Before I do so, however, I would like to point out that I have awesome friends. From school... from work... from studying abroad... from shooting down zombies in a post-apocalyptic world (online)... I've got them everywhere. It's always nice to have friends who like the same music and the same bands, and it's even greater when they want to go to rock shows with you, listening to said music and bands you, too, enjoy. There's always the opportunity for a bonding moment, whether the music sucks and you can critique the fuck out of it, or if the music is great and you talk about your favorite songs, or if there's a particular asshole who spills beer over you or constantly pushes you or cuts in line in the bathroom, and you and your friends have to show this asshole some respect... which hasn't happened yet... or at least nothing you can prove in a courtroom... *shifty eyes*
So it's even sweeter for me to have friends who love The Monkees. I asked my co-worker/friend and double finalist of the dance contest at the Uptones concert I talked about last month, Bernadette, and she and her husband were down. Then my friend Feliza contacted me, showing her interest, and a couple of days later, I had four tickets to the concert. And seriously, I have to thank them again... if it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't have gone. I don't own a car, and I wouldn't even know how to get to the Flint Center, or Cupertino for that matter, by public transportation. And seriously, I don't even trust myself driving there since I'd be by myself, in the dark, and relying on Google Maps or some form of GPS to get there. So, I'm glad that there was someone else out there who wanted to enjoy the concert and in that, I had a great time with them.
So, let me tell you that I've never once been in Cupertino. I might have went past Cupertino while on the 280, but I've never been on city streets, at least to my knowledge. Unless there's a nickel arcade or a mini golf course there, I don't remember being here, let alone being at deAnza Community College, where the Flint Center was at. That was kind of a surprise, driving up to where the Flint Center was and seeing that we were driving into the school's parking lot. It's not a first, going to a concert at a school, since I saw Weezer at the San Jose State Center, or that huge gym/basketball court for the Spartans. This place, though, was an actual auditorium with seats, not bleachers, and no standing room at the floor. It was more like a theater than anything.
So, if you want the setlist, I found it here. It seems pretty accurate. I didn't have it memorized to a tee (or T? I never got that metaphor...) and I didn't feel like writing it down... fortunately, I found the list made by a couple of people who have a better memory than I do. I'm not going to go over each song... because there was 29 songs and it'll be insane to do so... but I will go over some highlights.
- You know, the shy and awkward Peter Tork I know from TV and movies is not the same man that I saw onstage. He definitely had more stage presence and that man can move and dance and gyrate better than any 70-year-old man should be able to... and I respect him for it. The last time I saw him on TV, he was on Rachel Maddow, discussing Davy Jones around the time of his death. He seemed to be really thankful for being on the show, since he and his family were huge fans. And now, I was fucking fifty feet away from him... give or take a couple of yards.
- I found it funny that Mike and Micky switched places in the hat department. Mike was sans wool hat... hell, even I had the wool hat my sister made on me... and Micky was sporting a suave looking fedora. Man, looking at pictures of them from the 60s makes me realize I should have been Micky instead of Mike for Halloween. I definitely had the hair and the funny faces for it. But hey, I wanted a wool hat, so... all is good.
- It was really cool seeing Mike with the Monkees. It's so good to hear him sing the songs that he wrote. He had on his glittery shoes and played on his 12-string Gretsch. He still had his witty sense of humor, hamming it up with the others. In fact, they were all cracking jokes... sounds like a lot of them were in-jokes, though, but that's what happens when you've known someone for so long.
- There was this bit where Mike would do the MOOG parts to "Daily Nightly" because an authentic MOOG nowadays is like a billion dollars or something and Micky sold his to Bobby Sherman back when Bobby Sherman was a big deal. Pretty funny, and if you ever heard "Daily Nightly," and heard Mike as the MOOG (or MOG???) you'd totally get it.
- So, without Davy there, there was hardly any Davy songs sang. The three songs that they played that Davy was known for was not sang by the three. They played "I Wanna Be Free" (the slow version, of course) on the big screen, using a video from one of the episodes, and the backup band played "Daddy's Song" during Davy's dance in Head.
- The third Davy song they played was "Daydream Believer," because they couldn't just avoid the song. Micky said that it wouldn't be fair if either member sang the song, so they asked the audience to sing for them. They also brought up two ladies, one blonde and one brunette about my age... maybe younger... to sing as well. Bernadette's husband, Steve, said they were a little too polished to be random, and Micky had said one of them was at other shows prior... so I wouldn't be surprised if they were ringers. But with that said, that brunette was really cute. She had on the wool hat and a quasi eight-button Monkees shirt going on, but with short shorts. I mean, I didn't think she was cute because of the shorts, but her face... she was really attractive.
- Speaking of attractive girls, there was this attractive, young woman one row ahead of me. She was probably with her mom, since she was talking to an older woman to her left. Speaking of audience members, there wasn't the typical people that usually piss me off at concerts. However, there was the drunk white woman doing the typical drunk white woman dance... but she wasn't in my way so it was just more amusement than anything. There was this guy who was too tall whose head always seemed to be ruining my shots. You can spot the head on the lower right corner of the picture above.
- Bernadette and I were surprised over certain songs. I know I was surprised over them playing "Tapioca Tundra." She was really glad to hear "Early Morning Blues and Greens" and I was happy to hear "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," though it wasn't too much of a surprise since those are off Headquarters. We kinda thought they'd play more from Headquarters, but I guess they just didn't play the Davy songs from that album... that and they didn't play "Mister Webster." We were both pleasantly surprised that they played their songs from Head, though, and hearing "As We Go Along" makes me appreciate it more.
- The time it took us to get from Cupertino back to San Francisco was about the entire length of the Headquarters album with the additional tracks, with a minute or two left to finish off the last track.
Unless I get to go to Not So Silent Night this year, this might be my last concert of the year. If it is, it's probably the best way to end this year. Like I said, I feel like I've gone full circle. I've seen the first major band I really got into... and I saw them after every other band I got into. I saw Weezer, I saw the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Green Day, U2, The Hives, Jimmy Eat World, Offspring, Muse, The Sounds, and many, many more... it feels like I've seen every major band for me that's still possible to see live. Sure, there's still some bands I would love to see that I haven't had a chance to (Metric, Bad Religion, Wild Flag, Sahara Hotnights... if they ever come back to America) but other than that, I think I've seen all I want to see. The Monkees was pretty much the cherry on top of an awesome rock music sundae.
Now what? Well I'm still going to go to concerts, and I'm going to drag my friends or my sisters if need be, because it just wouldn't feel right going by myself. After watching The Monkees, though... I don't know... I kinda feel inspired. Should I write more? Sure. Should I get back on my guitar? Finally learn how to play bass? Get back on Rock Band and sing for hours on end? Should I just start a band? You know, that'll be nice... but seriously, I don't even have the time for that.
I don't know what to do with this need to do something creative... but whatever it is, I just hope it's entertaining.
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