Ticket 2 Ride

Micky Dolenz and his band played the Uptown Theatre on March 22, 2025, in Kansas City, MO.

Songs and Stories is the theme of Micky Dolenz’s 2025 tour. Of course, I expected a lot of Monkees’ songs, hopefully the ones I liked, and anecdotes about the TV show. Here’s what I found from an interview Dolenz recently gave:

“Over the years I’ve started peppering the show with different songs. I tell a lot of stories about interactions with different people over the years. I tell about going over to England and being in some of the Sgt. Pepper sessions at Abbey Road Studios and then I do a song that I remember them recording. I tell the story of Jimi Hendrix opening for us and then I do a bit of Hendrix. So I tell a story and the punchline will always be a song, but not a Monkees song. There’s also a lot of video of the ‘60s, so it’s a multimedia type of thing.”

He summed up the concert well in that statement. He’s the same affable guy at 80 on stage as he was at 22 on TV.

The Monkees began as four generally unknown lads, hired to perform comedy scripts and participate in the making of recordings. Songs, producers and musicians would be selected and members of the Monkees would provide vocals. A lot of that would change over time, but the Monkees relied heavily on outside songwriters. These songwriters of classic Monkees songs included Neil Diamond, Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Paul Williams, Neil Sedaka, Carole Bayer Sager, David Gates, Cynthia Weil & Barry Mann, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, and John Stewart. Later, band members contributed songs as the Monkees wrestled power from the TV and record producers. Dolenz recounted how young Mike Nesmith brought his song, “Different Drum” to the producers who promptly told him that it wasn’t a “Monkees song” and dismissed him.

Dolenz looked pretty dapper for an 80 year old rocker. Adorning his trademark fedora, he wore a long suit jacket over his t-shirt. He wears his age well, moving confidently around the stage, quick with hit wit, and singing with a voice that is very clear and precise for his years. A smart performer, he is aided by his band to add depth and power to his vocals; Dolenz can extend a note with power when he called on it a few times. He knows his limits and doesn’t exceed them.

His band is made up of veterans, two talented guitarists, bass, keyboard, drums, and his sister Coco on vocals. The band was smooth on the ballads and rocked-out on the up-tempo numbers. Musically, the show was impressive. Dolenz travels light, no fancy stage gimmicks, except for projecting photos and video in the background. By the way, ticket prices were very affordable, it’s a shame more seats weren’t filled.

As far as stories, Dolenz has more than a few, well-rehearsed jokes, and a warm and humble stage presence. Some songs he let pass without comment, but filled in others with amusing tales and anecdotes. The home is his home, he owns it, but gladly shares the experience with all.

Set 1:

Interestingly, the concert started by Dolenz introducing his younger sister, Coco, to sing several popular songs on the era. Coco has a strong voice and performed the songs quite well, a sort of warm-up performer for her brother. Members of Dolenz’s band backed her and shined with their musicianship.

“Beautiful”
(Carole King) Written and performed by Carole King for her 1971 Tapestry album, and later the basis for her Broadway musical. Coco Dolenz on vocal.

“Put a Little Love in Your Heart”
(Jackie DeShannon/Jimmy Holiday/Randy Myers) DeShannon had a top five hit in 1969, and others covered this feel good song. Coco Dolenz on vocal.

“You’re No Good”
(Clint Ballard, Jr.) Coco Dolenz on vocal, performing the song Linda Ronstadt had a number one hit with sing, but wasn’t the first to record it.

“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” (Boyce & Hart) The Monkees were not the first band to record this song. Paul Revere and the Raiders first released a version of the song. This song was actually the B side of “I’m a Believer” which went all the way to number one. “Steppin’ Stone” achieved top 20 status. Dolenz’s band rocked it with precision.

“That Was Then, This Is Now”
(Vance Brescia of The Mosquitos) This song was performed by Dolenz and Tork for their 20 year anniversary tour, which also involved Jones.

“A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You”
(Neil Diamond) A Davy Jones sung chart topper, almost. It was stuck behind Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s “Something Stupid.” Dolenz did the song proud and the band was hot.

“For Pete’s Sake”
(Peter Tork) Dolenz has a lot of respect for Peter Tork, his musical ability and his kindness. Tork brought this song forward and it became the closing song for season two of the TV show.

“Good Morning Good Morning”
(Lennon/McCartney) Dolenz related a trip he took to London, where he visited a Beatles recording session at Abbey Road Studios. He was met with a playback of this song.

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
(Lennon/McCartney) He visited Abbey Road again and the next song he heard was this one.

“Johnny B. Goode”
(Chuck Berry) The song from Dolenz’s audition with the TV show producers.

“Purple Haze”
(Jimi Hendrix) Dolenz said he was asked backstage about Jimi Hendrix opening for the Monkees’ first concert tour. I’m sure that’s a frequent question, but playing a few bars of “Purple Haze” is part of the show. Nonetheless, his story about how The Jimi Hendrix Experiment became, and then stopped, being the Monkees’ opener.

“Last Train to Clarksville”
(Boyce/Hart) Dolenz didn’t say anything about this song by way of introduction or story, just the video behind the stage. Boyce & Hart wrote and produced the song, they were consciously trying to give the Monkees a cool guitar-riff song. A chart-topping recording.

Intermission

Set 2

“For What It’s Worth”
(Stephen Stills) One of the young musicians auditioning for the TV show was Stephen Stills, who would go on to form Buffalo Springfield. Stills’ roommate was Peter Tork. Dolenz and Stills remained good friends and played an early version of this song for Dolenz at Tork’s backyard pool.

“Your Song”
(Elton John) Dolenz hung out at the Troubadour night club. The Troubadour was one of the hip places for new music. One night Dolenz was there to hear a young singer/pianist named Elton John, touring America for the first time. Afterwards, Dolenz attended a party where Elton was. The funny part of the story was that Dolenz and Elton were wearing the same Andy Warhol designed t-shirt.

“Valleri”
(Boyce/Hart) This was one of the Monkees last charting singles. Dolenz launched into the song without an into, but the video screen show the excerpt from the TV show where the band lip synced to the song.

“Different Drum”
(Michael Nesmith) Dolenz told the story of Nesmith being rejected when he offered up the song. Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with it. Coco Dolenz sang lead vocal.

“Tell Me Why”
(Lennon/McCartney) At other concerts in the tour, “Get Back” was performed by the band without Dolenz. For some untold reason, “Tell Me Why” was substituted instead. The band did a crackerjack version of it, just not sure how it fit into the story.

“Daydream Believer”
(John Stewart) Jones normally sang lead on this song, but Dolenz didn’t a fine job. The band performed the song with all the musical nuances of the original recording. The song spent four weeks at number one. John Stewart, formerly a member of the Kingston Trio, wrote the song and shopped it around, finally landing with Monkees producer Chip Douglas. All four Monkees played on or sang on the recording.

“Pleasant Valley Sunday”
(Carole King/Gerry Goffin) Named after a suburban New Jersey street that King and Goffin lived. A commentary on the pressures to keep up with the affluent community. A top five record for The Monkees. All four sang or played on the recording.

“Gimme Some Lovin‘”
(Spencer Davis/Steve Winwood). Dolenz and band had some fun with this song. This is where the band would depart and the audience would clap for an encore, but Dolenz made fun of the that process and just said they would do a few more numbers. Everyone seems to like that approach. Why Dolenz picked this song, he didn’t say. 1967 was the “Summer of Love” and Dolenz put up visuals denoting the first L.A. love-in. It a good rockin’ song, but another Monkees song would have been great.

“No Time”
(The Monkees song) Dolenz didn’t say anything about this song, so I looked it up. Credited to engineer Hank Cicalo, who worked on most Monkee recordings, this is a hard rocker that likely the band wrote and gave Cicalo the credit and royalties. Not a great song, show the band’s harder edge. The least memorable song on the set list.

“I’m a Believer”
(Neil Diamond). I great song to end the show. Upbeat and celebratory, the audience was on its feet. Seven weeks at number one and sold four million copies.

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Final thoughts…

There were many empty seats in the theatre, but those gray-haired people who attended had a great time. Dolenz has been to Kansas City a few times in his career, once in 2021 with Mike Nesmith, just a couple of months before he passed, and prior to that about a decade earlier with Jones and Tork as a trio. Nesmith sat out that tour.

I am old enough to have watched the Monkees and TV and hear the songs on the radio. Here’s Micky standing a few meet in front of me onstage, the last Monkee.

The era of the bands of the mid 1960s is closing. Should the last of these folks call it quits and fade away – that’s a social media question – when is it too old, or as the voice weakens? Recently, tickets became available to see Paul Simon on his upcoming tour, possibly his last. I looked at the prices and gulped, more than I had ever paid for a concert, and cheap seats at that. I decided to pass. For me, the answer is when you don’t want to see that artist or band; factors being the quality of their current performance, cost, venue convenience or simply desire.

I had tickets to the Micky & Mike show in 2021, but couldn’t go because of the pandemic. That was literally the last time to see Mike Nesmith. I’ve rarely passed up a chance to see an artist that I feel a connection with. I had front row tickets to see Yes, prior to bassist Chris Squire’s passing. It was important to be somewhere else the night of the concert. I saw Tom Petty on his last tour, he died shortly after. I caught the Moody Blues on their last tour, Gordon Lightfoot on his last tour, and countless others who would retire or face their mortality. We had tickets to see Aerosmith on their last tour, before it was postponed and then canceled. Fortunately, I saw them back in the 1990s, but my wife never got to see them. I’m glad to have seen Steely Dan before Walter Becker suddenly passed away.

Micky didn’t have a huge crowd, but we were an enthusiastic one. He gave us what we hoped for, and ignited some memories. The thing about music that’s different from other art forms, music is the soundtrack of your life. Thanks, Micky.