Monkee Michael Nesmith released the complete schedule Tuesday for a month-long solo tour to begin March 21 that will take him to cities all over the country for 17 shows.
Nez’s Solo Spring 2013 Tour followed an invitation from a British promoter/agent to play the British Isles last year. The short tour sold out immediately after it was announced, causing American concert promoters to take notice. The Nez Solo Spring Tour was developed shortly after.
The kick-off show at the Franklin Theater in Tennessee sold out an hour after tickets were available. The tour will also take in the metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
“The songs I’ll play are a touch chronological and a touch thematic. I picked my favorites to play, the ones I have come to love over the years, and the ones that are most requested by fans of my solo work,” Nesmith said in making the announcement.
The songs Nesmith will perform will include “Joanne,” “Silver Moon,” “Propinquity,” “Grand Ennui” and “Thanx for the Ride” from his First National Band recordings. “Thanx For the Ride” will include specially programmed software so the original pedal steel solo by Red Rhodes plays along with Nesmith and the band as they play the song live.
The focus of the show will be on his latter-day song writing and recordings, but Nesmith will perform one song he wrote for the Monkees, “Papa Gene’s Blues,” which will open the concert. “I hope Monkees fans are not disappointed but my solo recorded music is extensive and the songs that were part of the Monkees era comprise only a tiny part of it.”
Also included in the show will be songs from the albums “And the Hits Just Keep On Coming,” “Photon Wing and Infinite Rider,” as “Elephant Parts,” “Tropical Campfires,” “The Prison” and “Rays.” It's estimated the shows will feature 90 to 100 minutes of live Michael Nesmith music.
The songs will be presented with short introductions that include a cinematic setting. According to Nesmith, “The songs live in my mind like mini-movies, vignettes, that associate themselves with the emotions of the song. I want the audience to share that.” The concerts will also feature “meet and greets” for after show receptions where Nesmith will sign autographs, talk with fans, and pose for pictures with them.
Nesmith admits that though his tours may be few and far between, he greatly enjoys the onstage connection. “I have found nothing like a live performance in any other expression of the arts,” he said in today's announcement. “When it is done right, it is a most joyful and happy event, like a good meal, a fine conversation or a lover’s kiss. A word sung is worth 1,000 pictures.”
Besides his music with the Monkees, his songs have been recorded by Linda Ronstadt & the Stone Poneys (“Different Drum”), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (“Some of Shelley’s Blues”), the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Run-DMC (“Mary Mary”).
Nesmith also became involved with movies as executive producer of the movies “Repo Man” (1984), “Timerider” and “Tapeheads” and founded the media production firm Pacific Arts. He became the first and only winner of the Grammy Award for Video of the Year for his 1981 long-form video “Elephant Parts” and is considered the father of MTV because of his idea of merging music and video.
Nez Solo Spring 2013 Tour schedule
- March 21: Franklin, Tenn., Franklin Theater (sold out)
- March 24: Agoura Hills, Ca., Canyon Club
- March 26: Santa Cruz, Ca., Rio Theater
- March 27: San Francisco, Ca., Palace Of Fine Arts
- March 29: Portland, Ore., Aladdin Theater
- March 30: Seattle, Wash., Neptune Theater
- April 3: Boulder, Colo., Boulder Theater
- April 5: St. Paul, Minn., Fitzgerald Theater
- April 6: Chicago, Ill., Old Town School Of Folk Music (sold out)
- April 7: Ferndale, Mich., The Magic Bag (sold out)
- April 9: Munhall, Pa., Carnegie Library of Holmstead
- April 11: Northampton, Mass., Iron Horse (sold out)
- April 12: Rahway, N.J., Union County Performing Arts Center
- April 13: Somerville, Mass., Somerville Theater
- April 15: Philadelphia, Pa., World Café Live (sold out)
- April 16: New York, N.Y., Town Hall
- April 17: Washington, D.C., Birchmere
Copyright Steve Marinucci. Please do not reprint in full on other sites without permission. Headlines with links, though, are fine and posting any of our links to Twitter and Facebook is much appreciated. Please hit the “like” button on Facebook if you like our work.
To subscribe to this column, click the button above. And follow us on Twitter at @stevemarinucci and please use the hashtag #beatlesexaminer. We're also Steve Marinucci on Facebook and at Ufollow or Pinterest. And don't miss our weekly Beatles news podcast “Things We Said Today” available on iTunes, Podbean.com and Fab4Radio.com on the weekends.
Comments