2021 Memphis Adventure – Monkees

This is my fourth and final Memphis Adventure Blog Post. If you’re seeing this one first, you can continue to read it and scroll through the other three in reverse order: The others focus on Walking in Memphis, Graceland, and Tupelo. Enjoy!

One of the major highlights of my time in Memphis was getting to see the Monkees in concert. Graceland’s Soundstage has live shows on Friday nights with some big name entertainment (upcoming shows include Elvis Costello, The Marshall Tucker Band, Dwight Yoakam, Josh Turner, and the Beach Boys – to name a few). The last night on my trip I had the biggest thrill! I loved the Monkees growing up – watched their TV show, had all their records, loved their music, and dreamed about dating Davy Jones…or any Monkee, for that matter! LOL

Davy Jones and Peter Tork both passed away some time ago. So, the remaining Monkees are Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. This concert is part of their “Farewell Tour”.

I got all dressed up for my teen heart-throbs! They had strict Covid precautions in place – masks were required at all times inside the venue (unless actively eating or drinking) and you also had to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 72 hours. I happily showed my vaccination card and wore my mask. I didn’t see or hear of any issues with people getting stinky about it — they shouldn’t have been surprised, ticket holders got an email a few weeks before informing us of the requirements.

I took the shuttle over to the venue and went through the check-in process. Then we all waited in the lounge for the doors to open. I wasn’t going to have anything to drink or eat while I waited – just wait with excited anticipation! But, they had popcorn popping and the smell of it drove me absolutely bananas!!! LOL So, I got a box of popcorn and snacked while I waited.

Then, the doors opened……..the Soundstage is a nice sized venue — not huge, but not tiny or intimate – just right! I found my seat and was happy with it – I knew it was a good seat, but sometimes you can’t really tell from the seating charts. There was a couple in front of me and the guy was a perfect “barn door”, but the way the seats were positioned I could see perfectly between them – and he behaved and stayed on his side of the space so I didn’t miss a beat!

In my seat —- Row “F”, seat 105!!! AWESOME!!! You can get a feel for the venue looking over my shoulder!

Then, in just under an hour, the show began……..and the crowd went wild!!!

They sang all the old familiar favorites and some others that they recorded in later years and several that Mike Nesmith wrote that were recorded by other artists.

They sounded GREAT!!!

The audience loved them — and sang along —– and showed their appreciation!

Mickey was full of energy – just like I remember him!

Mike was the comic relief – always the funny one! (I missed his knit cap, though….)

Yeah – they are older,…..so am I…….they still put on an awesome show!!! I loved every minute of it!!!

Some of their songs were written by Peter Tork and when they sang them, they pointed to the sky paying respect to their lost friend and band mate.

“Last Train To Clarksville”

“Pleasant Valley Sunday”

“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”

“Mary, Mary”

“Me and Magdelena”

And, on and on and on……..One wonderful hit after another!

When they did “Daydream Believer” – Davy’s most famous recording – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house and the cell phone lights lit up the arena with swaying beams!!!

The finale was “I’m A Believer” and it brought the house down!!!

I screamed and sang and didn’t have much of a voice when it was all over!

And I got the T-Shirt to prove it!!! hehehehe

The back of the shirt shows all the dates and locations of the rest of the tour……maybe I’ll see if they are coming close enough to see them again!!!

The evening ended with the shuttle back to the Guest House……full of rowdy ladies singing and hooping and hollering and rocking the bus…….the driver turned on Elvis and cranked up the volume — we had a BLAST with that!!!

It was a bit of a let down to return to my room to pack my bags so I could catch my plane home the next morning!

And…..the trip was done…..and I really didn’t want this one to end……but, it did and I can honestly say it will be one of my most memorable trips! I’d do it all again in a heartbeat!!!

Hope you enjoyed tagging along with my adventure…….that’s all for now…..until the next adventure…….but, I’m not telling when or what I have plans in the works for! hehehe

I’ll leave you with the music video of “Daydream Believer” — a song that brings me to tears and slings me back to my teen years instantly whenever I hear it!