The Monkees? You're having a laugh! Or at least, an April Fool's joke... Well, no, actually... Veronica and I drove down too late for support act Peter Sarstedt (!), but just in time for The Monkees', erm, "performance". If seeing three old has-beens turning out the same old routines, same old jokes, and the same old embarrassing costumes (particularly cringe-worthy being Davy Jones' Bon Jovi glam rocker outfit for "Valleri", and Mickey Dolenz sporting a female flamenco dancer's dress for one number), then go and see the Monkees for that.
Me, however, I was here for the music, purely and simply, having latterly gained an appreciation for the more serious moments of their tuneful pure 60's pop, and the 3 remaining original members (no Mike Nesmith, so no "What Am I Doing Hanging Round"; shame!) turned out to still be competent vocalists, in front of an excellent, if restrained, backing band. "Randy Scouse Git", the excellent "Pleasant Valley Sunday", and the encore "I'm A Believer" stood out and had the audience of, unsurprisingly, mainly older people, up and jumping politely about. I could have done without the unnecessary Vaudeville "show" elements (particularly the aforementioned costumes), but an entertaining night out, all things considered...
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteI was at said gig. The support was courtesy of an awful band called Seven. Peter Sarstedt would have been much more entertaining.
A friend showed me your blog this afternoon which, as a resident and gig goer of Bristol since 1978, can only be a dangerous thing!
Regards
Phil
Thanks for your comments Phil. I'm glad I missed the support if they were as bad as you say! I was and still am a frequent Bristol gigger; Swindon doesn't really have much of a touring gig scene so it's normally Bristol, Oxford or London for me. It sound as if we might have rubbed shoulders in the 80's Bierkeller or 90's Fleece, so I'd be interested in any other comments on gigs you were at! Cheers.
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