Monkee Business at Metropolis: Micky Dolenz headlines a fundraiser; Dec. 6, 2011

Photo of Micky Dolenz at Metropolis by John Kenney/ The Gazette. See John’s photo gallery from the show here.

Micky Dolenz wasn’t just going through the motions Tuesday night at Metropolis when he tore into a version of the Monkees favourite A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You. A slightly ragged feel that only enhanced the Neil Diamond-penned gem was provided by UB Over 40, the first group competing in the ninth annual Donald Berman Maimonides Battle of the Bands.

The concept for the fundraiser was simple enough. Four bands, made up of dentists, doctors, lawyers and other professionals, each did a set (four more will perform Wednesday night), with Dolenz coming out at the end of each one to do a Monkees song with the competing band.

Between bands, there was a big-ticket auction with such impressive items as a Dolenz-autographed Fender Stratocaster, two signed photos of Leonard Cohen, a week in Palm Desert in a luxury villa and two tickets to see Celine Dion in Las Vegas, including airfare a meet-and-greet and three nights at Caesars Palace. All proceeds from the event were for the Donald Berman Maimonides Centre for Research in Aging.

Knowing that no rehearsal time was available for this event made some improvisation at the end of A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You doubly impressive, with the band and Dolenz egging each other on and tossing in bits from from Baby Please Don’t Go and Break On Through (To the Other Side). The former Monkees drummer seemed to be enjoying the moment in every way.

A few minutes later, he spoke backstage about the song. When I told him he probably should have sung it the first time (Davy Jones was the vocalist on the original record), he said different members of the group took a crack at several songs, so there probably is a version of the song with him singing lead.

A leisurely conversation with the hospitable singer came to an end when he had to get ready for his appearance with Gerry Kandestin and Friends, who performed folk-rock evergreens by the likes of the Mamas & the Papas, Barry McGuire and Simon & Garfunkel. Dolenz joined them for a robust Last Train to Clarksville, showing in its closing vamp that his voice (which was the voice of the Monkees, after all) is as sturdy as ever.

He praised its composers, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, to whom he dedicated his performance. “Without them, I’d be singing rap,” he quipped.

Dolenz was 21 when the song was released – more than twice the age of the fundraiser’s most unexpected crowd-pleaser. How many 10-year-olds get to make their first public appearance at Metropolis and draw a standing ovation? Ask Benny Saleh, the dental surgeon who fronts Benny & the Healers. After performing a few classic-rock staples with the band, Saleh brought out his son Ness, who belted out the Adele songs Rolling In the Deep and Someone Like You, both of which the crowd absolutely devoured.

“How do I follow that?,” Dolenz quipped. But follow it he did, leading the group of doctors into the Monkees’ deathless garage classic (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone. And if some of it sounded a bit imprecise, that’s exactly how it was meant to sound.

In a recent interview with the Gazette, Dolenz pressed the point that the Monkees were never a real band. But however you want to describe them, they gave us some of the best pop music of their era.

The Donald Berman Maimonides Battle of the Bands continues Wednesday night at Metropolis. For more information, go to www.DonaldBermanMaimonides.net.

via Monkee Business at Metropolis: Micky Dolenz headlines a fundraiser; Dec. 6, 2011 | Montreal Gazette.