Music

Hear 2 Monkees play fan favorites on their ‘Farewell Tour’

Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith will be at Medford's Chevalier Theatre Oct. 30.

Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith will play "All the Hits, Deep Cuts & Fan Favorites" on The Monkees' "Farewell Tour." Courtesy Photo

By Blake Maddux

1 minute to read

The “Pre-Fab Four” — as they were scornfully and unfairly dubbed a naysaying press — existed in several different combinations in the course of their initial 1966-1971 run. The original, made-for-TV lineup consisted of Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Michael Nesmith. After five massively successful albums and one that was less so, Tork left in 1968. The two releases by the remaining three were commercial disappointments, prompting Nesmith to quit and leaving Dolenz and Jones to record the band’s whimper of a swan song in 1971.

Interest in The Monkees was rekindled in the mid-1980s when MTV aired episodes of their 1960s sitcom. A lucrative reunion tour by Dolenz, Tork, and Jones and a million-selling new compilation resulted, but a newly recorded album, 1987’s “Pool It!,” made not even the slightest splash (nor did “Justus” in 1996).

Nesmith was a freely chosen nonparticipant or early decamper for subsequent, anniversary-related regroupings. However, he rejoined for a series of live appearances following Jones’s death on February 29, 2012.

In 2016, Nesmith recorded as a Monkee for the first time in more than 40 years on the well-received “Good Times!” and was along again for “Christmas Party” in 2018.

Peter Tork’s 2019 death (almost exactly seven years after Jones’s) means that Dolenz and Nesmith will be the ones celebrating The Monkees’ 55th anniversary with a “Farewell Tour” billed as “A Magical Night of Music: All the Hits, Deep Cuts & Fan Favorites.”

“I love being on stage with Micky,” says Nesmith. “We’ve been collaborating for over 50 years, so it’s hard to believe it’s never been just the two of us. I’m excited to dust off some tunes that I haven’t played for a long time too. These are going to be some fun shows.”

This will most assuredly be the case for the duo’s Oct. 30 visit to Medford’s Chevalier Theatre.