Here is my personal review of the Monkees concert in Austin, Texas,
and the rest of the evening on September 27th, 1997.
Enjoy!
Hugs,
Smile :)
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In the afternoon, about 75% of the online fans who went showed up at
Players for a lovely early dinner. I have pics of this gathering, and
will post a notice when I get them developed and up on my webpage.
When we got to the Erwin Center after dinner, we all hung out and sang
silly songs (like the Time Warp) for about an hour or so until they let
us in. Of course, as soon as we got in, we all hit the souvenir table.
:) Is it just me, or were the prices a bit high?
At any rate, RoxEllen and I went down to sit in the front row seats I
won. They were terrible - we ended up right next to the mixing board
behind a huge speaker. I opted for my original seat (around which time I
met Randi and a couple other people who didn't make it to dinner *wave
:)*) which was in the center section, row 7. Supplicio also had an extra
seat, so I moved up a row to sit by him and told Roxy to take my seat
(since she had opted out of her original seat to come sit with me.) This
turned out to be a Good Thing(tm)!
{Later addendum: I found out two weeks after the concert that Michael
Nesmith did indeed attend this concert. At my original front row seat,
I remember being right in front of someone who fit his description. So,
I MIGHT have been sitting right in front of Nez in disguise. :) Well,
for a few minutes, anyway *grin* }
Before the concert started, Joy and I rushed back out to track down John
Graham, the director of the Erwin Center. he had previously hinted that
those of us who got the ball rolling on this concert would be able to
get backstage passes. By the time we finally found hi, it was 10 minutes
to start time. He was very nice but said no passes would be available.
However, we did find out that they sold over the necessary 3000 tickets
(breakeven point).
The concert started with a opener by JR Brow, comedian. The best way to
describe him is Jeff Foxworthy mixed with a kicking rock musician. This
guy had us absolutely ROLLING for most of his act - which included LOTS
of musical parodies and demonstrations. I give him 4 1/2 stars out of
five - he did do a couple major groaners. :)
We sat after his part for about 10 to 15 minutes, waiting for something
to happen. They played some so-so filler rock/pop music and the smoke
machine went haywire. At some point during this, some wierd guy noticed
me making notes and asked if I had connections to get autographs. I said
no, I was just writing down the set list.
Finally, the lights dimmed, and out walked the ThreeKees! (and the crowd
went wild). My first thought was - egADS does Davy look good in red. He
had the most awesome red suit on, similar to the blue one several of
y'all have seen before. They went into a SLAMMING rendition of Last
Train to Clarksville.
Then, of course, Micky greeted Austin and did his time to go/got a hot
date routine. When the guys talked him out of it, he pointed right at
L3isa and myself and said "Wait right there, honey!" (Did I say it
before? Well, I was sitting right behind L3isa at the end of my row, and
we were the only two doing ANYTHING in our section for most of the show
- we kept getting up and dancing and waving and havingfun in general :)
It pays to be noticed. And we were only asked once to sit down.)
Next song: Look out, Here Comes Tomorrow. Davy sang directly to a group
of 14 to 16 year olds standing at the corner of the stage. Our own
Brandy was part of this group. I must say at this point that Davy still
has an absolutely GORGEOUS voice, and I think he has aged very well. Who
said he needed a bro? He did NOT Look like it tonight!
They started in on some jokes - Peter said he was in Austin to meet/see
Bertha.... Bertha deBlues. *we groaned :)*
Then they sang That was Then, This is Now, followed by I'll Be Back Upon
My Feet. Peter was on percussion for this - very nice job!
All through the show so far, the guys have seemed extremely psyched -
having fun and playing with the audience, and completely relaxed. Of
course, having no performance dates immediately around this one probably
helped. :) We found out later that they spent the previous evening out
at 6th street having fun. 6th Street is where most of the major bars and
clubs in Austin are located.
Next up was Peter with Auntie Grizelda. I'll admit, before the concert
several of us had mentioned that we hoped he would not sing this song. I
have never really liked this song, but it was so awesome! It really came
over well. He added a couple of extra lines - such as a glass of cold
gravy with a hair in it... And instead of saying "You know she doesn't
like me at all" at one part, he sang "You know she doesn't like my
butt." I'm thinking, "but WE do!" :)
Davy stepped up and say "I'll love You Forever" - a wonderful ballad he
wrote for friends who were getting married (who later decided not to use
it in their wedding. Fools.) Of course, at some point during this
ballad, he asked Jerry Renino to "Play it, magic fingers." :) Aviva did
a great sax solo here, too.
Micky started rocking with Goin' Down, and Peter and Davy started a
swing dance standing next to each other. It almost looked choreographed.
During this song there was another sax solo by Aviva. (I didn't write
down when the guitar and drum solos were, unfortunately.)
At this point, Davy disappeared to go change, and Peter started in on I
Believe You. It was VERY surreal, and Peter did a superb interpretive
dance along with it. (Kinda hard to do, I'd think, while singing and
holding a guitar, but he did it!)
In came Davy as Elvis - and he looked GOOD! The outfit he had on was
white pants, purple shirt, white jacket, and the wig and glasses. The
wig had obviously seen better days, but Davy didn't look tacky (like
I've seen certain photos where he did exactly that). He sang Valerie
while dancing around like Elvis. Peter kept looking at Davy with a look
of disbelief.
Of course, they did the "Fever" bit (at least twice).
Micky started singing Words and Davy disappeared to change again (he
wasn't quite offstage when doing so - you could see him fling off his
coat behind the drumset - the coat went flying).
Then came a big re-intro for Davy- he came out wearing the same white
slacks and the tour shirt with the red/blue star and red logo (the same
shirt I had purchased only an hour or two before!) He did a five to ten
minute monolog complete with jokes. One of my faves - Davy said "It is
hard to tell the 16-year-olds from the 21-yr-olds." Jerry Renino chimed
in with "the jury can."
At the end of his monolog, he started talking about his time on Brady
Bunch, and asked Brandy and crew to start singing the theme to the Brady
Bunch show (which they did surprisingly well for some melting 14-16 year
olds - they were almost bouncing off the walls with excitement). Then
Davy had the whole audience join in, after which he started to sing
Girl. And, of course, he did "the dance". :)
Then Peter did a solo set with a bit of a monolog leading into "Lucille"
- which I had never heard before and Peter did wonderfully. He called
Aviva a showoff at some point. :)
Micky came out again, after his only clothing change for the concert
(Peter never changed outfits) - and did the Jimi Hendrix bit. Of course,
he didn't finish the song, but it was kind of neat with the strobelights
for the part he did do. They turned off ALL the lights except for the
strobelights and Micky, Jerry, and the other guitarist JAMMED. Micky
also did the Monkees at their 60 year reunion tour, complete with
Depends joke. He made a joke about wanting to take some girls to his
hotel room (this as 80-yr-old micky) and pointed yet again right at
L3isa and myself and called one of us a cutie. (Probably L3isa - I
harbor no illusions about my lack of cuteness. :) After his bit, he
started in on "Since I Fell For You." Micky, too, has not suffered from
the aging of his voice. He sounds GREAT.
Next song: Heart and Soul, after which Micky explained yet again where
Mike was and announced that Mike was working on the new Monkee movie.
(several of the listers present, including Snapsmom, L3isa, and myself)
yelled - We got over it! (Snapsmom actually had a sign made specifically
for this, but Erwin Center staff wouldn't let us take signs in.)
Then they sang Girl I Knew Somewhere - and the audience went wild for
some reason. :) After that came A Little Bit Me/You - and Davy put on a
bolero jacket and sombrero and kept doing calls when Aviva and Jerry
were doing their solos. Next was Mary, Mary, followed by You and I -
this one was played upto the audience a great deal.
After some more bantering, Peter strapped on his banjo, and they played
"Higher and Higher" - I had so much fun dancing to this one. :)
The guys asked us to guess their next song - at which point they went
into an abolutely rocking version of Pleasant Valley Sunday.
I pretty much stopped taking notes by this time, other than the name of
the songs, because I was having too much fun enjoying myself. The next
three songs were The Porpoise Song, Listen To the Band, and Stepping
Stone. During Stepping Stone, Peter danced specifically to Brandy and
crew - and included a few lewd steps. *eg* Next came I'm a Believer and
Daydream Believer. Again, the crowd went wild.
Towards the end of Daydream Believer, as many people got up to the edge
of the stage as could manage it. I stayed at my seat - didn't feel like
climbing over rows, but L3isa, Snapsmom, and Carrie and Joy, I think,
among others from our group, went forward. The guys left the stage, then
came back to do an encore with "No Time". Peter forgot part of his
verse, which made everyone laugh. At the end of this, they did the
Monkee-walk offstage. More people rushed the stage, and Sandy threw 2
sets of drumsticks out, and one of the other bandmembers threw out a
towel. Kay got hit in the face with one drumstick.
At this point, I made my way up to the front to ask for a setlist. None
of the roadies paid any attention to me, even though I asked several
times. I was just about to give up, when Sandy Gennaro came up and
handed me a copy. I thanked him, and walked off - as I left one of the
roadies pried up the other copies and handed them out, too - and one of
the girls who was in the group of young teens almost cried because she
didn't get one.
We started walking out, and I saw John Graham - I said thanks and passed
him, 'cause he was talking to someone else. As I headed up the escalator,
someone called me, so I hurried back over to where Carrie, Joy,
Snapsmom, and a couple others were standing. John Graham came up and
told us to stay right where we were. We had our fingers crossed. Sure
enough, he came back out and told Carrie, Joy, and myself to follow him
- and he took us backstage!!!! I was overjoyed.I wish he had asked all
of us, but I'm glad I got to go. We all stood around the walls in a
room, and Micky, then Davy, then Peter walked the round and signed
autographs and posed for pictures.
I got all three to sign a copy of the tour pic I purchased, and posed
for a pic with Davy and Peter. (I forgot to ask Micky before he'd left
the room.) I gave Davy one of the friendship bracelets I had made, and
the three of us talked to the three guys, as well as to several of the
bandmembers. It was cool, since John had recognized us as the main
reason the concert was held in the first place. Davy even asked if we
were that group. He isn't as short as I thought he'd be.
We also talked with MaryJo - and I gave her a pic, at which time I also
dropped my camera :( - the film fell out, but it is the type of camera
that spools out all the film and retracts as you take pics, so most of
my pictures were saved. MaryJo was very helpful and concerned - she even
went back to find Davy again to get him to come retake a pic with me,
but he has already gone out to the van and didn't come back out.
To tell the truth, I don't blame him. At any rate, the only picture that
was actually ruined was the one of Peter hugging me, and while I am not
happy that it didn't come out, I already had one of us at his show with
James Lee Stanley a couple months earlier in Austin.
When we got back outside, all the listers that had hung around cheered
the three of us - it was so neat, and I started crying - post-reaction I
think. Anyways, I had decided that attending this concert would be a
birthday present to myself - and it ended up being a MUCH better present
than I had ever imagined!
Here ends my little narrative - hope you enjoyed it!!!!
Hugs,
Smile :)
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