The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour at Paso Robles Review

Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork from The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour

The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour at Paso Robles was worth the drive down from Sacramento. At first, Barbara Dow (from the Elizabeth Weintraub Team) and I had planned to see Mickey Dolenz at The Crest Theatre, but that show canceled. Soon as that show canceled last spring, The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour was announced, so he must have traded one gig for another.

Too bad Michael Nesmith did not make the tour. It was a bit odd, sitting in the amphitheatre and thinking to myself, yes, that was indeed 50 years ago when I went to my first concert in St. Paul. Took the bus, as I recall, with my girlfriend Diane, all the way from Minneapolis. Yet I have no recollection of the show itself. I wonder if I screamed all the way through the show? I doubt it. Too young for drugs. No explanation for the blank slate.

I remember the end of the show after everybody left. Diane and I were the only kids who had snuck back into the theatre. We picked up Mickey Dolenz’s drumsticks from the stage and a bunch of itty bitty pieces of paper from the floor to treasure before we were escorted out.

Our drive from Sacramento for The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour took us four hours to reach Paso Robles, and when we checked into The Oaks Hotel, the front desk suggested we grab a shuttle to the amphitheater due to the poorly designed onsite parking system. One way in and one way out, with a commercial lane for shuttles. We took the shuttle.

We missed the opening song because the guards were busy examining my Canon camera to determine if I had a lens that could be removed. I demonstrated how only the lens cap came off, and we argued about it. Then Barbara and I danced down the aisle to The Last Train to Clarksville. Guess the guard at our seats spotted us as potential troublemakers because no sooner did I whip out my Canon than he was crouched next to me demanding to know if I had a removable lens.

I don’t understand all the fuss over the camera because my Canon can shoot photos 100 yards away with great precision. It takes professional quality photographs. But once the guard realized my camera lens was permanently attached, he left us alone.

The sound quality was not that great or maybe the band just wasn’t playing loud enough or perhaps it’s been a long time since I attended an outdoor concert, hard to say. We were 6 rows back so not that far from the stage. Maybe I felt the sound suffered because it wasn’t the four Monkees playing at The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour, even though, for a couple of songs, they used the audio of a dead Monkee, Davy Jones.

Mickey Dolenz dons a tablecloth at The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour.

Hokey as it may sound, I do recall The Monkees TV show episode in which Mickey Dolenz pulled a tablecloth over his head, and there he was on stage, wearing the same design. After the show, they were selling the tablecloth ponchos for $75. I bought a black t-shirt for $30 and Barbara was lusting after a gray sweatshirt but she did not want to pay $60 for it. So, hey, early birthday present.

The Monkees logo on the screen at The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour

During the concert, we were treated to clips from the TV show, just so we could see how young they were and how old we are now. Probably the best part of the show was the last song, I’m a Believer. Again, piped in audio. But it was OK, we danced to it, and then just like that, the show was over. It’s a good thing the shuttle driver gave me his card because we were standing at the wrong spot to be picked up.