I enjoyed seeing The Monkees again. Last time was 2016. This was a better band but last time had a better setlist.
The musicians in this line-up of The Monkees, including Michael Nesmith’s son Christian, sounded more like the recordings than the 2016 band. However, the setlist was often obscure. I’m assuming Michael Nesmith made a few stipulations before agreeing to do this tour and in dissecting the setlist it appears that stipulation is a dominant representation of his songs.
That had both positives and negatives. We heard his solo hit ‘Rio’ on an Australian stage for the first time in over 40 years but … we also heard a lot of filler.
Michael could have given the Australian audience his other major hit ‘Joanne’ or the song he wrote and Linda Ronstadt had her first hit with ‘Different Drum’. Instead we were treated to The First Nation Band’s relatively unknown ‘Grand Ennui’ and not so well-known Monkees songs that he sang and wrote like ‘Sunny Girlfriend’, ‘You Told Me’, ‘You Just May Be The One’ and ‘Tapioca Tundra’.
It was a lost opportunity, considering the finality of this tour, when better known songs like ‘She’, ‘DW Washburn’, ‘Valleri’, ‘Oh My My’ and ‘Cuddly Toy’ were sacrificed. A Monkees Greatest Hits setlist would have been a preferred farewell and could have set Nesmith up for a solo tour where he could have played all of his self-penned songs to his heart’s content.
Australia was treated to the Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork version of The Monkees in December, 2016. That show paid tribute to the late Davy Jones with a video contribution with Davy performing ‘Daydream Believer’. This Monkees show, with Michael Nesmith performing in Australia for the first time in 41 years, acknowledged Davy and Peter but did not include any visual or audio representation.
‘Good Clean Fun’ was an odd choice to open, especially considering the quantity and caliber of the catalogue but ‘Last Train To Clarksville’ in second place quickly recalibrated the audience.
The final five tracks starting with ‘(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone) through to ‘I’m A Believer’ were what this audience came to see. The first set that only hit the mark every second song, had the audience engaged, then disengaged, then engaged, then disengaged.
So too with the second set. ‘Tapioca Tundra’ through to ‘Grand Ennui’ would have been better spent with the missing masters mentioned earlier. Another shame of this show, unlike the last tour, Micky didn’t once get behind the drumkit. We didn’t get to see him for a last time in his position of power within the band.
This was a good show but it could have been a much better show. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get that opportunity again, so this was it for The Monkees, off with a whimper, not a bang.
The Monkees setlist 15 June 2019
Set 1:
Good Clean Fun (from The Monkees Present, 1969)
Last Train to Clarksville (from the Monkees, 1966)
Sunny Girlfriend (from Headquarters, 1967)
Mary, Mary (from More of the Monkees, 1967)
You Told Me (from Headquarters, 1967)
For Pete’s Sake (from Headquarters, 1967)
The Door Into Summer (from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., 1967)
A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You (single, 1967)
You Just May Be the One (from Headquarters, 1967)
The Girl I Knew Somewhere (b-side of A Little Bit Me, 1967)
Birth of an Accidental Hipster (from Good Times, 2016)
St. Matthew (Instant Replay outtake, 1969)
Porpoise Song (Theme From “Head”) (from Head, 1968)
Circle Sky (from Head, 1968)
Pleasant Valley Sunday (from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., 1967)
Set 2:
Papa Gene’s Blues (from the Monkees, 1966)
Randy Scouse Git (from Headquarters, 1967)
Tapioca Tundra (from The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, 1968)
I’ll Spend My Life With You (from Headquarters, 1967)
Me & Magdelena (from Good Times, 2016)
Take a Giant Step (from the Monkees, 1966)
Auntie’s Municipal Court (from The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, 1968)
Goin’ Down (from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., 1967)
Grand Ennui (from Michael Nesmith’s Nevada Fighter, 1971)
(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone (from More of the Monkees, 1967)
Rio (from Michael Nesmith’s From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing, 1977)
Daydream Believer (from The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees, 1968)
Encore:
Listen to the Band (from The Monkees Present, 1969)
I’m a Believer (from More of the Monkees, 1967)
The Monkees have one more show in Australia:
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