If you were kid like me, growing up in the ’60s it was easy to be dismissive of The Monkees. Their name alone sounded like a cartoon. After all, we were in the middle of a musical renaissance with the Beatles securely positioned at the top of the heap, so why did we need a “pre-Fab Four”? How could four “actors” from Hollywood created by some song-peddling impresario with a zany TV show who didn’t (at the time), even play their own instruments affect our collective psyche?

Formerly the butt of too many jokes by the so-called serious music “elites,” the band may have lost the battle back then, but in the long run they’ve really won the war. Not only competent musicians and songwriters, but they have also established a veritable hit-parade, putting their own stamp on American popular music.

Now, 50-plus years since their inception, and over 75 million records sold, they’re still going strong. So, guilty as charged, I’d like to offer my own apologies to the deceased Don Kirshner, Davy Jones, the recently departed Peter Tork (2.21.2019), and the highly talented, very-much-alive Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz.

Melancholy was nowhere to be found as Nesmith kicked off the night with his countrified “Good Clean Fun,” followed by Dolenz’s unmistakable voice on the classic “Last Train To Clarksville.” Wonderfully supported by a crack nine-piece band, they could do no wrong, handling a diverse array of genres with ease (Country/Pop, “Papa Gene’s Blues,” Jazz, “Going Down,” and Rock with a ’60s psychedelic edge on “Birth of An Accidental Hipster”). Instrumentally, both stars had their chops fully together. (Micky on rhythm guitar/maracas and Mike on both 6 and 12-string guitars. Vocally, Nesmith brought the house down with a poignant rendition of “Joanne,” while Micky did equal justice to the riotous “Randy Scouse Git.”

Musically, The Monkees always had great material to perform right out of the box, and this evening was no different: Kirchner’s Aldon Music had an all-star stable of writers like Neil Diamond (“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”), Carole King & Gerry Goffin (“Pleasant Valley Sunday”) and Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (“I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone”). Both Nesmith and Dolenz shined on every one of those familiar hits. However, not to be tied down to the “nostalgia-only” tag, they (convincingly) tackled, the beautiful “Me and Magdalena” from their 2016 critically-acclaimed Good Times album.

The encore? None-other than “I’m A Believer” had the audience singing and dancing as they headed for the exits. In closing, someone needs to get these guys into the R&R Hall of Fame…don’t ya think? Enough already! Their dues card is more than paid in full.

—Bob Girouard