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, New hits help to iron out the Kinks
By
John Aizlewood
11 May 2007
"Sing along. Have no shame," ordered Ray Davies, former Kink, erstwhile curmudgeon and a man, rather like our outgoing Prime Minister, whose place in history is far from certain. "These songs are part of my life and part of your life."
Now 63 and getting more avuncular by the year, Davies is a man reborn in the wake of last year's Other People's Lives album, his first work in decades to stand alongside the Kinks' finest.
Indeed, he enjoyed the experience so much there's another due before the year's end and he even unveiled two intriguing new songs from it, No One Listens and The Invisible Man. No longer being a nostalgia act has transformed his canon into something to be celebrated rather than grudgingly wheeled out.
In fact, Davies is so delighted with his new status that his show and its two-set, two-hour format was almost identical to the one he brought to the same venue in September 2005 and the new(ish) Next Door Neighbours and The Tourist are becoming more old friends and less exciting proof of a still-prodigious talent.
That familiarity perhaps explained an oddly flat audience and Davies's constant, needy invocations to clap hands and join in. This time, though, there was the magical Come Dancing, Davies's loving, sepia-tinged paean to a more courtly era and the last great Kinks moment.
The noisy hits were rendered with verve and even the hoary old You Really Got Me was given new relevance by Davies's anecdote about its conception, while the raucous closer, Victoria, featured ex-Kinks drummer Mick Avery (dressed, unsettlingly, in a Boy Scout's uniform), looking uncomfortable on tambourine.
Bluster aside, Davies's real strength always lay in the tender, most tellingly the luminous Days, the elegiac Village Green (dedicated to broadcaster Ned Sherrin) and the piece of pop perfection that is Waterloo Sunset.
"I don't know why I still play that song," chuckled Davies. He should: it's his best hope of immortality.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (4)
Ray Davies truely is a legend. Hearing music from Kinks and his solo material in a venue as good as the Albert Hall was mind blowing. Hearing Waterloo Sunset at the end was probably one of the best gig moments ever for me.
- Nick, Clapham, 16/05/2007 08:58
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Thought the concert was excellent and much much better than 2005 at the same venue.
Who was the guy who supported?
- Wendy, Swanley Kent, 14/05/2007 01:51
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Coming just for the 10th of May concert to London (from Amsterdam) and being a Kinks fan from the early days, I was pretty disappointed with the concert. The sound quality was horrible (stalls K), especially the first half hour. In one of the greatest concert halls in the world, you should want to go 130 dB - too much echo (roll) and subsequent smear made the musical harmonies at times unidentifiable, esp with the two new songs.
Wrt to Ray - overall impressive (anecdotes, relaxedness, sustainability) but musically a bit disappointing - too many high pitch notes not catched but transposed down with a terts, or simply spoken. The blue colored acoustic guitar sounds horrible (also noted that on YouTube from earlier concerts), whereas the guitar from the support act guy sounded beautiful.
The backing musicians: drummer and esp lead guitarist excellent. Bass player so-so (I missed to hear the tonicas at the essential chords,
could have been the acoustics again), but the Swedish guy on keyboard should be replaced immediately. So timid and lacking expression...
For those die-hard fans who can not swallow the above: I am a signal theorist/mathematician and serious amateur musician/ sound engineer,
so I know theory and stage practice. Of course I can not argue on tasty, but I did not really enjoy the concert although I adore the Kinks and esp Ray. Could not help noticing how timid the audience was and remained for quite a while. Only towards the end there was real involvement
- Herbert, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 12/05/2007 16:32
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We should all thank him for the 'Days'.
And how come it isn't Sir Raymond D. Davies by now? If anyone in pop culture/art...surely he!
- William Oliver, Winnipeg, Canada, 11/05/2007 20:21
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