On the heels of their 2013 tour, which was both the best attended and reviewed Monkees reunion to date, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork will return to the concert stage this May for a historic fourteen-date tour of the United States.
Tork says he’s “happily looking forward to reuniting with my partners and sharing this tour with friends and fans in more places,” while Dolenz enthuses, “Can’t wait to hang out with Papa Nez and the Torkmiester. Looking forward to great music, great fun and truck-stop chili dogs at 4 a.m.”
Nesmith adds: “Happy to be going back out playing the music. Sure we will have fun.”
When four young men were cast in a television show inspired by the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, about a struggling rock band, few could have predicted the impact the Monkees would make on music and pop culture at large, an impact that still reverberates nearly 50 years later.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1965 for the eponymous television series, the quartet of Dolenz, Nesmith, Tork and the late Davy Jones brought a singular mix of pop, rock, psychedelia, Broadway, and country to their music. The Monkees’ first single, “Last Train to Clarksville,” was released in 1966 and quickly headed for the top spot of the Billboard charts, where it would ultimately sit for 13 of the 78 weeks it remained in the Top 200.
By the time the series aired its final new episode on March 25, 1968, the Monkees had seen three further albums top the charts — More of the Monkees, Headquarters, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. All were released in 1967, staggeringly enough, racking up several more hit singles, with “I’m a Believer,” “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” “The Girl I Knew Somewhere,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Words,” “Daydream Believer,” “Valleri,” and “Tapioca Tundra” all finding their way into the Billboard Top 40.
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After the series’ two-season run, the group went on to star in the cult feature film HEAD (co-written by Jack Nicholson) and a TV special (33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee) while also continuing to record new material, but much as the ’60s gave way to the ’70s, the members of the Monkees eventually gave in to their individual musical interests and went their separate ways . . . for awhile.
In February 1986, after MTV broadcast a marathon of The Monkees, Dolenz, Jones, and Tork reunited for a 20th anniversary tour, with Nesmith joining them onstage for the Los Angeles date of the tour, and in 1996, all four members of the group reunited for a new album (Justus) and TV special (Hey, Hey, It’s the Monkees).
In the wake of Jones’s death on February 12, 2012, the surviving members of the Monkees reunited and performed a series concerts throughout November and December. The shows were received so triumphantly that Dolenz, Nesmith, and Tork returned the following summer for a tour dubbed “A Midsummer’s Night With the Monkees,” the success of which inspired the trio to hit the road again this May and June as well.
The Monkees U.S. Tour 2014
Thurs., May 22 HAMPTON, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Fri., May 23 ATLANTIC CITY, NJ Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa – The Music Box
Sat., May 24 NEWARK, NJ New Jersey PAC
Sun., May 25 HUNTINGTON, NY The Paramount
Tues., May 27 BETHLEHEM (PHILADELPHIA), PA Sands Bethlehem Event Center
Wed., May 28 GREENSBURG (PITTSBURGH), PA The Palace Theater
Fri., May 30 DETROIT, MI Fox Theater
Sat., May 31 MERRILLVILLE, IN Star Plaza Theater
Sun., June 1 MILWAUKEE, WI Riverside Theater
Mon., June 2 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Weesner Family Amphitheater (Music in the Zoo Concert Series)
Wed., June 4 KANSAS CITY, MO Uptown Theater
Thurs., June 5 ST. LOUIS, MO Fox Theater
Fri., June 6 CINCINNATI, OH PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center
Sat., June 7 NORTHFIELD/CLEVELAND, OH Hard Rock Live
Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
