Michael Nesmith planning short U.S. tour

My latest Blog post on Nesmith's Town Hall NYC concert.

http://www.monkees.net/nez-live-at-town-hall-nyc/

 

Great show at the Birchmere tonight, and he could not have been nicer. Big thrill.

 

He was great in NYC.

 

From washingtonpost.com.
(Note of context: The reviewer, Dave McKenna, is the guy who wrote the City Paper article on Dan Snyder, Redskins' owner, that resulted in Snyder suing the paper, pretty much for being mean to him)
Michael Nesmith leaves the Monkees in the past with mellow Birchmere concert

By Dave McKenna, Thursday, April 18, 12:59 PM

The safest thing an aged pop star can do in concert is play the hits. Michael Nesmith, who sold out the Birchmere on Wednesday as part of his first solo tour in more than two decades, has never played it safe. And at 70 years old, he isn’t about to start doing so.
The Monkees were the 800-pound gorilla at the show. The group is responsible for the majority of Nesmith’s fame, both from the hit 1960s TV show starring members of the quartet and the tens of millions of records the band sold. But Nesmith steered clear of the smash singles from the Monkees’ songbook on this night. Instead, backed by a new quartet, Nesmith delivered a fascinating — if supremely mellow — 90-minute set filled with songs he had written himself and released on solo records or with a relatively unknown but beloved group he led in the 1970s, First National Band.
Given Nesmith’s past, taking the songs-less-heard route in crafting a setlist makes fine sense. He has participated in only a few Monkees reunion shows through the years, profitable as they were. (Nesmith’s mother invented Liquid Paper and willed her fortune to him, meaning he didn’t have to play for the money.) And the Monkees’ music, great as it surely was, has always been bittersweet for Nesmith. Producers of the TV show wanted Nesmith and his young mates to merely croon the lyrics handed to them by some of the best songwriters in pop history. While the Monkees’ alliances with the pros went swimmingly — Neil Diamond gave them “I’m a Believer,” for example, and Carole King gifted them with “Pleasant Valley Sunday” — that tack never sat well with the band. Legend holds that Nesmith, who had already started a musical career as a country-rock artist (releasing records as Michael Blessing) before being cast as the hat-wearing Mike, put his fist through a wall of the Beverly Hills Hotel while demanding that musical director Don Kirshner let the Monkees play their own instruments in the studio. Kirshner was fired. Nesmith boldly risked his own job again by railing to a reporter from the Saturday Evening Post in 1967 that the music put out under the Monkees name was “totally dishonest.” “Do you know how debilitating it is to sit up and have to duplicate somebody else’s records?” he said.
Perhaps as a reaction to what he endured as a young artist, Nesmith, strumming a 12-string guitar, told folks more than once that he had written all the songs he was going to play. And before each tune he described the setting he wanted the audience to think about while taking in the piece.
Take, for example, his introduction to “Different Drum,” a breakup tune and the best known of his own compositions because of Linda Ronstadt’s chart-topping cover with the Stone Ponies: “1950s sidewalk cafe . . . the whole scene bustles like a painting from Renoir . . . There is a distance between them . . . She wants to be a mother and he wants to be a lover . . . There is a sadness.”
And there was indeed sadness in Nesmith’s rendering. Whereas Ronstadt’s version soared and she gave her goodbyes in upper octaves, Nesmith’s was understated, and the climactic lines were more spoken than sung. “Some of Shelly’s Blues” was also set up as a soundtrack to a relationship dissolving before one’s ears and had a complementary low-key arrangement. Nesmith, sans the hat of his youth and wearing a coat and tie, exuded a Mister Rogers-level of serenity while rendering the melancholia.
The night’s only real rocking moment came during “Grand Ennui,” with guitarist Chris Scruggs playing loud-distorted slide riffs and even soloing with his teeth (a la Jimi Hendrix, briefly an opening act for the Monkees in 1967). Nesmith seemed shy about having things get so rocking at his age, wondering out loud for a few seconds if all the “parental boogieing” going on in the club would embarrass “the children.”
“But they’re not here!” he said, looking out over the audience and seeing the room full of folks as mature as he is.

 

I attended the Rahway and Town Hall, NYC shows. It was great to see Mr. Nesmith solo for the first time. His voice was strong and the setlists were good. For the next tour (if there is one), I would prefer Mr. Cooper to play an actual piano and Mr. Leim to play actual drums and/or percussion. Of course, I would also prefer Mr. Rhodes to be alive and in the band, so we can't get everything we want...
Dennis Diken of The Smithereens (nice guy!) and Christopher Bolger http://www.thekootz.com/cbolger.php (another nice guy!) attended the Rahway show together and, as previously mentioned here, Elvis Costello attended the NYC show (along with Bill Flanagan from CBS/VH1, who was having a discussion with him post-show).
I am excited for the possibility of a Dolenz, Nesmith, and Tork summer 2013 tour and a possible Nez fall 2013 tour...we can dream, right?

 

I don't have a problem with any of the instruments that were played. The band sounded great and so did Nez. My only wish regarding another solo tour of Nez would be a slight change up of the set list. I'd like to hear him perform Tapioca Tundra, The Crippled Lion, Wax Minute, Dance Between The Raindrops, Wisdom Has Its Way, Light, Life Becoming and/or Follows The Heart. In addition to most of his recent set list of coarse.

 

I was talking to Nez (man, that was something I never thought I'd type) about "The Prison" and said I wouldn't have minded even more from the album. He said something like, "Maybe next time," and not in a condescending or dismissive way. I got the impression that more's to come.

 

It would be VERY COOL if Nez did "Wax Minute" live! Whoa!

I HOPE there will be a live CD/DVD of this event!!!!!!!!!!

Please!

 

Those set list suggestions are awesome, D-rock! I love all of those songs.
Others to consider: How Can You Kiss Me, Mama Nantucket, Dedicated Friend, Texas Morning (Castleman/Murphy), Mama Rocker, Harmony Constant, I've Never Loved Anyone More , Elusive Ragings, More Than We Imagine, Flying, I'll Remember You, Juliana, and There It Is

 

Some really nice set list suggestions indeed. I was kind of surprised how well the songs from The Prison came across, even though several others posted that that portion of the set seemed to come at an odd time. I'd really like to hear selections from Tantamount To Treason, especially "Wax Minute" and would love to hear The Prison performed in its entirety.

 

Excellent selections. Add 'The Up Side of Goodbye' & 'Roll With The Flow'.


And add me to the list of fans wanting to hear 'The Prison' in its entirety live. :)

 

Check out the 'Papa Nez Facebook page' - it has an entire album dedicated to those who met and had a photo taken with Nez.
It's great page! There is an artist there who restores old and faded photos of Nez and brings them back to life with an artsy,
modern twist. Lots of good stuff there

 

I love The Prison and am somewhat disappointed that others felt it slowed down the show. I hope Nez doesn't hear this and remove those songs from upcoming shows. Honestly I am happy to hear anything at all from The Prison and any album that came before it. It's the later stuff that leaves me cold.

Given some complaints about "too much keyboards", other than a few annoying moments from the keyboardist, I really can't complain about the show at all. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and only wished it could have been longer and contained something from Tantamount to Treason.

 

Perfect! I wanted to get a good look at all the nutty people that stayed up until 4 a.m. to buy the tickets to meet him! Of course, I, myself, am deeply jealous.

 

I lucked out and got one pass for myself at 8, and another for my wife after 10. I'm not sure how that worked out but I'm not gonna complain.

My ugly mug's in that photo album.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like "The Prison" too, and was happy to hear some selections. I just felt the set would have been a little more dynamic had Nez shifted those songs to the middle of the set and stacked some "hits" or more uptempo numbers at the end. "Roll With the Flow" would have been a good one. The only tune I thought didn't land was "Rays."

I agree with you about "Tantamount." That would have been really nice.

 

Regarding The Prison live .. Only part I thought dragged a little was "Life, The Unsuspecting Captive". I understand why he chose it but I think either "Dance Between The Raindrops" or "Elusive Ragings" would have been better. I'd love to hear "Hear Me Calling?" Live. That's a great track.

 

Saw Nez at the Somerville show, and loved it. We had special "it's all who you know" box seats above the left side of the stage, with a view that was pretty sweet:



GREAT version of "Grand Ennui", and overall a wonderfully mellow journey through Nez's back catalog.

Got to chat briefly with Monkees/Micky solo keyboardist Dave Alexander and his wife Jennifer, nice folks who were as excited about the show as we were. I'd definitely love to see Nez do another round of shows with an all-new setlist of other deep-dish solo tunes.

 

Boy I really do hope that he comes through with a second leg of solo touring...especially since I missed this first leg...

 

Bergen PAC, Englewood, NJ
Tues. Nov. 12th

http://www.ticketmaster.com/Michael-Nesmith-tickets/artist/735735

 

DATETOWNVENUE AND LINK TO PURCHASE TICKETS
27-OctPhoenix, AZMIM Music Theater
30-OctDallas, TXThe Kessler Theater
01-NovBirmingham, ALWorkPlay Theatre
02-NovAtlanta, GAVariety Playhouse
04-NovVienna (Washington D.C.)The Barns at Wolf Trap
05-NovAnnapolis, MDRams Head On Stage
07-NovBay Shore, NYYMCA Boulton Center for the Performing Arts
08-NovPhoenixville, PAThe Colonial Theatre
10-NovShirley, MAThe Bull Run Concert Series
11-NovFall River, MANarrow Center for the Arts
12-NovEnglewood, NJBergen Performing Arts Center
14-NovElyria (Cleveland), OHStocker Arts Center
15-NovChicago, ILCity Winery
17-NovFranklin, TNThe Franklin Theatre
18-NovFranklin, TNThe Franklin Theatre

 

Well this isn't much better, travel distance wise, for me than the Spring was (but family health issues are now resolved...knock wood...)...so it's either Cleveland on 11/14, Englewood on 11/12 or Phoenixville on 12/8 (which follows Elvis Costello in Ithaca on 12/7- we'll see if that works for or against this date as time rolls on)...and me thinks I should just be grateful for the chance at all (never thought it would happen) & try to get to one of these...maybe I can combine it with something else journey wise/show wise...I was really hoping for Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse...something a little easier, but Nez iz Nez & I'm just glad this is happening at all!!!

 

I'm in for the Dallas show if they don't sell out.

 

I'm gonna try my butt off for Chicago tix. Last show at Old Town School of Folk was sold out before it even went on sale, darn benefits of Membership.

 

I'm hoping to hit both MA shows.