The Monkees, 45 years later

Tonight my friend Abbie and I went to see The Monkees in their 45th anniversary tour.  It was a phenomenal concert.

Fifteen years ago, Abbie and I saw them in their 30th anniversary tour.  When my personal favorite, Davy Jones, jumped into the audience, Abbie and I ran after him and, as he climbed a gate and shook hands with audience members, we each grabbed onto one of his legs.  We were insane teeny-boppers that night, even though we were otherwise (fairly) mature college students.

Abbie and I also saw them on their 35th anniversary tour, though we were much more subdued since Abbie's now-husband was with us.  We've also each seen one or more of the Monkees separately.

Anyway, the concert tonight was phenomenal.  In just two hours they managed to sing not only all of their hits, but also many of their more obscure songs, many of which were favorites of mine.  I was in Monkee Heaven.  I took video clips of all of my favorites:

The songs included:
Last Train to Clarksville
I'm a Believer
She
Pleasant Valley Sunday
Listen to the Band (they introduced their band to this song, which I thought was clever)
Cuddly Toy
All of Your Toys
Daydream Believer
I Wanna Be Free
Randy Scouse Git
Shades of Gray
For Pete's Sake (written by Peter Tork. When Mike Nesmith was naming songs, he liked picking titles that had nothing to do with the song lyrics.  So he simply named this one after its writer.)
She Hangs Out
Words
What Am I Doing Hangin' Round? (originally sung by Nesmith, who's not on this tour, so sung by Tork)
When Love Comes Knockin' (At Your Door)
Mary Mary
Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)
Your Auntie Grizelda
(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
Sometime in the Morning
(Theme From) The Monkees
Saturday's Child
Papa Gene's Blues
The Girl I Knew Somewhere
Valleri
Someday Man
That Was Then, This is Now
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Porpoise Song (Theme from "Head) plus two other songs from "Head"

That's 32 songs plus I'm sure I'm missing a few.  That's a lot of songs in 2 hours!

The guys did great.  Obviously they're older now, all in their 60s, so their voices are a little strained, but they still managed to keep their energy up, as well as the energy of the audience.  A nice touch was a big screen over the stage that flipped through a montage of nostalgic photos from their heyday.  It was sometimes distracting, but overall added to the entertainment, and perhaps gave the guys a bit of an excuse not to wear themselves out with too much choreography.

Fantastic fantastic show.  I'm so thankful that Abbie could come with me, and that my darling husband gave me a night off, even knowing that I would likely chase Davy if ever given the chance again.  :-)