The Monkees monkee around too much at Stage AE

At some point the Monkees really did start to think they were the Beatles.

How else to explain “The Evening with the Monkees” concert Wednesday night at Stage AE that spanned more than 35 songs over two hours.

There had to be some fans on hand who didn’t even know The Monkees had 35 songs!

Most people, and I’m not talking about the screaming fan club ladies in the first few rows (God bless them), probably couldn’t even name more than six of their greatest hits off the top of their heads.

With that in mind, The Monkees could do a killer 14-song, hour-long set, perhaps with Herman’s Hermits, The Rascals and The Grass Roots. Wednesday night, The Monkees pushed it way too far, opening with “I’m a Believer” and then going about 28 songs before they got to another blockbuster hit.

Micky Dolenz — looking almost punk in his black jeans, black vest and fedora — sang it reasonably close to the original version, drew a big applause and then yelled … “Thank you, Cleveland!” Davy Jones muttered something to him like “No, no, this is Pittsburgh,” but Mr. Dolenz was already off and running to the drums. If it were a joke — like Mr. Jones cracking, “I’m Davy’s dad, Davy will be out here in a minute” — you’d think he would have hammed it up a bit.

Already off on a weird and baffling foot, the Monkees and their eight-piece band ventured deep into the non-greatest hits, which did show the range of their catalog. There were bubblegum Jones songs such as “When Love Comes Knocking at Your Door” and “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),” sung in his still-boyish voice. He was on much shakier ground taking on a ballad like “I Wanna Be Free.”

There were Peter Tork blues songs such as “Mary, Mary,” “Do I Have to Do This All Over Again” and “For Pete’s Sake,” delivered with even shakier vocals but surprisingly stinging guitar solos.

With footage from the TV shows and “Head” playing behind them, they touched on songs that sounded like acid-laced Beatles (“Can You Dig It?”) and organ-drenched Animals (“Words”).

Micky? Well, he’s a character. I spent half the night trying to figure out who or what exactly he sounded like on “Saturday’s Child,” “I Don’t Think You Know Me” and other lesser songs. The best I could come up with was an odd combination of Tiny Tim, Kermit the Frog and the typical guy who yells “hot dogs!” at a baseball game.

To his credit, though, he seemed to be enjoying himself and giving 110 percent, even if he did think the Ohio River was Lake Erie.

When they got to “Last Train to Clarksville” somewhere around song 30, I threw my arms to the heavens and praised the Lord. By some miracle, Mr. Dolenz sounded dead-on that one, and the show went on a roll with a run of crowd-pleasers they could play in their sleep, including Davy’s cute “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” garage-rock classic “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” and climactic sing-alongs on “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer.”

Bang. That’s all the Monkees had to do. There was no need for a career-spanning two hours of Monkee-ing around.

via The Monkees monkee around too much at Stage AE.