It's almost
blasphemous to say this, but I had a really good time
at The Monkees concert. Something about their
self-awareness of the ridiculousness of it all made it
impossible to still be angry after all these years.
Christ man, whatever are you rambling about
now?
In 1986 I was
introduced to The Monkees via a 22 hour marathon on
MTV of all their episodes. Ironically, I wasn't
the one watching them. I was getting up for school and
I was shocked to see my mother still watching
at 6am. Yes, she had watched all night and I was
incredibly jealous. As a child of the 80s, sitcoms
ruled my life - and I would've given anything to
be allowed to watch one ALL NIGHT LONG. This
was loooooooooooooong before TV marathons
happened (seems they happen every weekend now) MTV
continued to air them throughout the coming months and
I soon fell in love with the campiness of it all.
I was indeed, hooked.
This was before I
truly discovered The Beatles. Once I had?
Oh, the war was on. The following year I became an
all-knowing, all-seeing, Beatle-freak. A period which
actually allowed me to become "The King of Beatle
Trivia" on WTVN 10 years later. Understanding The
Beatles' influence made The Monkees not only uncool,
but actually offensive. The Monkees were a
manufactured group of actors that didn't write or even
play instruments and in the late-80s because of the
MTV resurgence? They were easily more popular than The
Beatles to my generation. It really, really
pissed me off. It seemed like such an injustice. A
copy beating the original... when the original also
BUILT the copy machine.
Then of course the
90s hit, The Beatles Anthology hit and all seemed
right with the world. The Beatles have since become
almost... over-exposed? It seems everyone understands
their place in history. Of course when people don't,
I'm the first to read them the riot act. But for the
most part, I can come down off my soap box. And
when you do? The Monkees show was really funny. Hell,
The Beatles loved it. They actually threw a party for
The Monkees with Lennon calling them The Marx Brothers
of Rock & Roll. Listen, if The Beatles get it? I
need to lighten the hell up. Elvis didn't write his
songs, Sinatra didn't write his songs or play any
instruments. The Monkees did later play and write
(though the damage was really already done) and today?
They're having a blast. They could care less if you
(or that Mike Nesmith guy) wants to join them or not.
So I joined
them.
Not
exactly a challenging thing to do when you
have tickets like this. Talya's father has
had major contacts at The Greek Theatre
for decades and always has
ridiculous seats to these shows.
Forget front row, the man does "pit"
seating plus hanging out in the
hospitality room with the band afterwards.
So when this offer came up (thank you so
much Allan), it was kind of a no-brainer.
It's no "Front and Center" for Paul
McCartney as I was in 2009, but because of
the intimacy of The Greek? I was actually
closer to The Monkees even being 3-4 rows
back.
As
well, because now every single phone has a
video camera on it? They just don't care
about video taping. Which meant unlike
McCartney at Coachella where I had to
sneak in a flip camera? I was able to
bring in my full-fledged HD 1080p Canon
and tape to my heart's delight. Which,
ironically means this footage blows my
"Front & Center" McCartney
footage out of the water. My 13 year old
self is very disappointed in me right
about now...
...thankfully, 35
year old me had a helluva lot of fun and is excited to
share this with you.
It was my first
time at The Greek, and I gotta say it's a nice
venue. Wooded area, incredibly intimate and a
beautiful night to boot. As far as the show...
I was surprised they showed NO footage from
them in the 80s and 90s when they did reunion tours
and whatnot. They only showed the earliest footage
which made their current appearences extremely
jarring. I mean, Peter turns 70 in February,
I don't expect them to look young, but when you
show footage that's 45 years old (this is their 45th
Anniversary Tour) it comes across as... well, kinda
sad - and it shouldn't be! I admire people performing
until they drop dead - I'm sure as hell going to - I
just think you're beating people over the head with
JUST how much time has past since the beginning when
all you show is the oldest footage.
Although that shot
was kinda cool. Jesus, could they have been more
obvious with the casting? Let's get a guy that looks
and sounds like Paul! Same haircut and a funny accent?
Check! Davy had the audacity to say Justin Bieber
stole his haircut and it was all I could do to
keep from yelling "YOUR MOP TOP? Did he really
steal YOUR Beatle MOP TOP? (sigh) But again, I
refrained.
And honestly? It's
because they're just having fun. They're not
Lennon/McCartney. They're kind of a Vegas act... and
truth be told? A good one. Their songwriters were
fantastic and as performers they're just fun to
watch and listen to. As Peter said in the video, they
did indeed play their own instruments after the first
two albums and eventually write some songs and does it
really matter? Millions have been entertained by these
ARTISTS for decades. I was singing along
with everyone else. The truth is those 4 kids had no
clue just how popular those songs would become
and they've held up pretty well considering the shit
they've endured because of that. They were 4 actors
that auditioned for a TV show and wound up with
infamy. I'd venture to say the cast of The Jersey
Shore won't be touring in 2056.
I got a good
hour's worth of footage with full takes of most of the
songs. It honestly feels and sounds like being there
on my big 10 footer. HD is remarkable. I've gotten a
couple of blu-ray concerts lately and remember how
they used to say you could never experience a live
event on TV? That's getting harder to say now. It
still barely rings true but if given the choice
between normal seats at a concert, and watching the
blu-ray on my big screen? Blu-ray is gonna win.
I believe that makes me... old.
Which this entry
also does. The "angry young man" seems to be fading
forever. You just can't hate when you're happy. I
still have prinicples, beliefs, etc... but the truth
is? Though I may spout a few within the confines
of this site, you won't find many in person. I'm just
happy. While I railed on and on about the
travesty that was The Monkees all those years, the
rest of the world was happily singing their tunes. So
I guess, the monkee was me.
But goddamnit the
walrus was Paul.
Adam
PS - Was actually
able to get a picture with Micky in the hospitality
room, but since it's on Talya's father's camera...
that'll have to be a random for another day (along
with the nonexistent Carmageddon 2011).
