Yes, the appearance of the Monkees — Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork — at Aronoff Center for the Arts on Saturday night could be considered merely an oldies/nostalgia show. But it is much more.
The group, augmented by a veritable orchestra of musicians, will play the hit songs first recorded when their stylish, Beatles-influenced 1966-1968 television show was the rage — "I'm a Believer," "Last Trains to Clarksville," "Daydream Believer," "Words," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Valleri" and more were smashes. (Mike Nesmith, the group’s fourth member, only rarely participates in these intermittent Monkees reunions and is not part of this — although he has a standing invitation.)
"We're going through the whole Monkee catalogue," says Micky Dolenz, the group's drummer and dynamic co-lead singer, during a telephone interview. "As we started to grow, many of the songs had horns and strings and percussion and much more of a big-band sound. So we’re bringing a bunch of friends — it's more like Mad Dogs and Monkees." (That last reference is a play on Mad Dogs and Englishmen, the name of a famous-at-the-time 1970 touring troupe that backed British Rock singer Joe Cocker as he became a major star.)
Original members Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork of The Monkees play the Aronoff Center as part of their 45th Anniversary Tour Saturday. Go here to read Steve Rosen's full interview.
