The Monkees Cybrary Reading Room

If you’re in the New York metro area, or if you can arrange to be there March 23-25, check out Micky Dolenz appearing at The Fest for Beatle Fans. The Fest will be at the NJ Crowne Plaza Meadowlands Hotel in Secaucus, which I can tell you from experience is pretty easy to find and has plenty of free parking.

Tickets range from $30 (for Friday only) to $96 (for all three days). They’re not posting the schedule until sometime in March, so if you only want to go for the day that Micky is there, you might want to wait until then to buy your ticket.

But if you’re at all a Beatles fan as well as a Monkees fan, you might want to spring for the whole schmeer. They’ve got a lot of guests, tribute bands, and a big ol’ dealer room with tons of memorabilia — Beatles (of course), but also Monkees and other nostalgic items from the 50s on. A dedicated shopper might be able to spend the entire weekend visiting one dealer booth after another.

Do you get the Smithsonian Channel on your cable or satellite? If so, check out this show: Making The Monkees. From the description on the Smithsonian Channel website:

In 1967, four unknown actors in a low budget, teen-oriented TV show became the biggest pop music act in the world. In America, they outsold Elvis and The Beatles combined. They were The Monkees, and they weren’t a band in any true sense – at least at first. They were a money-making machine driven by ego and ambition, a machine that would ultimately crash and burn in a storm of greed, hurt feelings, and legal wrangling. This is the inside story of pop music’s first manufactured band.

According to the site, the show will air on Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 6:00pm. There’s a second showing scheduled for Monday, November 14, at 3:00am, and another on Saturday, November 26 at 7:00pm.

I don’t know that they’ll come up with anything a hard-core Monkee fan doesn’t already know, but it’s still good to see the story of the group showing up on TV. If you can, be sure to give it a watch!

Well, the weather forecast for hell indicates rapidly warming temperatures. The remainder of the Monkees’ tour has been canceled “for business reasons.”

More Info

I’m a bit bummed, because I wasn’t able to make it to any of their appearances for this tour. I was planning to attend the show at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) over in Durham NC on September 1… but now that show (like all the rest) isn’t going to happen.

Oh, well, having seen literally hundreds of Monkees, Peter Tork solo and Shoe Suede Blues shows over the years, I guess I shouldn’t complain, eh?

Guess it’s time to toddle over to PeterTork.com and check for upcoming shows!

Well, what with hell freezing over and all, it looks to be a pretty cool summer.

So, are you planning to attend a show? If you don’t think so, I hope you change your mind. If you’re on the fence, let me encourage you to go. If your excuse is there isn’t one in your town, they’re worth traveling for.

I went to an embarrassingly high number of Monkees concerts Back In The Day. More than you can count, even if you use all your fingers and toes. Los Angeles (several times), Anaheim, San Diego, San Francisco, Reno, Lake Tahoe (14 shows!), Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Detroit, St. Louis, Atlanta, Richmond, Tampa, Orlando, Raleigh, Washington DC, Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and a whole bunch others I can’t remember off the top of my head… Yes, I freely admit there’s at least a passing chance I was obsessed. I prefer to think of it as “dedicated.”

So I speak from (extensive) experience when I say if these shows are half as much fun as previous tours, they’ll be about twice as much fun as you can stand. Seriously, the guys put on a wonderful show — they were almost more like a revue than a standard “concert.” I’m hoping these 45^th anniversary shows will follow the same pattern. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see together, eh?

Our Story So Far: Davy, Micky and Peter (A.K.A. “The Threekees”) all swore they were never going to work together again. Mike (as usual) was in absentia.

Well, as those of us who have been following the Monkees for some time know, “Never say never!”

Recently, a 45th Anniversary Monkees Tour was announced. Yep, you heard that right… Forty. Fifth. Anniversary. If you’re a first generation fan (as I am), does that make you feel as old as I do right about now?

Anyway, I guess we can assume now that hell has frozen over…