.
Laurie Nason

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: Mallory

Brad,

My name is Mallory, and I went to the first concert in Las Vegas. It was
great! I started to cry at the start because I was so happy! Peter and
Micky were really funny. Davy was really cute. I am only 12 but I love
them. After the concert there was a guy saying that if you had backsstage
passes to go this way. My mom and I thought we would follow them and this
lady followed us. We got to the entrance to see them and the people with
passes went in. There manager asked if we had passes and we said I wish. My=

mom was talking to him and she told him I was there biggest fan, he replied=

“no she’s not”. My mom then said “well one of them”! He said he would check=

to see if there was any room and he came back and let me, my mom, and this=

lady back! There were
no more than 12 people there. Then Peter and Micky walked in and I was so
happy. They signed my picture and our tickets. I wondered where davy was so=

I asked. He said he might be coming, then about 10 minutes later he walked=

in! He signed all my stuff too! I got my picture taken with all of them
seperate. They all put there arms around me and peter hugged me!!! It was t=
he
best night of my life!!!
Would you please put this in the newsletter!

Thanks,
Mallory

To purchase Monkees CD’s, Videos and Collectable rare items, visit
www.monkees.net

The Monkees Alert list is moderated, meaning you cannot post directly to
the list yourself. To submit an item for the list, send to:
bradpager@monkees.net

For info on posting to, subscribing, or removing yourself from this list,
send an e-mail to: alert@monkees.net for an automatic response. Thanks!