Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees!

I had a near religious experience this past Tuesday, but first a little background information:

In September 1975, television stations bought the syndication rights to and began re-running episodes of The Monkees television show, which originally ran from September 1966 to March 1968 and I began watching these shows and was immediately enthralled. I remember my best friend and I would get off the school bus each afternoon and run to one of our houses to watch the show. The antics of these 4 talented performers enthralled my 9-year old self! From the first drum beat, I was hooked and in love - to varying degrees - with each of these boys; although Micky will always be my favorite. 

But my life long love of the Monkees was not limited to merely the watching of the show. The first album I ever bought with my own money (circa 1976) was the Monkees self titled debut album and I then spent the next dozen or so years purchasing and memorizing every album. In the mid-80s, thanks to MTV and Nickelodeon marathons of the original series, the Monkees enjoyed a resurgence. During that time, I purchased a VHS of their one and only full length movie, Head, at the ridonkulous cost of $80! It was worth every penny spent! On June 6, 1986, I was lucky enough to attend a 20th Anniversary Tour concert with 3 of the 4 Monkees (Micky, Davy and Peter) at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. In the mid-90s, Rhino released a home videorecording of the series which I eagerly plunked down some hard earned cash to own. I have since replaced the VHS copies with digital copies of the series. I've read books, bought memorabilia, watched biopics and a quasi-factional movie called Daydream Believers, etc. What can you conclude from this background? I am the ultimate fan/geek of the Monkees!

Here's where the near religious experience comes to play. Through the largesse of a friend of mine, this past Tuesday, I attended a concert at the Wang Theatre in Boston of the "A Midsummer's Night with the Monkees" tour (the 2nd show in the tour) and it was an unbelievable night. For the casual Monkees fan, this concert would have been just okay.  But for the fanatic, this performance was a dream come true. The reason I say that is because they didn't just sing all the greatest hits. They played songs that the casual or non-fan wouldn't necessarily know. Additionally, we were lucky to enough to have the most amazing seats: 13 rows from the stage and dead center! They sounded and looked amazing! I have been to a reasonable amount of concerts in my life and this one ranked right up there as one of the best of the best! There were only 2 things missing from this show. Sadly, one was the absence of Davy Jones (may he rest in peace), but kudos to the band for the amazing tribute to their fallen comrade. The second was the breakdown of a credit card machine. Just as I was getting ready to purchase a concert t-shirt, the machine crapped out. Gah! So annoying. Otherwise, it was a perfect evening!

Thank you, Micky, Mike and Peter for granting me this generous gift.  I can die a happy girl.

Just a few out of the many photos I took!

For the rest of my concert photos, check out my Monkees concert photo gallery. Some photos are a little fuzzy but what can you expect from a concert where people are practically dancing in their seats! If you want to see the complete set list of songs, check out this Rolling Stone article.  How many of these songs do you know by heart?  Me?  All of them!

Below is a video of one of my favorite songs, "She":