I don't really want to see them without Mike; but I have a Monkees obsessed 5 year old. And they are playing in Liverpool. Hmm - advice needed from the Massive

I saw them several years ago at, of all places, the Cincinnati Zoo. Although I'm quite a Nesmith fan, his absense did not detract from the show. They played all their hits and everyone had a great time. I was surprised at how many young people were in the crowd, but they all seemed to know the songs and sang along. A very fun evening for myself and the Mrs.

They will be utterly professional and will entertain. Just go, I'd be shocked if it was bad.

like fun.

and it looked dreadful to me. I speak as a big fan of The Monkees, I quite like Mike Nesmith, it's not his absence that ruins it - although it doesn't help - it's just how bad it is.

You know when you used to find those 60s compilations and the small print told you they'd been re-recorded by some of the original musicians in 1986 with a headless bass and a pointy guitar and a hexagonal drumkit that goes 'Ka-Chooooommah!'? If you quite like the idea of that sort of thing, but live, I think you'll have a great time.

they're actually on a radio show I'm currently working on tomorrow...I've got my albums ready. And a biro.

I recall a late 80's reunion without Nesmith, and a late 90's one that included the Tippex heir. A friend saw one of the late 90's gigs and said they were suprisingly good. The absence of Woolhat this time is unfortunate - he wrote some of my fave Monkees toons like Circle Sky

Mike Nesmith was always my favourite.

at the Manchester Evening News arena. All four Monkees including Nesmith, in my town, so I couldn't resist. In my youthful naivety I was expecting a sort of psychedelic fantasia. 'Head' made flesh, with a rough and ready garage band backing, whipping the audience into a frenzy. (I was only 23 come on!)

What I got was a rather Butlins-esque canter through the hits, some alarming mullets and little Davey Jones giving it the maximum Cheese (mind you he always did). Nesmith was in another postcode to the rest of the band, baseball camp firmly on head. Pony-tailed session musicians tackled most of the instrumentation and brought it "bang up to date" with racks of Yamaha DX Synths and FM rock guitar solos.

I suspect my 23 year old expectations of what a bunch of middle aged actors were capable of delivering were waaay too high. It didn't help the MEN arena is a drafty, soulless enormodome and the audience were the type to sit down during the songs unless they were the massive hits.

There are clips on Youtube..it's better than I remember!

Will Lou Reed be replacing Mike Nesmith, to make up for missing his opportunity?
(it's a reference to another post, don't worry about it).

Two threads on The Monkees!
MONKEEMANIA!!!
Perhaps, someone should open a few more....

Hmm.(Although I'll admit it was very brave of Kevin Spacey to take on the challenging role of Peter Tork, while J. Edgar Hoover turns in a cracking Mickey Dolenz.)

His finest three and a half minutes, in Head: one of those catchy tunes with very, very dark lyrics.

That's Toni Basil in the clip dancing with him, although she obviously preferred Mr Dolenz from her subsequent hit.

(The Head album features a version with Mike Nesmith singing this - not a patch on Davy's version)

Mine doesn't. Mine's Davy singing it, and I like it a lot as well. I also enjoy, in the same vein, Cuddly Toy.

and both penned by Harry Nilsson too