Across the month of September, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, traveled across California to pay tribute to the band’s repertoire. Among those venues he performed at, was the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. Fans were lined up outside, holding their Monkees albums, awaiting a VIP experience, a meet and greet. When Dolenz was announced to the stage, he was welcomed with roaring applause. His many supportive audience members were ready to sing along, pulling out their phones to record, excitedly waving to him. The performance opened with “Last Train to Clarksville”, and was then preceded by “Take A Giant Step”.
With a tambourine in his hand, Dolenz was an expressive and jovial presence onstage. During songs like “Papa Gene’s Blues” and “The Girl I Knew Somewhere”, the audience was treated to pleasing harmonies, usage of percussion, and undeniable synchronization from every musician. The joy seen in those watching the performance was infectious, and the night proceeded with another notable piece, “All of Your Toys.”
After concluding the first batch of songs, Dolenz thanked the crowd, and welcomed them to the show. Dolenz emphasized the importance of songwriters, about how their era had some of the best, including musicians like Carol King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Neil Sedaka and David Gates. He expressed how their show would be about celebrating the Monkees, performing songs from their third album “Headquarters”. Much like wandering through a candy store, each song was sweet and digestible enough to induce a sugar rush.
Everyone in attendance that night shared one thing, they wanted music, and Dolenz effortlessly delivered. The way in which he conveyed particular lyrics for the song “I’ll Spend My Life With You”, in which he would express through his hands and gesture toward himself, felt deeply personal. The guitarist joined in to perform “The Kind of Girl I Could Love”, and among those skillful musicians, was Dolenz’s beloved sister, Gemma “Coco” Dolenz. Together, both she and her brother performed the piece “Shades of Gray”.
Dolenz, when speaking about his time with Davy Jones, mentioned how he always remembered Jones from the auditions. They had similar backgrounds, and were both childhood stars. The two quickly hit it off, and became best friends. The long-lasting nature of their friendship was shown in how they both got married around the same time, and had their children at around the same time too. All of their kids remain best friends to this day. Dolenz described Jones as an incredible performer, charming, and so frickin’ cute.
Periodically, the band would depart from the stage to let oldened footage of Jones, Tork, and Nesmith respectively, play on the televisions across the venue. The audience watched quietly, charmed by the jokes being told on screen, and reminiscing. For many, the performance was a time capsule, one that allowed those to reflect on a time period that has long since passed, but treasuring those memories all the same.
“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day” led into “I Can’t Get Her Off My Mind”, and a beat was never wasted when transitioning between songs. The vocals provided by the keyboardist, and the way his voice contrasted Dolenz’s, combined with the motions of the drummer as he played the kit, enthralled everyone.
When reminiscing on Peter Tork, Dolenz described him as a character, that he meant it in more ways than one. When casting for the show, Nesmith, Jones, and himself, all played caricatures of themselves, almost extensions of their personalities. But for Tork, he actually played a character, the dummy that was always jokingly screwing things up. But Dolenz shared with the crowd that his friend was anything but a dummy.
Tork was an intellectual, brilliant, capable of playing four instruments, and attended a conservatory for music. Dolenz joked that his bandmate was a hippie, that if one were to look up the definition of a hippie in the dictionary, a picture of Tork would be front and center. Dolenz revealed how Tork’s beautiful home was up in the Hollywood Hills, with a pool and view, that Tork encouraged everyone to come over, and he would prepare brown rice and kale before it even existed. Given how it was the 60s, many visitors would walk around naked by the pool. Tork also had weed, but Dolenz joked he would come over for the kale.
Before singing “Mr. Webster”, Dolenz shared how regardless of it being one of their lesser known pieces, it was one of his favorites on the album. The song was about a man who worked in a job for 40 years and felt desperately underappreciated. He then addressed the crowd, asking if anyone out there felt they were working a job where they felt underappreciated. Many individuals raised their hands, including Dolenz.
When it came time to share a few words on Michael Nesmith, Dolenz began with saying Nesmith was one of the funniest guys that he had ever known in his entire life, that they had a similar sense of humor. Said humor was English humor, especially from the likes of Monty Python. Dolenz recalled improvising with Nesmith for their show, although he always believed Nesmith was originally better at it than he was.
Both men had a similar taste in music as well. Dolenz’s mother was from Austin, Texas, and Nesmith’s was from Dallas, Texas, meaning that Dolenz and Nesmith grew up with, as he puts it, a country western sensibility. The two would regularly fall into similar-sounding harmonies, with Dolenz often singing a third above Nesmith. Additionally, Dolenz praised Nesmith for being such an incredible poet, capable of producing wonderful melodies and lyrics. To prove his point, Dolenz read the lyrics of “Daily Knightly” aloud, joking that when he asked Nesmith what his words meant, even he didn’t know their true meaning.
During the song “I’ll Be Back Up On My Feet” Dolenz’s appreciation for each of his bandmates could be felt in how he’d look between them and the audience, continuously nodding in approval. Performing was all but second nature to someone as legendary as himself, especially during the piece “Porpoise Song”.
Dolenz revealed that a few months prior, he recorded a brand new extended play. It was a cover of rock band R.E.M’s “Shiny Happy People”. The finished cover can be listened to on YouTube, and it is close to reaching 200,000 views. Dolenz joked that he had grown increasingly tired of hitting that send button, when first publishing the video, but that his audience at the Belly Up would be the first to hear it live.
Before performing “Daydream Believer”, Dolenz introduced each of the musicians, expressing how they were the finest band that he has ever played with. On the keyboards, vocal arrangements, background and lead vocals, was Alex Jules. The newest member of the group, who has been with the band for 40 years, playing guitar, and providing background and lead vocals, was Emeen Zarookian. Playing bass was John Billings, with Rich Dart playing drums. Lastly, musical director, and lead guitar player was Wayne Averts.
The show concluded with an encore performance of “I’m a Believer”, to everyone’s unanimous delight. For more monkeying around, visit https://mickydolenz.com/