Review: Micky Dolenz Rocks PA!

Micky Dolenz and his band played three concerts in two days in the Pennsylvania area the weekend of October 7th & 8th on his current Fall tour. He landed first in Hanover, PA at the beautiful Eichelberger PAC on October 7th. The band which included Micky’s sister Coco, guitarist and music director Wayne Avers, bassist John Billings, drummer Rich Dart, second guitarist Emeen Zarookian and Alex Jules on keyboard launched right into ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’. Micky came on stage to great applause and without missing a beat got right into the song. This was quickly followed by The Monkees 1986 Top 40 hit ‘That Was Then, This Is Now’. After the song Micky said hello to the audience and talked about the many song writers who wrote for The Monkees and introduced the song Peter Tork wrote, ‘For Pete’s Sake’, which became the closing theme for The Monkees series second season.

Next up on the set list was the song Michael Nesmith submitted to The Monkees producers that was rejected as “not being a Monkees song’, and that Nez gave to Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponys, ‘Different Drum’ with Micky’s sister Coco singing the lead. This was followed by Micky’s pre-Monkees single ‘Don’t Do It’. Before introducing the next song written by Mike Nesmith ‘Mary, Mary’, Micky told the story that the guitarist who played the guitar part on the song also played the guitar on ‘Don’t Do It’, Glen Campbell.

Micky next told the story of meeting the other British “Royal Family” The Beatles, and about writing ‘Randy Scouse Git’ which was released as ‘Alternate Title’ in England because of inappropriateness of the original title. This was followed by the story of Micky being invited to a Beatles recording session at Abbey Road during the ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ sessions and he and the band launched into the album’s title song.

The next stories dealt with Micky’s auditions for The Monkees leading into ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ and the next song which Micky proudly exclaimed got him The Monkees gig, Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’. Micky next recounted the story about when California experienced a violent earthquake and his concerns for his family in Los Angeles, with him calling Coco and to ease the tension singing the Carole King song ‘I Feel The Earth Move’, which Coco took the lead vocals on. The first half of the show closed with Micky singing ‘Valleri’ before the intermission.

The second half of the show began with Micky sitting on a stool and talking about attending the recent ceremony in Los Angeles where Mama Cass Elliot received a posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and at the ceremony became reacquainted with Steven Stills who had also auditioned for The Monkees and encouraged Peter Tork to try out for the project. Micky and the band then began the Stills song ‘For What It’s Worth’ with guitarist Wayne Avers faithfully recreating the distinctive guitar parts of the song. Micky acknowledged former partner Davy Jones with ‘Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)’.

Micky and the band then gave a two song salute to the Beatles with back to back renditions of ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ and ‘Get Back’, the latter with Coco on lead vocals.

Micky then went to the lip of the stage and said, “I guess you know what’s next? If you know the words, please don’t sing along, it throws me off!” and he and the band went right into ‘Daydream Believer’, Coco even adding an alarm clock, then when they got to the final chorus Micky and the band invited the audience to sing along, Micky adding his traditional salute to Davy as the song ended. The set ended with a rollicking rendition of ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ before the encores which consisted of the Spencer Davis Group classic ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ where Micky introduced the band members before ending the show with The Monkees biggest hit ‘I’m A Believer’, after which Micky, Coco and the band took their final bows as the entire theater audience gave them a standing ovation. Micky and Coco later stayed to sign autographs at the souvenir table.

The next day, October 8th, Micky and the band played two shows at the Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville, PA at 3pm and 8pm. I attended the afternoon show. The set was pretty much the same as Hanover but with additional video segments that weren’t part of the Hanover show and with some song substitutions; ‘Randy Scouse Git’ and ‘Look Out’ wasn’t performed, ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You’ was added and ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ replaced ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ during the Beatles set. Micky’s daughter Emily Dolenz attended this show with her family and for the encore Micky added the Beatles ‘Birthday’ in honor of Emily’s husband. The show closed with ‘I’m A Believer’ with the enthusiastic crowd giving Micky and the band another well deserved standing ovation. Afterwards Micky and Coco went to the lobby to meet fans and sign autographs at the merchandise table.

The shows I attended were full of energy, Micky looked amazing as he gave a killer performance. The entire band were top notch, Coco quite wonderful in her solo spots. These were among the best shows I’ve seen Micky do as both a solo performer and on the Monkees tours. This is a not to be missed show, so try and catch Micky Dolenz when he comes to your town!

For Micky Dolenz Tour Dates visit: https://mickydolenz.com

Fred Velez, 2022.

Fred Velez is the author of the books ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From A Fan’s Perspective’ and ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You 2: The Monkees From International Fan Perspectives’.

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