Monkees Reviews

Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”us-ascii”; format=flowed
Return-Path: brad@flexquarters.com
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 23 Aug 2001 08:19:07.0745 (UTC) FILETIME=[47867D10:01C12BAC]
From: Brad Waddell

Welcome to the Monkees.Net Alert Newsletter!

Too much for just one e-mail!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here is a special offer for our readers, please support this newsletter!

Receive 50 free minutes and a chance to win an all expense paid trip to the
Superbowl when you sign up for our 4.5 cent per minute long distance
program. Click Here: http://www.onresponse.com/onR_Ads.asp?a=70447&d=3034
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

From: dave jones

I MET Jay Leno!!! And Davy and Peter!!!! (long)

OK, I swear to Jesus that this story is true, every word of it.

Short version: Not only did I meet Jay Leno, I was up on stage after
the show hob-nobbing with Jay, the guests, and our guys. I got pics of me
with Jay, I was in his private office for 5 minutes, and I even opened
his car door for him! I also saw myself in the audience about 4 times.
My friends at work saw me too, very clearly after the Monkees chat,
just before commercial is the best shot of me, waving my hands.
I look right at the camera just before the commercial.

Details:
I got done with my job in Malibu, and headed to NBC studios in Burbank.
I saw a sign that said “Audience Tickets”, and found a parking spot kinda
far away. I found a rather small line of people waiting by what appeared
to be the correct place, I mean, it did say “Tickets”. Turns out it was the
wrong line, meant only for VIP’s that were invited guests. If your ticket
wasn’t already waiting for you, you were in the wrong line, you should be
out in front on Alameda Ave in the “general population” line, about 300
people.

Well, I started talking to a guy in line, asking “Do you know if there are
still any tickets left?” “Well, I don’t know, ours are waiting for us up here.
We got a special invite.”

I decided just to stay in line and see if I could get in. I was still under
the impression that I was in the right place, although it *was* a short
line, maybe 80 people.

I started chatting with this group of guys about the Monkees, they were
waiting for John, the 5th memeber of their group. Bob said to Allen, “Well,
if John doesnt show up, we’ll give this guy his ticket.”, referring to me. I
found myself hoping that John was stuck in traffic for days, or worse.

John showed up, he knew Jay Lenos’ ex-wife or something like that. I
just kept being friendly and chatting with them. When we started getting
close to the desk, Bob said “Ya know, we’ve got 6 tickets, and there’s
only 5 of us. We could drag HIM with us…” My eyeballs popped, and I said
“I’ll buy you drinks, whatever you want!” They said “Well, there’s
complimentary
drinks where we’re going, if everything goes the way it’s supposed to, we’ll
get to go in the Green Room, and meet Jay and the guests”. “No Way!!!

When we got to the desk, the guy asked “Are all 6 of you here?” Bob replied
“Yes.”

I was IN, MAN!!!

We hung around outside for a bit, then we were escorted past all of the
general
population. I was having fun now, so I made a comment about “the common folk.”
We were directed right into the studio, and it was becoming obvious that I was
with some Mega-VIP’s. They seated us at eye-level with Jay, only 4 people
in front
of us, they in fold-up chairs, us in *real* seats. I was about 15 feet from
the stage,
just slightly stage right of center, where the Monkees curtain was. Cool.

The studio is much smaller than you’d think from TV. It holds around 400
people,
and the stage is really kinda small. Jay explained that the reason it’s so cold
in the studio is that once the big mercury-vapor lights come on, it warms up
by 15 degrees. We were freezing at first, but by the end of the show, it was
very comfortable.

Jay came out in real faded jeans, and a faded blue button shirt. He does his
own crowd-warming, cracked a few jokes, and then started explaining how the
show works, what to expect, when to do what, and what NOT to do. He was
hilarious, no script, just a quick wit.

They start taping at 5 PM, and only 8 minutes prior to this, he leaves to go
“Put on one of those ill-fitting suits. I’ll be right back!”

Many of you have seen the show, so there’s not much reason to go into
detail. I saw Dave Alexander peeking around the corner to watch the show
before the Monkees came on. I tried waving to him, but he didn’t catch me.

OK, fast-forward to the end of the show. Immediately after the show ends,
one of the usher gals comes up to us and says “OK, all 6 of you, follow me.”
She escorts us all up to the stage! Davy and Peter, and the gal (what’s her
name?) and the Richter guy, and Jay are all milling about, shaking hands with
everyone. The only 6 people invited from the audience was us!!!

I saw Davy, looking at me, a bit perplexed. I reached out my hand, and he
was either confused about where he should be, or he recognized me from Vegas.
I’ve only met Davy about 3 times, but maybe he remembered me saying
“My name is David Jones too.” I dunno, but I said “Wow, great show! I’ll
see you at the Sun Theatre Friday!” He said “great”, and that was about it
for Davy. He gave me this look of, like, confusion. I can only guess that he
may have recognized me. Micky, as he sometimes does, disappeared
immediately, nowhere to be found.

I was standing on the stage, kinda hanging with ‘my group’, when I realized
that the guy bumping elbows with me was Jay Leno! The show crew huddled
us all together for a group shot with Jay. I said something like “Well, I’m
kinda short,
I’ll stoop in front. That didn’t work, so I shoved my butt in right next to
Jay. I had
my arm around him, but then one guy couldn’t squeeze in enough. So I put
my arm around him and tried to squeeze all of us in. The camera lady said
“Now we can’t see Jay.” OMG, I was stealing camera time from Jay Freaking
Leno!” They took about 4 photos, I will get copies in a couple of days, and
I will post them on the Yahoo Groups photo area for all to see. I’m sure
glad I had a business card!!

All this time, I was in a bit of shock, so I just tried to act normal. I
told myself
“It’s normal to be on Jay Leno’s stage with celebrities.” Yeah, right. But it
calmed me down enough to act normal and have fun.

After the photos with Jay, I was sorta looking for Peter. He had been Torking
with a group of people, but now it was just him, and, OHMYGOD, it’s Mary Jo!!!
They had their arms around each other at the edge of the stage, I just walked
up to Mary Jo and said “Is THAT Mary JO???” She smiled, it WAS her! I shook
hands with her and said “Man, I haven’t seen you in a LONG time!” I’m quite
certain that she remembers me from the SSB Hallowwen party, I mean, I
danced with her several times, had a couple beers with her, and she even
kissed me on the cheek! But that was almost 3 years ago. She apparently
remembered though.

I hadn’t looked at Peter yet, but I could tell he was looking very intently
at me.
This part is hard to describe: The look on Peter’s face was one of shock,
horror, disbelief, and incredulous-ness. I finally looked at him, very
sheepishly,
and said “Hi Peter” and shook his hand, which he obliged. He looked at me
as if he’d just seen a dead person. He said, and this made the whole evening,

” What are YOU doing here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”

Umm, yeah, I guess he recognized me. He could NOT believe that here I was
standing on Jay Leno’s stage with him and the celebs. (Neither could I, but
I just
went with the flow). I calmly said “Well, I just live down the street….”
That’s NOT
what Peter was asking, I know, but it would be too long of a story, and deflate
the whole thing if I told him it was just plain dumb luck.

They were calling our group together for the backstage tour. I quicky
said to
Peter “I gotta go, but I’ll see ya at the Sun Theatre Friday!! He still had
that look
on his face, like “How in the freak is he up HERE???” Oh, yeah, THAT was
priceless! Now Peter’s gonna think I must be hugely connected. If I Tork to him
in the next couple of days, I’ll bet serious money he asks me how I got up
there.
I’ll be honest with him, I met some guys that ARE connected. I won’t
lie to Peter.

Well, they took us to the studio where they were setting up to tape “The
Weakest
Link”, which is right next door. I saw LOTS of the Monkees band, but I
didn’t know
all of their names. I know Sandy Genarro, Dave Alexander, who I shook hands
with
several times, but I gotta find that web page where it points out all of
the guys, and
their names. Anybody? I recognized them, but I just said “Hey!” and kept
walking, my
fault for being bad with names.

Helga Pollack, the executive producer is my guess, guided us through the
entire
NBC studio. We saw the booking room, where they schedule the guests. There are
many hundreds of names pinned to the walls, under the show’s dates. Over each
name, there is a marking: the letter ‘O’ for offered, meaning that they
have offered
the person to come on the show, ‘A’ for accepted, and ‘A’ plus a check-mark
for
confirmed guests.

We saw the control room, the “Nerve Center” as Helga pointed out, with a
bazillion
TV monitors and huge amounts of electronic equiment. The Audio room is
right next
to it, with one guy manning the controls. We cruised through the booking
agent’s area,
lots of busy people. Then we saw the writer’s area, the guys that write
Jay’s material,
very messy! Then, she did something extra-special. She said “OK, we’re going to
go where NOBODY gets to go”, and punched in a code on a not-so-special-looking
door. It was Jay’s personal office! It’s a MESS! There’s a huge gaping hole
in the
wall behind his chair, Helga explained that it’s been that way for a long
time, but
Jay doesn’t care. There’s also a huge 10-foot white-board, that had fallen
on one
side, so it hung very unlevel. She explained that he likes it that way!
There are
also about 50 clocks hung on the walls. Jay’s office is NOT what you’d expect,
it’s a very average, small, messy place. But he does get a view of Alameda Ave.

Then she asked if we’d seen Jay’s car. We said no, she said “Would you
like to?”
YES! So she escorted us back through the studio, still seeing the band here and
there, and the tear-down crew. The Monkee’s equipment was already torn down
and in the truck. We went outside, into the executive lot. There was the
Monkee’s
truck, Aviva, and Jay’s very expensive (Chevy Avalanche Z-71, I think??).
We just
barely started looking at it, when out comes Jay! I was standing next to
his driver
door, so I just opened it for him, and made a gesture like a limo driver,
ushering
him into his car. He was impressed, but instead stood with us for 15 minutes
chatting about cars, his favorite subject.

He explained that it was a loaner given to him by Chevy, he was doing some
promo thing. He actually didn’t care for the truck too much, he didn’t find it
interesting. I asked him “What do you drive when you just go to the grocery
store?” Yeah, like he does his own shopping. But anyway, he said “I just grab
something like this. I’ve got a few regular cars, so I just grab one of these.”
It was soooo bitchin to be standing next to Jay, just chatting like friends.

He finally got in to go. I saw Aviva standing nearby, so I went up to
her and
said “Hi Aviva!” I told her I would be at the Friday gig, she said “We’ll
see ya
there.”

Then we finally got escorted back into normal world, the outside parking
lot.
Man, what an evening! I thanked the guys for dragging my sorry butt with them,
and they said that they were happy that I had a good time. I must have delayed
them 5 times chatting with Monkee people, but they got the picture that I knew
them. Sort-of.

OK, now that the hard part is over with, I have to debate going for the
GRAND
SLAM. This would be: Leno, House of Blues tonight AND tomorrow night, and
I’m already at the Sun Theatre Friday. Four days in a row. Is this going over-
board?

I have to go into Tinseltown again today, a post-production house on, yep,
Sunset Blvd. I mean, I’ll be on the same street, ya know. HOB is on Sunset too.
Awwww, what the heck, you only live twice. I guess I’ll see if I can get in.

There may be another long story tomorrow. If I Tork to Peter, I’ll write it
up. I’m
sure it will be interesting…

Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask Peter about the UK No-Show. But I didn’t get a
chance.
Maybe tonight.

Tired, but the happiest and Luckiest man on earth,

TODJ

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

From: “Linda N.”

Ticket office/Melbourne gig

Hello,
I work in the ticket office at the King Center for the
Performing Arts and I must tell you that we’ve gotten so
much great feedback from our patrons for the concert a few
weeks ago. Those of us in the ticket office got a kick out
of Davy’s daughter and her interaction with a window patron
who expected to have tickets and backstage passes there for
him. He boldly stated that he knew Davy and she promptly
responded that she was his daughter and was fully aware of
who was and wasn’t on the comp list for the show. We have
to deal with this type of situation all the time but we
certainly don’t have the clout to dish it right back at an
arrogant customer. This one was particularly rude, and we
were all so grateful that she was in the office at the
time. Kudos to her and to the Monkees. Our local patrons
were thrilled with the evening and I only wish I’d been in
the theatre for the concert. ….some great
memories….graduated in ’70 from high school and I remember
Mickey from Circus Boy…..Like I said…great memories.
Linda Norway
Rockledge, FL
—
*******************
Linda Norway
Having a Pepsi for Judy
http://www.geocities.com/sassy753/memorial.html
God Bless our Troops
Proud VetWives member
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/VetWives/Homepage.html
and TLC Sister
TLC Brotherhood- http://www.TLC-Brotherhood.org
Bob & Linda’s page:
http://www.geocities.com/thexaminer/mypage.html
Coolest place to work:
http://www.kingcenter.com
******************
“Live your life so you won’t be ashamed to sell the family
parrot to the town gossip”–Ben Franklin

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

From: ZiLcHzOrAnDzAm

I was at the Monkees concert on the 19th and they put on a great show. I was
lucky enough to get to tough Micky and almost Peter. The guys were great and
I had so much singing along to all the songs, and watching them dance around
like they did during the TV show. There was a part when I realized that a lot
of people my age (15) were there and they were having as much fun as I was.
My dad also had fun he got to shake Davy’s hand when he came into the
audience , right after the lady in front of me (I was standing up by the
stage) and I got to sing in the mic. , part of the Brady Bunch song. It was
great and I would do it again!

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

From: Stephanieanne

August 19, 2001 Concert review

Still Daydream Believing….
by Stephanie Anne Dispoto

I am still in a state of memories…and magic.

The Monkees performance at CSU Bakersfield’s outdoor Amphitheater on Sunday,
August 19, 2001 was just that. Memories and Magic. The temperature soared to
106 degrees, but it wasn’t only the heat that rose — it was the pure
excitement in the air that was generated by the long-awaited return of The
Monkees to Kern County. An excitement shared by fans as young as 6 months in
age to those in their 70’s. An excitement shared by yours truly, who carried
a picture in her purse that evening from her first day of school, September
12, 1966 – the day
when I made the choice that night to watch a new show, “The Monkees” as
opposed to my favorite television show, “Gilligan’s Island”; a choice I have
never regretted. (Although Gilligan does still make me laugh!)

When Peter, David and Micky first hit the stage doing the famous “Monkee
Walk” the crowd of 2500 could barely contain themselves — including myself!
From David’s apologies at being late for taking a wrong turn “in Santa
Barbara” to Peter’s jokes about how he was in need of more clothes to brave
the “chill in the air” and Micky’s just — well being the ever comical Micky!
— they had our attention full force, keeping the audience laughing and
singing along with their music.

It wouldn’t be the Monkees any other way — one goes hand-in-hand with the
other. During their time, serious rock musicians and listeners laughed at
The Monkees, because they seemed to be an establishment antidote
against controversial rock contemporaries such as the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix
and Bob Dylan.

Now I won’t be the one to pit the Monkees against other established artists;
no one should ever make comparison’s anyway — everyone and everything is
unique in their own special way. But at the same time, there are so few acts
out today that have held out over time, against all of the odds the Monkees
had placed upon them — they are still a FUN band; they are excellent
musicians; they are excellent songwriters; they are professional showmen who
know how to have a wonderful time and the crowd knows it — so we in turn
have a wonderful time along with them! And we did.

As I did.

The band played songs that reminded us of a time when we were young, without
responsibilities and listening to pop music on our “hi-fi’s” or the AM radio.
From “Last Train to Clarksville”, “She Hangs Out”, “Mary, Mary” to “Daydream
Believer” and “I’m a Believer”, it reminded the crowd that with all of the
pressures of the world going on today, there is still a place where we can go
to, a place where, if we remember those memories, those songs, we can
separate the idealism of what is really important…and what’s not.

I had to laugh when I thought about the first time my 5 year old daughter saw
the Monkees; it was on “The Early Show” on television this year; she couldn’t
understand why Peter, David and Micky looked like “older men” — she claimed
these men were impostors and proceeded to show me a photo she has of them
from when they first hit the television and music scene. When they started
singing though. she stood in the corner watching and listening in complete
fascination; after the program was over, she decided they were The Monkees
and that it was okay if they looked a little older — when they sang, she
said they still were very good, so it must be them!

Well, we are all a little (!) older now, but I honestly have to say, last
night, when I looked into Peter, David and Micky’s eyes throughout the
evening as they talked, joked and sang, all I could see and feel was the same
adoration I had for them as when I first saw them that night in 1966 when I
was 6 years old. And I realized that even more fully today as I hugged my
daughters and told them about the concert; I told them no one can ever take
away your memories — or that magic feeling. They are ours to keep and ours
to help us through any rough
spots that might prevail in life.

To some, the Monkees may have just been a pop-rock group from the 60’s; but
to the majority of people, they are still helping us get through life. If not
in one way, in some ways.

Thanks guys. You really are appreciated in more ways than you will ever know.

Stephanie Anne
http://www.monkeesonline.com/“>MonkeesOnLine.com”>http://www.monkeesonline.com/“>MonkeesOnLine.com
http://www.monkeesonline.com/

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!