Review of Monkees, The, Live Summer Tour

Introduction

Growing up in the 1960`s, there were three must-see American tv shows. One was Star Trek, the second was Batman (starring Adam West) and the third was the adventures of a group of Beatles wannabes who couldn`t spell either. The Monkees tapped into the same vibe as the Beatles` movie adventures "Help" and "A Hard Day`s Night", having various surreal adventures that could only have been written by someone who was completely stoned. There was Davy Jones (the little one), Micky Dolenz (the wise guy), Mike Nesmith (the one with the woolly hat) and Peter Tork (the Gilligan of the group).

The band never escaped the stigma of being invented like one of today`s boy-bands, or having the temerity of being Beatle-clones. Personally, I always preferred the Monkees, and the fondness an awful lot of people have towards the old show is something of a vindication. A number of the band`s songs (Hey Hey, We`re The Monkees, Last Train To Clarksville, Valleri, Randy Scouse Git, Daydream Believer and I`m A Believer) have become classics or standards.

Live Summer Tour is a record of a performance from their 2001 North American tour. Time has passed but the boys look good in spite of the passage of more than thirty years. Davy Jones in particular looks like he might have a painting in the attic by the same artist as Cliff Richard`s. Mike Nesmith is conspicuous by his absence, but as he has put as much distance between himself and the show since its cancellation, this is not surprising.

Watching the disc is a nostalgic delight. Watching the three Monkees present, it`s as if they`ve never been away - or more precisely that they`ve been carrying on exactly as they did on the show, the cameras just haven`t been present. The interviews in the bonus material are great fun, but don`t be fooled by the menu. It has interviews for "Davy", "Peter" and "Mickey" and an option for "All Three", but that doesn`t mean playing all the individual interviews consecutively, it`s a separate interview with the three of them.

Video

Made for television, the picture is standard 4:3. The haze of stage smoke means that some shots display quite an alarming level of pixellation. The performance was shot on videotape, so colours are slightly muddy.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in three flavours - a default PCM Stereo (Pro-Logic) that`s okay, like a recording of the event; a Dolby Digital 5.1 Mix that`s pretty lively like almost being there, and a DTS Mix that`s frankly frightening, a floor thumping wall of sound like sitting in the front row.

Features

There are two Karaoke versions of songs from the main show ("Last Train To Clarksville" and "I`m A Believer"), and a set of bonus interviews with the three Monkees. You can select between the three soundtracks for the main show, and also direct-select the eighteen songs There`s a DVDROM website link to the disc`s sponsor KingBiscuit.com.

Conclusion

You may have gathered from reading my reviews I tend to be a nostalgia-freak. This Monkees disc is a delight, but the nostalgia element aside, I`d say for DVD sound enthusiasts, this disc gives an excellent opportunity for comparing the dynamics of PCM, DD5.1 and DTS mixes. I know I was impressed.