by Alex Lloyd Gross
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of The Monkees was in Philadelphia this past weekend, for two shows at the City Winery. The show was a mix of cover songs and original material. The there were stories.
When casting for the series was underway, Dolenz said people applied from all over. One young guitar player was a guy named Steven Stills. While Stills did not get the job, his room mate Peter Tork did. Dolenz related that story then went into “For What It’s Worth” by the Buffalo Springfield.
Of course classics like Last Train To Clarkstown and Daydream Believer was played to a rousing applause. The crowd was older, having watched The Monkees on television when they first came out. Two screens on either side of the stage showed clips from the show.
The Monkees were friends with a British band who were quite popular at the time, the beaters and Dolenz talked about attending the Abby Road recording studios. They played two Beatles song, including Sgt.Pepper. The show was thoroughly entertaining and most in the crowd left the venue having learned something about Micky or the band.
The show was divided into two parts with an intermission in between sets. It was an earlier show with it starting at 5:30 PM and ending just before 7:30 PM. After the show, friends and family were able to get backstage to meet Micky . He did not come out for autographs but does sign at local conventions from time to time. After all this time, The Monkees are still popular, for more information you can check out their website here.