Davy Jones smiles before he and the rest of The Monkees perform at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. (Photo by Jan Tuckwood)

More:Directions, nearby dining for Sunday's Monkees show in Pompano Beach

Davy Jones cracks the same joke every night of The Monkees' 45th anniversary tour: "Hi, I'm Davy's dad. Davy will be out in a minute."

And the audience laughs, as much at themselves as the guys onstage. Because they're bloody old! Peter Tork will be 70 next year, for Pete's sake.

But when Tork sings that song, "For Pete's Sake," the song he co-wrote that ended every episode of The Monkees' TV show from 1966 to 1968, the words have a more poignant meaning now: "We were born to love one another, this is something we all need."

The Monkees' two-and-a-half-hour show, which stops in Pompano tonight (June 5) is really a love fest -- to three guys in their 60s who can make middle-aged women jump up and dance like they're 13 again.

Clearwater's sold-out show at Ruth Eckerd Hall was different from the last reunion of Jones, Tork and Micky Dolenz in two key ways: One, a video screen played scenes from their TV show and their movie, "Head," throughout the show, drawing screams of recognition from the audience. And, two, the group performed songs they rarely do onstage, including the powerful "Shades of Gray." The group's playlist was partially chosen by the fans, who voted via Internet for their favorite songs off Monkees albums.

So, they played rocking renditions of their monster hits -- "I'm a Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville," Daydream Believer" and "Steppin' Stone" -- plus many of the sweet songs their fans remember wistfully. When Micky Dolenz sings "Some Time in the Morning" and Jones sings "I Wanna Be Free," many of the 50-something women who were boogaloo-ing to "Believer" sat wide-eyed, no doubt remembering when they used to kiss their Monkees posters. Dolenz can wail a rock tune, too. His "Goin' Down" had the crowd on its feet. And those guys can still jump. All three of them look good -- but, oh, how cute they were back in 1966.

If you've forgotten their adorable teen-dream faces and funny antics, catch the Pompano show. My 21-year-old daughter sang all the songs along with me, and more than once, she stared at the video screen and had to admit: "Oh, they were so hot back in the day!"

That was then, and this is now -- to steal a line from one of their later hits. But all the great music and the fun are still there, and that's something we all need.