Andy Gray

Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:

• Micky Dolenz came to the Robins Theatre Tuesday to honor the musical legacy of The Monkees.

It wasn’t his first visit to the area. The “fabricated four” of Dolenz, Davy Jones (who died in 2012), Peter Tork (2019) and Michael Nesmith (2021) played the Trumbull County Fair in 1969 when it was held just a few blocks away from the Robins, and the Monkees minus Nesmith played the Canfield Fair in 1987 on its first big reunion tour.

Tuesday’s show was a night filled with nostalgia. There was a tinge of melancholy as video tributes played for Jones, Tork and Michael Nesmith, but the lone survivor and a talented backing band (that included Dolenz’s sister Coco on backing vocals) did their best to live up to the name of the show, “The Monkees Celebrated by Micky Dolenz.”

There was plenty of old footage and some funny stories, but not at the expense of the music. The band performed more than 25 songs over two hours. Dolenz let his bandmates or his sister take the occasional lead vocal, but he remained front and center.

After opening with “Last Train to Clarksville,” the first act leaned heavily on “Headquarters,” the Monkees’ third album and the first one where the four faces of the band were able to wrestle creative control of the music away from the show’s producers.

The second half included favorites like “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Valleri,” “Daydream Believer” and “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.”

Not everyone at Tuesday’s show discovered The Monkees in the ’60s. I met a guy who came to the show from St. Louis who was a dead ringer for ’60s era Nesmith, complete with the knit hat. He might not have been born for that ’87 reunion tour, much less the 1960s.

And before the last song of the night, Dolenz offered birthday wishes to a 6-year-old girl whose family was holding up a sign. Dolenz told her, “I want you to know I sang this song long before Shrek,” before singing “I’m a Believer.”

Dolenz emphasized the band’s television legacy early on, talking about all of the directors, writers, producers, songwriters and crew members who were as much a part of what people think of as “The Monkees” as the four faces out front. But there were plenty of believers Tuesday (the Robins was about two-thirds full) that know The Monkees were also a band, even if only one member still remains.

• This Saturday is one of my favorite days of the year in the Mahoning Valley, where the internationally celebrated Record Store Day coincides with YSU Penguin Productions’ Federal Frenzy.

Federal Frenzy is previewed on this page, but Record Connection in McKinley Heights will have its own live musical lineup on stage. Larry Elefante will perform at 10 a.m. Saturday when the doors open, followed by Demos Papadimas and his band at 10:30 a.m. Those two acts will alternate sets until 12:30 p.m., and both are playing Federal Frenzy later in the day.

The Vindys, who played Black Friday Record Store Day at the Record Connection in November, will return for a 1 p.m. set Saturday.

RSD was started to encourage consumers to buy physical media (LPs, CDs, cassettes, even the occasional 8-track) and support the independent record stores that kept physical media alive.

Releases by Warren Zevon, Frank Turner, The Pogues, Ivy, Husker Du and this year’s RSD ambassadors Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires are high on my want list, and that live soundtrack will be appreciated more than usual this year. I expect the line will be longer — and the median age will be younger — with a vinyl exclusive from Taylor Swift among the 300 or so titles set for release.

There’s a wealth of great (and free!) live music to enjoy this Saturday. Take advantage of it.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.