Their Philly stop was at the Mann Center, a great venue in a bad neighborhood. It is also proof positive that Philly is a screaming cesspool. Some genius scheduled some sort of run at the same time, so traffic was a complete nightmare. It must have taken an hour to get down the street and into the venue. This was burning up valuable Monkees Time, turning what was left of my mood to black.
We managed to get seated seconds before the boys hit the stage, missing the entire pre-show video montage. These fellows make very good use of video and traditionally have. It ran during the entire show and was almost interactive in spots. Not bad for the Pre-Fab Four.
The show wasn't seriously different from last year's mini tour; just expanded a bit. The weather must've been quite a shock for the guys. It was just short of ninety degrees with disgusting humidity (welcome to Philthy!). They joked repeatedly about how cold they were, all the while toweling themselves off.
I had my Galaxy S3 and my buddy took his iPhone. My pictures were craptastic, barely in focus at best. I remember looking over the phone then looking at the phone to compare the scene. We had tremendous seats but the pictures look like we were really far away. This might be a physics thing - I have no idea. I did manage to get a video of Daydream Believer, where they brought a guy and his son up to sing. This turned out decently in terms of audio, as everything else I recorded was way overloaded. The video was crappy.
My friend's iPhone exhibited the same crappy picture effects, albeit a litte closer and more clear. The videos were much better. Much as I hate to do it, I have to give the video advantage to the iDevice.
My poor wife suffered from the humidity. On the way out, it started raining and we got quite a display of lightning. Then we started our Sherman tank and began the exit routine, dutifully plowing our way through the completely unmarked parking lot onto the completely unmarked streets. As part of their Neighborhood Beautification Project, they removed all the street signs. The traffic was not only unbearable, it was quite dangerous, as people were simply driving anywhere they felt like.
All of this beauty was brought to us care of a fifteen dollar fee to park. It's not enough we paid the userous price for the concert tickets - we had to pay a further amount to sit our car there for two hours.
Below are a few pictures but they're pretty bad. I would post the video but it's huge. Maybe later on YouTube.
It's early in the tour - you should really get tickets and see the show. It's very entertaining for fans and newbies alike.
So, did Nesmith ever learn to really play the lead for the song Valleri?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing no. They didn't play it but when they do, they have a lead guitarist.
ReplyDeleteI heard some tracks from their early tours and the boys handle all their own instruments quite well. I was pleasantly surprised.
I know this doesn't go along with my Jeff Beck pyrotechnic leanings but a man likes what a man likes.
According to Wikipedia's article on the Monkees, Nesmith and Tork were accomplished on numerous stringed instruments. I had not heard it told that way before. It was my understanding that Peter Tork was the only real musician of the bunch back when they first created the group/TV show. Davy Jones could sing, Nesmith was just acting as a guitar player, and Mickey Dolenz learned to drum to get the part in the show.
ReplyDeleteAll that possible misinformation aside. I loved the Monkees back when, and I still love 'em today. :)
They certainly are something. Dolenz learned drums at the feet of some of the greats of the time. Knowing some of this trivia makes me feel weird :)
ReplyDeleteIt shouldn't make you feel weird. It should make you feel OLD! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Monkees are in town (St. Petersburg, FL) this coming Sunday. Too bad I'm in financial distress at this time. I'd love to go see them.
Ok, OLD.
ReplyDeleteSorry you can't make it. Check YouTube, which will give you some sense of what it is like.
What really shocked me is that the audience is an almost even mixture of old folks and young ones. These guys have rocked many generations, which is no small feat.