Photos by Andy Argyrakis

The last man standing from The Monkees may be Micky Dolenz, but thanks to a brand new show centered around the pop/rock superstars’ recently re-issued “Headquarters” album, the essence of Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones certainly lives on.

In addition to performing a cross-section of all four musicians’ material throughout over two hours at a highly populated Pabst Theater, the 78-year-old singer/percussionist interspersed carefree clips from their massively popular 1960s television series, alongside hilarious and heartwarming behind the scenes stories.

Of course, “The Monkees Celebrated By Micky Dolenz” Tour was stocked with so many classics, it was not possible to keep count, including “Last Train To Clarksville,” “Papa Gene’s Blues” and “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” accompanied by a precise five-piece band and additional harmonies from the headliner’s sister Coco.

However, the entire “Headquarters” rightly took its place as the centerpiece, a notable release for not only becoming the band’s third consecutive chart-topper, but the first to find members earning more creative control and a significant amount of songwriting contributions, resulting in poppy, folksy, clever, quirky, occasionally experimental and generally unpredictable outcomes.

That meant everything from the openers “You Told Me,” “I’ll Spend My Life With You” and “Forget That Girl,” to the rarely performed deep track “Mr. Webster,” plus some comic relief from “Zilch” and a funky slice of “(Theme From) The Monkees.”

Dolenz and company got back to the regularly scheduled programming with the second side’s “No Time,” “Early Morning Blues And Greens” and “Randy Scouse Git,” all of which further documented the guys’ artistic development and rank amongst their finest.

The generous helping was easily enough to please lifelong appreciators, but following an intermission, a brief second set scooped up some other stray hits on this particular “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” each capable of making a “Daydream Believer” out of just about anyone.

The Monkees are technically no more, but thanks to Dolenz and his well-studied backers, multiple generations can nonetheless find out for themselves why the legendary act’s legacy is as booming as it’s ever been.

For additional information on Micky Dolenz, visit MickyDolenz.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the Pabst Theater include “Straight Up With Stassi” (Apr. 29); Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls (Apr. 30); John Waite (May 5); Bright Eyes (May 10); “Whose Live Anyway?” (May 11); Steve Treviño (May 12); Samantha Bee (May 13); Dave Mason (May 18); Natalie Merchant (May 20); “The Secrets Of Skinwalker Ranch” (May 21) and Three Dog Night (May 26). For additional details, visit PabstTheaterGroup.com.

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