MONKEE MICKY DOLENZ NEVER SLOWS DOWN

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THE PASCHA'S CORNER
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Micky Dolenz

Saturday night was ‘Manalapan Under The Stars’ for Manalapan, New Jersey, and Monkee-MICKY DOLENZ, and his band were the headline performer, but from an on scene reports, it was more like the second coming of Woodstock. When Entertainment Director Hank Grassi (with partner Marty Gelfond) woke up that morning, he checked the weather report, which called for showers, but felt that it would lift for the show later that night. At 4PM it started pouring and Hank exercised his option to move the entire performance to a nearby enclosed structure. “We had about 2 hours to move everything from the sound equipment and stage indoors. We felt like this was going to be our year, as last year we endured a monsoon when we had Al Jardine, formerly of The Beach Boys, as the headliner.” After some production problems were resolved, by 6PM, the new venue was ready, Grassi and crew and MC Tommy G. from the local radio station, NJ101.5, were thoroughly soaked by the rain and winds and several vehicles were actually stuck solidly in the mud. Dolenz, who was visiting with family in nearby Freehold, was quickly notified by the decision to move the show indoors by Mayor Rick Klauber and the Heritage Committee.Dolenz’s band, led by Wayne Avers, had done an earlier sound check outside, and was all set to go. Dolenz went onstage in time, to a very receptive and relieved sold-out crowd. Grassi said, “Under the circumstances, it was a terrific performance and Micky stayed and signed everything that was presented to him. It was on a wing-and-a-prayer … but, it all worked.” Dolenz heads back to L.A. tomorrow to finish work on his CAROLE KING-tribute album, KING FOR A DAY, for Gigatone Records.