Pleasant Valley Sunday
Well last night (February 27th) after dinner we ganked the Visa card from my daddio and called the number to order tickets. Now this is what I heard: My mom was like "I would like to purchase 4 tickets to the concert on March 25th... The Monkees... yes..." and then I wasn't really paying attention to her cuz I was telling everyone to be quiet and I was jumping up and down having another one of those Monkees asthma attacks (ya know?). Then my mom gave the credit card number and said "If you want you can give us 2 tickets in one part of the theater and 2 in another part." Then I said "PLEASE!" (hopefully) loud enough for the lady on the other end of the line to hear. So yeah... I'm going to a Monkees concert!That was February 28th. Now here's my Pleasant Valley Sunday: We went to Meijer first so that I could get a disposable camera for me to take to the Monkees concert (my mom was paranoid that they'd take her's away if we were caught wit it). Then we were off to some furniture store in Kalamazoo to meet my grandparents who were taking my 2 annoying bros off our hands - I was NOT about to let them come with me to see my favorite group of all time perform! Then after a few exits we stopped at a Waffle House... the first one I've ever seen in Michigan. We got to Indiana about 1 1/2 hours later. We went to the Star Plaza Theatre and me and Jessica went in and got our tickets... and we heard them (or maybe it was their backup band...) warming up and I started crying just cuz THEY WERE IN THE SAME BUILDING AS ME AND I JUST THEN REALIZED IT! =) When we got back into the van (which was painted the night before - We're going to Indiana to see the Monkees, We <3 The Monkees, Mike, Micky, Peter, Davy, MONKEE MOBILE [LoL], and a peace sign with mine and Jessica's names around it), the receipt said we were in row 12.00 section 18.00... then after a while we realized that was a facility fee. We were in row X. That's the 24th row - Jessica figured it out. Then we realized that Indiana is one hour behind Michigan so we went to the ghettoest mall ever and then there was STILL another hour before they opened the doors (2 hours til the concert started). So I made everyone stand in the line for an hour (I snuck my camera in... it was in my sock) and we made some friends (aka fellow Monkee lovers) - Christi and Kelly. It was their 3rd concert - my first. We heard the band (MAYBE IT WAS THEM!!) playing That Was Then, This Is Now - one of my fave songs. Christi was singing along... anywayz the doors finally opened at 3:00 and we still had another hour before the concert started. We went over to the little "booth" thing where they were selling shirts and these cute little stuffed monkeys (that looks wrong) with cute little Monkee shirts on. =) They were $20 so my mom wouldn't let me get one after I got the shirt (it's black with the guitar logo and on the back is all the places they toured in). We went and sat down... then Jessica wanted to get her digital camera. So we went out to the van and she got her camera, I got my lunchbox. When we walked back in, Jessica heard someone say "She has the lunchbox!" =) We got back in the theatre and sat down. I put my contacts in with no mirror (now THAT'S talent!). We went down to the front of the theatre and took pics of the stage... I took 2 - one of the keyboards, the harpsichord, all Peter's =) guitars and his banjo, and the other of the drumset with the other half of the stage with Micky's and Davy's guitars. When my mom finally realized that no one cared that we had cameras she made me and Jessica go back to the van (we didn't have coats, mind you, and it was about 15* outside) to get hers. When we got back in the ticket lady was like "Welcome back again" because that was the third time she checked our tickets! =) My mom took a pic of me and Jessica in front of the stage (with the harpsichord, Peter's banjo, the drum set, and Micky's guitar in the background). We finally sat down for good... or so we thought. My mom spotted some people backstage so we stood up to look. IT WAS PETER TORK! OMG with that spiky kinda messed up hair and his goatee... =) Me and Jessica grabbed our cameras and went down there to get a pic but then the lights went out and the band started playing this Monkee medley. They started off with Listen To The Band and I was hoping that Mike would just walk on stage and start singing it... but he didn't. (The medley continued without Micky, Peter, and Davy on stage.) They only played the beginning of Listen To The Band and then went into another song. I don't remember the order of the little tidbits of Monkee songs, but they included Pleasant Valley Sunday, Daddy's Song =), I'm A Believer, Daydream Believer, and a bunch of other ones. The last one they did tho, was Last Train To Clarksville, and then Micky, Peter, and Davy came on stage doing the Monkee walk (Davy, Micky, then Peter) and I got a great pic of it! Micky was on the right side of the stage playing guitar, Davy in the middle playing the tambourine, and Peter was on the left side playing guitar. Micky was wearing some black leather pants and a navy blue jacket that came down to his knees with a white button shirt under it. HE CUT OFF HIS PONYTAIL! It looks the same but when you look at the back of his head... it's weird, but good. Anywayz... Davy was wearing gray pants with a matching jacket that looks like what he wore in one of the eppies... I wouldn't be surprised if it was - he hasn't grown much! Peter (in my opinion) was wearing the best outfit: a red velvet jacket similar to Micky's with the white shirt underneath, red plaid pants, and these shiny burgandy slip on tennis shoes! I loved them! They look the same as they did back in the 60s... only different. (And seeing how we were in the last row we stood on our chairs... when we sat down Davy looked so much taller!) Last Train To Clarksville was the perfect song to start out the concert and once again I got a really good pic. Davy was dancing all over the stage banging on his little white tambourine. Peter was dancing and playing at the same time and Micky was getting into it too. Micky sang it differently - not like concert-different but he said "oh" different when he sang "And a bit of conversation oh." His voice got higher. But it fit. I loved it! Throughout the whole song (and pretty much every other song) I saw a blue glow stick waving around in the air over by the left side of the stage. After Last Train To Clarksville Davy asked "Are there any Monkee fans out here tonight?" Now you know I screamed! =) They broke into A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You (got a good pic... Davy has his tambourine right in front of his face) and Davy just couldn't stand still! He was dancing all over the stage and didn't sound "old" at all. It seemed like he was singing to just you... ya know what I mean? It was so cute how he'd spin around. "It's a little bit me, and it's a little bit you ::spins:: too." He whispered "too." =) Some girl threw up a thong and Davy picked it up and put it in his pocket and kept on singing like nothing ever happened. After that, it was Peter's turn. He asked if anyone has seen Head and EVERYONE cheered (except for my mom and Jenny - didn't I mention they came with us? - who haven't seen it yet). He said "Well you account for everyone who's seen it" or something like that. Then he said "The short title is Long Title" and something more... I don't remember. Then they started playing Do I Have To Do This All Over Again? and it sounded exactly how it did in Head only better cuz it was LIVE and they were soooo close! =) I got a groovy pic of Peter... all you can see is him and the neon guitar logo in the background! The next song they did was Randy Scouse Git (that's Alternate Title for all you Englanders out there). Some lady brought out the tympani and mallets for Micky to play. Peter was on the harpsichord and Davy on tambourine again. Micky started the song by saying "I went to a party with the Beatles. They tell me I had a good time. ::laughs:: And I wrote this song there." It was groovy. I got a good pic but he looks so far away... I thought that when he sang "Why don't you cut your hair?" he'd turn around to show everyone that he cut off his ponytail but he didn't. After the last "Why don't you cut your hair?" part the band stopped but Micky kept going on singing and playing the tympani. The lady came back and took the tympani back stage and Peter took the mallets from him. The song ended with the last keyboard part and Peter throwing the mallets up in the air and them crashing on the stage. Davy said "Micky, the song is ovah." Micky said "It is?" Peter agreed with Davy and Micky said "Wh-where am I? Why am I here? Why are all these people here?" Peter said "Micky needs Prozac!" and then told Micky to go and sit at the drum set. Davy said something about the memory going, too. Peter and Davy pushed him into the direction of the drum set and before Micky sat down, he took off his jacket. They talked a little more, but unfortunately I don't remember what they said. "I didn't get to sing lead on a lot of songs in the beginning." Peter said. I was about to scream "DON KIRSHNER IS THE DEVIL!" but I decided not to since on the VHI BTM he complimented him on his "golden ear" and all. Anywayz Micky kept doing that buh-dum-ching thing on the drums so Peter couldn't really talk... then some people screamed "AUNTIE GRIZELDA!" and Peter went into the song. No guitar - just the headset, dancing around the stage shaking his hips. He unbuttoned his jacket and the top button of his shirt. =) (You know you wish you were there to see that!) "I know she's having a fit. She doesn't like me one bit" and "I know she's having a fit. She doesn't like my butt" were his concert versions of that part of the song. I was just thinking "I LOVE YOUR BUTT, PETER!" He got a yellow rose and he tore the petals off and then he put it in his mouth and sang. He barely mumbled! Peter didn't make those wigged out sounds like he does in the record but he did 2 or 3 and then stopped and looked back at Davy. Davy was "playing" the sax. Peter went over and took off the reed guard thing. Then he started singing the last verse and then someone handed him something. He stopped singing in the middle of the verse to read it. He started dancing again and did the "Grizelda-da-da..." part to end the song. I have the best pic of Peter dancing with Micky in the background playing the drums! But his eyes are closed. (Now you know that if you're in the last row and can tell if their eyes are closed you're CLOSE!) Then he got back on guitar and they broke into Mary, Mary which Mike wrote... but he wasn't doing the tour. (Let's not go there ya dig?) The song was great tho. Micky and Davy left after Mary, Mary. Peter asked "We did a television special back in the uh... 20s... called 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. Have you seen it?" I didn't scream or anything... I'm not gonna lie to Peter cuz I didn't see it ya know? Lots of people did and he said "Now I KNOW not all of you have seen that!" He said that there were a lot of musical guests on the show and he didn't know if the guy wrote the song "but he made it popular." He sang Lucille which Little Richard sang on 33 1/3 (I'm guessing - remember I haven't seen it... yet...). It was really good. He made his voice all squeaky like "Lucille-aah." He was getting into it and sounded great. Peter left the stage and Micky came out with a handheld mic. He changed his shirt - he was wearing a black short sleeved button shirt with the bottom half totally covered in silver gems (bling bling!). A guy dressed all in black was following Micky on stage with a mic stand. Micky said "Put it right here" and pointed to where he wanted it. Once the guy put it down and Micky put the mic in it, he said "You're not supposed to see him. That's why he's wearing black." Then the guy said "Like you?" Micky was like "Yeah right." He was talking about how his mom would sing Billy Holiday songs to him while she was pregnant with him. "Did you know Jimi Hendrix opened up for the Monkees?" Of course! "You did not. You weren't even born! Your parents werent' born! Daddy why is he setting his guitar on fire? Well son because he's cold. Daddy why is he peeing on his guitar? Shut up son and watch the Monkees." I was rollin! He said he was gonna do some of his PMS (pre Monkee songs). Micky sang Purple Haze but he didn't get very far. "SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO KISS THE SKY!" (Where did THAT come from?! LoL) Then he said he wasn't gonna sing opera... but started singing. It was halarious! He wiped his face with a towel and almost threw it into the audience but caught himself. He said "I'm gonna put this on eBay!" (I checked for it every day for the next week!) Then Micky went into Since I Fell For You. He sounded good. He played air guitar with the backup band and I got the pic to prove it! =) He also talked about Micky And The One Nighters somewhere in there "and that's how long it lasted." Micky left and Davy came on stage. He talked about his daughters ("I have 4 daughtahs - all girls.") and how one of them was watching the show. She pointed at the Davy on TV and told him "That's mah otha daddy." He said "People come up to me and ask 'do you know who you ah?' and they ask me to do this ::does part of Daydream Believer dance:: and they ask me to say lih-oh meh-ol boh-ol tops (little metal bottle tops) and I don't know why!" Then Davy spotted some people coming in late. He walked over to the left side of the stage where they were sitting and said "Where the hell have you 2 been? Don't tell me it was bloody church!" Have you ever heard a little English guy swear? It's the funniest thing in the world having 5'3 Davy Jones get loud with people! He went on "Look - the big hand is on the 12 and the lih-oh hand is on the foah. Are you chewing gum?! Spit that out! Oh are ya comfy now? Well lemme tell ya what ya missed: ::sits on stage:: we came out singing Lahst Train To Clahksville and then I sang A Lih-oh Bit Me, A Lih-ol Bit You and then Petah did a song - oh never mind, it doesn't mattah - ya missed it." He walked toward the center of the stage, got down on one knee and said "It's a pose!" and then got back up to keep talking to us. People kept handing him flowers and hats and bags ("Oh there's some English tea in here.") and he said "I only hahve one suitcase ya know!" He picked up some mini blue maracas that someone threw up on stage and said something about the size of the maracas and the size of his... yeah. "One day I looked down and I thought I'd been robbed! If I was an Indian I'd be sacred! It's like the petrified forest!" That's the funniest thing I've ever heard him say! It was even funnier than "ame as a Jew I should suppose." Someone had handed him a chocolate egg ("Is it almost Eastah already?") and he said "Ooh the egg is melting in my hand" and put it down. Then he started wiping his hand on his pants and after a while he said "Don't do that Davy!" Then Davy started talking about the Brady Bunch. "Ya know that show The Brady Bunch? I always heard 3 words: Mahcia, Mahcia, MAHCIA!" He sounded so cute when he said that! "Everyone thinks that me and her uh... what do you say on a Sunday? Everyone thinks that we did the naughty! They were all doing it!" He then sang Girl like he did on the Brady Bunch Movie. Me and Jessica started to do the dance that Marcia did but the horn players (aka dancers) were doing it weird and kept throwing me off so I just quit and sang along with Davy. I loved it! =) After Girl he said "I'm gonna do some of my PMS now. My motha had old records that I would listen to. I guess they were uh swing." He said a bit more and put on his hat. "This song is dedicated to all the moms, the moms to be, the moms who wanna be uh... all the girls." DEDICATED TO ME! =) I know I took a pic of him singing that... I swear those Meijer people stole my pics! Anywayz... He was dancing as usual and sounded great for someone who's getting over (or still has) bronchitis. Davy sang It's Nice To Be With You and really REALLY got into it... it was almost spiritual but not quite. He was closing his eyes a lot and dancing as usual. When they got rid of the backup band, Micky, Peter, and Davy sat on stools in the center of the stage. (I think Davy had a silver bling bling button shirt on from now til intermission.) Micky and Peter were on guitar while Davy played the mini blue maracas that he got earlier from a fan. They started off with Take A Giant Step but Peter sang it instead of Micky. I loved their concert version. This is how the chorus went: Peter: Come with me leave yesterday behi-i-ind and take a giant steeeeeeeeep- Micky and Davy: And take a giant step- Micky, Peter, and Davy: -outside your mind I loved how they put the pause in there. That's how Peter sang it on Stranger Things Have Happened (his one and only solo album) and the VH1 BTM. Next they sang Papa Gene's Blues... which was weird seeing as Mike wasn't there to sing lead. And as much as I hoped he would run on stage... he didn't. No one sang lead - they all sang together. Davy pulled on a green wool hat with white buttons and some big sunglasses (one blue lens and one red) that looked like the ones Mike would wear on the show. (I got a pic of that but I took it with the disposable camera instead of with the one with the zoom thing.) When the guitar solo came up in the middle of the song, Davy said "Oh pick it Luther" as Peter played just like Mike did on the record. They sounded really good. The next song was You And I from Justus. They skipped the whole guitar solo that came after the chorus and then band came in.In The Girl I Knew Somewhere Peter was on the harpsichord, Micky on guitar, and I think Davy was too. They sounded really good and in the middle where there's the keyboard solo, Peter never messed up (that I could tell) and really got into it. Davy sounded good in Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow). On the record he says "Mary, I love you. Sandra, I love you." At the concert he said "Mary, I love you. Sandra loves Mary. What can I do?!" It was halarious!
You wouldn't think that Davy would be so sick minded would you? Doing the naughty and... anywayz... When Davy sang Valleri he was all over the stage. When he sang the second verse he pointed to the girls on the balcony. I was singing along and so was everyone around me except for the old guy sitting next to me... my mom thinks I intimidated him. LoL But Davy didn't dress up like Elvis for the song like he's done in past concerts. It was just as good tho. Micky sounded so good singing Goin' Down. It's one of my favorite songs and I was singing along and feeling special cuz I could keep up with him. He skipped a verse tho and the music gap thing between the "They give you 3 I've been down 9..." to "Now the sky is gettin light..." but if you never heard the song before you wouldn't have been able to tell. I loved it when Davy sang She Hangs Out! I've only heard the song 3 times before and it wasn't even the whole song yet I knew it... that was weird. Peter and Micky singing "Sister was, sister was" sounded great and Davy was dancing all over the place. Micky said "Let's mosey on down here." and he and Davy walked over to Peter on the harpsichord. They all spent the next 5 minutes discussing what they thought "mosey" meant. The lady who brought out Micky's tympani for Randy Scouse Git brought Peter's coat out to him and helped him into it. Micky said "With the help of this coat, Peter H. Thorkelson will travel back in time 3 decades - 300 years - to Bach." or something close to that. I was rollin when he busted out with "PUFF BACH DADDY!" So Peter played the Bach song and it sounded really good and I got a semi-good pic. I wanna learn to play it now. Then after "Puff Bach Daddy," Micky said "This is the closest song we could do to a protest." They sang Shades Of Gray and Peter sounded so good when he sang "Only shades of gray." The last song that Micky, Peter, and Davy sang before the intermission and Natural was I'm A Believer. Peter was on keyboards, Micky on guitar, and Davy on the tambourine. In the chorus when Davy goes "Mmmmmmm ahhhhhh (ya know?)" he pointed the mic towards us so we could sing that part. I was getting all messed up cos I was singing Micky's part then stopped short to sing the "Mmmmmmm ahhhhhh" and then stopped THAT short to join back in with Micky. LoL After the song the band was still playing but Micky, Peter, and Davy went to the front of the stage. Micky said "We're gonna have a short intermission. But we'll be back in about 15 minutes." Davy held up both hands an mouthed the word "ten." They waved and then walked off the stage. At the intermission Christi and Kelly (who we just met in the line waiting to get in the theatre) came to see how we were doing. They said that they were the ones with the blue glow stick! Jessica asked "Are there any empty seats down there?" They said there were about 6 seats down near the left side of the stage. Me and Jessica went and sat down there and then they sat next to us cuz the seats were about 3 rows down from theirs. Natural came out and they were really good. I liked them for 4 reasons. One, they like the Monkees. 2, they're touring with the Monkees. 3, they sounded really good. And 4, they weren't your typical boy band. The first song they sang was This Is Where The Party's At. I tried to download it the next day but it was *NSUCK er... *NSYNC. Oh well. Natural sounded so much better then *NSYNC did. They sang a slower song and then Micky, Peter, and Davy came on stage with different shirts on. Micky was sporting the blue shirt with like a million buttons and it kinda flopped over ya know? Peter was wearing a bling bling black short sleeved button shirt and Davy had a red button shirt. The said something about Natural being able to dance. Peter and Davy went off to the right side of the stage but Micky kept standing in front of them. When they started dancing Micky ran to join Peter and Davy. Peter tried to dance along with them... it didn't work. =) The first song they sang after Natural left was Porpoise Song (Theme From Head). Micky was alone at the front of the stage (Peter and Davy were off to the side) with the spotlight on only him. (I got a pic... but the spotlight made it really blurry.) He sang so good. If you were like blind you wouldn't have been able to tell that he (or Peter or Davy) have gotten any older! Listen To The Band was great! They started it off by singing "Weren't they good? They made me happy. I think I can make it alone." and then continued on with the song. They didn't change the "me" to "them" to "us" or the "If I/we only listen to the band" to "Now that we have listned to the band." When they said "LISTEN TO THE BAND!" Peter would point out to the audience and COMMAND them to listen to the band. =) I've been listening to the band! Daydream believer was really good. I got this really good pic of Davy singing it. When he sang "The 6 o'clock alarm would never ring" some guy in the band rang a bell and Davy acted like he was gonna hit him! =) Natural came back on stage to sing with them and Davy said "We're gonna sing it one more time, but you have to sing it with us!" I was singing along from the beginning. After the song Natural left and the Monkees went off stage with them. Some really
stupid people thought Micky, Peter, and Davy would end the concert without saying "bye" or anything. Then when they started singing again they came back to find that their seats had been taken. Pleasant Valley Sunday was one of my faves from the concert. I was like "TODAY IS SUNDAY!" (I had to scream cuz we were 6 inches away from the speaker - which was HUGE!) Christi was waving her blue dork stick in the air. Davy saw her and did the exact same thing! How groovy is that?! =) That Was Then, This Is Now was one of my fave songs that they sang. They all sounded really good and were all on guitar. Davy was dancing even with a guitar strapped to him! =)Can You Dig It? was great. Peter sang it instead of Micky who sang it in Head. He sounded so good! They were all on guitar - Davy was dancing and playing at the same time! They didn't sing "There is only feeling in this world of life and death..." but sang the chorus over and over. I was screaming so much because I love that song! As they were singing I imagined Micky smoking something and then "offering" it to you (ya know? Just like in the movie!). And whenever they sang "Can you dig it?" these stupid girls would hold up this bright yellow sign that said "CAN YOU DIG IT?" and I couldn't see them! Stupid girls...Circle Sky was good too even tho Mike wasn't there to sing lead. Micky, Peter, and Davy sang lead together and it sounded really good. Micky, Peter, and Davy were all on guitar and they did so good on the groovy guitar part! For Steppin Stone Micky put his guitar down. He was dancing at the front of the stage and really getting into the song. Peter came right over to where we were all standing and got on his knee. He stuck his tongue out and shook his head 3 feet away from me! I loved it! After Steppin Stone he switched his guitar for his 5-string banjo. He said it's an American instrument and "the 5th string lets you do this" and played a little ditty. While he was talking about his banjo Micky was behind the stage chillin with his guitar. (I could see him cos I was at the left and he was at the right ya dig?) Well Peter sang Higher And Higher which is like my new all time fave non-Monkee song! When they did the "higher, higher" part Davy would throw his hands up in the air. It was groovy. Somewhere in the last half of the concert Davy talked about what they did in their tour busses ("We like to drink beer - I mean lemonade!"). He brought out 2 guys from the backup band who did a scene from All In The Family. The one guy who was playing Ethel (???) was really tall compared to Davy (well who isn't?!). Davy said "You're a giant! I'm 5'11 so how tall are you?" He said "I'm 6'2." LoL =) Then when Micky, Peter, and Davy were introducing the people in the backup band, the sax player lady pinched one of Davy's butt cheeks! Peter was looking on... kinda looking jealous... then Davy said "Oh go ahead and get the othah!" Davy said something about campfires in the busses and Micky said "Oh so that's how they burned down!" =) The last song ::sighs:: was For Pete's Sake. I love this song! Micky said "We're going to end the concert like we ended the show - with a song that
Peter wrote." Peter once again sang the song instead of Micky. I loved it this way so much more! They were all on guitar - Peter on the left, Micky on the right, and Davy in the middle. It was a great way to end the concert. Then after the song they put their guitars down and went around (or halfway around - DAVY!) the stage shaking people's hands. =) (You don't even know how bad I'm cheesin right now!) Peter came around and I knew that I HAD to touch his hand! There was a uh... rather large lady in front of Jessica... she stiff-armed her and we reached up as far as we could. I was so scared that I wouldn't get to touch Peter's hand so before he could get mine, I grabbed his! His face was less than a foot away from mine! OMG!! By then me, Jessica, Christi, and Kelly were in a little circle jumping up and down and screaming! I was getting tears in my eyes... but didn't cry... yet. Then I saw Micky coming toward us. I grabbed his hand and screamed "I LOVE YOU!" at the top of my lungs! Then he looked me right in the eyes and smiled at me! Yes me - not anyone behind me cuz he looked right at me! I'm never gonna forget that. =) Well we got back in our circle and started jumping and screaming again... I started crying. Then I saw Davy put on someone's lei and smell it. He didn't come over here but I swear he looked right at me and shrugged his shoulders. Then he waved at me! Then Micky, Peter, and Davy put their arms around each other and did the Monkee walk off the stage. ---Ashley (XxMonkeeGirlxX@aol.com)
