This month's blog is going to be our recounting of July 10th, 2009 as it appeared on Kent Kotal's Forgotten Hits website. This was the evening we got the opportunity to open for Davy Jones. We also have included a photo the band with Davy as well as a picture with long-time Chicago radio great "Little" Tommy Edwards out in Lake Forest, IL. You'll also see a photo below of the gang with Kristi and Eric on their wedding day. Finally, we'd like to thank Orna Greenman for photos of the band from our Cuneo Museum gig.
Thanks to all you, too
re: THE MONKEES:
We mentioned in one of our recent emails that a couple of our readers are currently performing with bands who have opened recent Chicago-area concerts for both Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz ... and asked them to share a few thoughts and memories about these experiences. I just received this photo of Davy posing with The Renditions. (I actually used to play in a band with one of these guys, Greg Favata, years ago!) The Renditions are ALL over the radio here in Chicago lately ... they cut the Traffic Jingle that plays CONSTANTLY on the MacKay In The Morning Program on The River 95.9 FM ... to the point that it has actually kept me up at night 'cause I can't get the damn thing out of my head!!! (lol) Anyway, here's a recent shot of the band with Davy Jones! (kk)
Yeah, our intention with the jingle was to eventually have a land full of zombies humming it with glazed eyes and doing our evil bidding. - lol
-- Greg
-- Greg
Since you asked me to write a little something about the evening we opened for Davy Jones of the Monkees in West Chicago, IL, here goes.
My name is Greg Favata and I play lead guitar and sing with The Renditions. We perform pop music of the 60’s and 70’s so I guess the village of West Chicago thought we’d be a good fit to go on first before Davy and his band took the stage. The location was Reed - Keppler Park and the date was Friday, July 10th. If you can remember how this summer began, it rained like crazy and this Friday was no exception. It poured all morning and afternoon, but I called the village a few times that day and they were keeping a watchful eye on the Doppler radar. They assured me we should come out and they were right. It wound up being sunny, very hot and very humid that afternoon and evening. When we arrived, it was a case of “hurry up and wait”. Davy was there as his band tested their gear and began to run through some of the songs from the show. Davy had his own trailer, popped out occasionally to see how things were progressing, and eventually joined his band onstage to run through some numbers from the show and get levels, etc. Davy looks quite good for his age (which I believe is 63), but he’s no taller in person than he appears on TV (lol). He ran through several numbers in sound check, including “Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow” and “When Love Comes Knockin’ at Your Door”. It was a nice sized band, featuring very skilled players. All the standard instruments, (bass, lead guitar, keys and drums) along with two brass players, one of which doubled on percussion. Of course, all members of our band have watched the Monkees TV show growing up and that made this a very special event for us. Kristi, our female singer, especially had a crush on Davy and, with her being a bit younger, saw the show in the late 70’s for the first time. She didn’t realize at the time she was watching reruns and would send fan letters to Davy without any addresses on the envelopes (just marked “Davy Jones”) requesting he respond and send an autographed photo as well. She never quite knew why he never answered (lol). Right before we did our sound check, Davy made it all up to her by walking up to Kristi and striking up a conversation with her. Just small talk, but it meant a lot to her. Of course, our set up and sound check wound up being of the very rushed variety. We set up our gear in front of theirs (it was a big stage) and didn’t get up there to set up until 5:40 PM with a 6:00 PM scheduled start time! The gentleman who was there to introduce us started to do so at 6 PM sharp. I leaned over to him and informed him, “We haven’t even checked our mikes yet to see if they work!” He gave us a couple more minutes until we were satisfied everything was at least functioning and we plunged into our 90 minute set. We did our show (Four Seasons, Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, etc.) and we had a relatively sparse crowd for the size of the area. In fairness, it was 6 PM on a Friday and it had rained all day. We were hoping to glom on to a little more of Davy’s audience (lol). When we finished up, we hurriedly got our gear offstage so Davy’s band could start. He came back from dinner after our show (he apologized for not seeing us), and was meeting with 20 people who had paid for VIP passes backstage. We tried to get a picture with him but were told by the village we couldn’t. Most of us in the band hung backstage anyway and as Davy was getting finished up signing vinyl albums and posing for pictures with these fans, we asked him if we could have a picture with him anyway. He couldn’t have been nicer and said, “Absolutely!” He guided us over to a spot next to the stage and after one shot was taken, he said, “Let’s get one more just in case.” Very cool of him! His demeanor was very easygoing and casual. He definitely came across as a good guy.
His show was very good and he played several numbers to satisfy almost any fan of his.
Introduced by a band mate as “The world’s greatest tambourine player”, he performed not just songs on which he sang lead in the Monkees but some of Micky and Mike’s songs as well. He performed “I’m a Believer”, “Mary, Mary”, “Papa Gene’s Blues” and “Goin’ Down”. Of course, songs on which he originally sang lead were more featured in the show. These included, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Valleri”, “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer”. He also did a killer version of “She Hangs Out”, “Consider Yourself” from his role as the Artful Dodger in “Oliver” and, as a tribute to the music his folks played around his home as he was growing up, “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”. He also told a lot of funny stories about the Monkees TV show, kidding about his original bandmates’ current ages, and generally staying in the self-deprecating mode. I’d say he drew about 6-8,000 people for the evening’s show (a few more than we had at 6 PM – lol). All in all, it was a very memorable evening for our entire band. The picture I’ve included is, from left to right: bassist Neal Carpenter, vocalist Kristi Alsip, Yours Truly, Davy Jones and drummer John Radowski.
You can also check us out at http://www.renditionsband.com/
His show was very good and he played several numbers to satisfy almost any fan of his.
Introduced by a band mate as “The world’s greatest tambourine player”, he performed not just songs on which he sang lead in the Monkees but some of Micky and Mike’s songs as well. He performed “I’m a Believer”, “Mary, Mary”, “Papa Gene’s Blues” and “Goin’ Down”. Of course, songs on which he originally sang lead were more featured in the show. These included, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Valleri”, “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer”. He also did a killer version of “She Hangs Out”, “Consider Yourself” from his role as the Artful Dodger in “Oliver” and, as a tribute to the music his folks played around his home as he was growing up, “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”. He also told a lot of funny stories about the Monkees TV show, kidding about his original bandmates’ current ages, and generally staying in the self-deprecating mode. I’d say he drew about 6-8,000 people for the evening’s show (a few more than we had at 6 PM – lol). All in all, it was a very memorable evening for our entire band. The picture I’ve included is, from left to right: bassist Neal Carpenter, vocalist Kristi Alsip, Yours Truly, Davy Jones and drummer John Radowski.
You can also check us out at http://www.renditionsband.com/
Thanks,
Greg Favata / The Renditions
Greg Favata / The Renditions
Thanks, Greg. Knowing what a Monkees fan you are, this had to be the ULTIMATE experience. We saw Davy recently, too, (when he opened for David Cassidy back in February) and it sounds like very much the same show that we saw. (You're right ... he absolutely KILLED on "She Hangs Out", one of MY all-time Monkees favorites ... in fact, I remember featuring it in our review of the show.) Sounds like a GREAT night and a great experience ... thanks for sharing this with our readers. (We saw YOU guys last summer right here in Schaumburg ... and are happy to not only plug your on-going Traffic Jingle on the MacKay In The Morning Show but also your latest CD, available at The Renditions website.) kk
