Music Monday

- June 05, 2022

So let me take you on a journey into NYC on a Friday night. We have arrived at Penn Station, that labyrinth beneath Madison Square Garden, during rush hour, so we quickly make our way up the escalator to 7th Avenue. Lots of people are walking towards the station. Commuters, mostly, but also fans in Rangers jerseys — there’s a playoff game tonight. Go Rangers!

But we’re not going to the game. We have tickets for something else. We are headed to The Palladium Times Square. There’s a show tonight, a double bill with Felix Cavalieri’s Rascals and Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. The show was originally scheduled for January 2022, but was pushed back until June 3 because of a COVID spike in NYC.

(We bought the tickets on December 10, 2021, the day Mike Nesmith died. We has seen the Mike and Micky tour in October, and Drew wasn’t sure he wanted to see Micky again so soon … until Micky became the sole survivor.)

It’s a beautiful evening, so we have opted to walk up 7th Avenue from 34th Street to Times Square.

Things that make you go “hmmm”. There are now three legal cannabis shops on 7th Avenue … and five or six bakeries. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen someone smoke a joint on West 40th Street, but it’s the first time that activity is legal.

As we get closer to Times Square we can see the street vendors and artists. Do you need a hat? A pair of cheap sunglasses? An obviously fake “designer” bag? Maybe a framed photo of the NYC skyline, or you can have an artist draw your caricature. We’re not going to the zones designated for the street performers — Micky Mouse, Elmo and Batman vie with the desnudas and the Naked Cowboy for tourist dollars. But we do stop at a cart for a hot dog and a bottle of soda. The cart advertises that the food is “halal”, as so many of the carts are nowadays — the city has always been diverse. Drew asks for ketchup, mustard and sauerkraut on his hotdog, I get onion sauce on mine.

Located on the corner of West 44th and Broadway, the Palladium was once a movie theater, but is now a 2,000 seat concert and event venue. We are not required to show proof of vaccination despite the sign in the window, and while most of the audience is masked, face coverings were not required. We pass through the metal detectors and make our way downstairs to the theater. We are so far underground that many patrons are unable to get cell phone service. Actually that’s not a bad thing … who needs phones ringing during a performance anyway? The decor is sleek and modern. We sit three rows back from the stage.

First up?

Yes, Felix Cavalieri’s Rascals. Due to contractual disputes, you can’t see “The Rascals” unless all four members of the original group are on the stage. We saw Felix Cavalieri along with Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish perform as “Felix Cavalieri’s Rascals” several years ago, when Eddie Brigati reconciled with the others, we saw The Rascals at Jones Beach after their successful Broadway run. On Friday night it is Felix and his band, none of the other original members of the band were present.

(Of course you’ll remember that Drew posed for a photo with Brigati at Peter Noone’s show last summer.)

Here is the Setlist.

Next up?

Micky Dolenz. His band includes his sister Coco. He sings a lot of Monkees hits, including songs that haven’t been performed since Davy Jones died in 2012. Seriously, the show is a celebration of dearly departed friends. Here’s the Setlist. He also dies a duet with Coco, and Coco’s solo is “White Rabbit”.

After the show we grab a bite at Junior’s. The original Junior’s opened in 1950 at the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues in Brooklyn, and is still in business today. The Theater Districr location salutes the Brooklyn heritage. We are seated in the baseball section, which salutes the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ebbets Field, etc.