Dedicated fans are still believers
It was a far cry from the days when 60s pop phenomenon The Monkees were mobbed by hoards of screaming fans – but former member Peter Tork made light of the sparse turnout for his Black Country concert.
It was a far cry from the days when 60s pop phenomenon The Monkees were mobbed by hoards of screaming fans – but former member Peter Tork made light of the sparse turnout for his Black Country concert.
Dedicated fans came from far afield to see the former Monkees man perform at one of the region's best-known music venues last night – but unfortunately not in their expected droves.
Maybe most fans had caught The Last Train to Clarksville – leaving Tork to play out a gig at JB's in Castle Hill, Dudley, in front of just 24 people, including the warm-up band and the Express & Star reporter and photographer.
But the 66-year-old, taking the stage with current band Shoe Suede Blues, saw the funny side as he opened the performance by welcoming the "thunderous crowd".
And despite the small turnout of 19 fans, the Monkees man seemed right at home on stage just a stone's throw from Dudley Zoo.
Reunion
He had earlier revealed that he was still daydream-believing that a reunion of The Monkees, who shot to fame in a television series but later formed a band in their own right, may yet be in the pipeline.
Mr Tork said he had recently met former members Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones, but not Michael Nesmith, and the odds of a comeback had jumped from "one in a hundred to probably 12 in a hundred."
That news will be warmly welcomed by three hardy fans at last night's gig who have been Monkee-ing around for 41 years. Jan Swanton, 60, proudly boasts she has attended virtually every performance involving the band or one of its members on British shores in that time. She had travelled from Ipswich to see the gig with fellow die-hard fans Lyn Jeffs, 54, and Chris Caines, 51, and said following the group had become "a way of life".
"When they put the TV show together they knew what the fans wanted," she said.
Ms Swanton added that the band's music had transcended time and generations. "I know an obsessive fan who is only in his 20s," she said.
The trio had been to all four previous legs of Tork's six-date UK tour and said that his blues band had been "absolutely brilliant" every night.
Professional musician Chris Conway, 45, was also among the crowd having made the trip from Leicester and he was joined by his Kidderminster-based brother, Jerry, and his wife Pauline.
Chris played with Tork in Britain six years ago – and even sorted out a bed for the night for him. He said: "I toured with Peter in 2002 and we had to put him up for the night in my mum's house. She rang everyone up and said: 'We have got a Monkee in the house'." Monkees' hits Last Train to Clarksville, I'm a Believer and (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone have all been given a new twist by Tork's latest band and formed part of last night's repertoire.
