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Previous concert (Dave Davies, The Chance) ... Next concert (Dave Davies, The Turning Point)

... by Joanne Corsano ... joanne@picturelake.com

Band Personnel: Dave Davies, lead vocals, lead guitar - Jim Laspesa, drums and backing vocals - David Jenkins, bass and backing vocals - Kristian Hoffman, keyboards - Andrew Sandoval, second guitar, harmonica

I Need You - Beautiful Delilah - She's Got Everything - Look Through Any Doorway - Susannah's Still Alive - Creeping Jean - Love Me Till The Sun Shines - Tired Of Waiting For You - I'm Not Like Everybody Else - Wicked Annabella - Picture Book - Strangers - Love Gets You - Too Much on My Mind - Psycho Lounge ... Lola gag intro (with kazoo) - Death of a Clown - Get Back In Line - Young and Innocent Days - Fortis Green - Living On A Thin Line - All Day And All Of The Night - This Man He Weeps Tonight - Gallon of Gas / You're Lookin' Fine - Funny Face - Lincoln County ... encore ... You Really Got Me

This koncert review and others from Dave Davies' solo tours starting in 1997 were originally published in the Kinks Preservation Society internet mailing list digest. This digest is archived at Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Web Site, under the link labeled Kinks Fans ... KPS Mailing List. I have made some edits for context.

Club Bene gets my vote for the best show among the five I saw this fall. The sound was the best; I didn't have to use my earplugs once. This was a sitting venue with long tables arranged up against the stage, the kind of seating where you really have to turn your chair or you'll have a stiff neck by the end of the show.

Dave was in the best spirits of the five shows I saw. He enjoyed each show, but Saturday night he did not want to leave the stage; he did three sets of encores, and was so excited about "Lincoln County" that he almost forgot his cowboy hat. We fans had to shout at him to put it on -- the song without the hat just wouldn't be right. He dedicated "Love Gets You" to the true fans, "true Kinks fans" he said, and gestured toward the arc of the diehards in front of him. I believe he is sincere in his appreciation of those of us who took the time and went to the trouble to go to multiple shows. The band, too, were sounding better and acting more relaxed on stage by the end of the tour. At this show Dave played 26 songs, three more than at the other shows I attended. This was the last show of this brief tour, and you could tell everyone involved was feeling happy that everything had turned out so well.

Right now we have a serious planetary alignment going on. For someone who is a believer in astrology and mysticism, like Dave, this takes on some added significance. Even if you don't believe in that sort of thing, it's a beautiful sight to look at up in the sky while nervously trying to find a nightclub in a strange city. This lovely sight sets a mood for the exciting concert to come.

I am very fortunate that by an accident of geography I have been able to attend several of Dave's shows. Although some folks have gone to more than the five I attended, I feel privileged to have been at both the first and last shows of this short tour. Dave said at this gig that he would be doing this again next year. Yippee!!

I'll admit to a little bit of smugness. I'm a Raving Dave Fan, and I knew solo Dave would be great. Now lots of people know solo Dave is great. Many, many fans who weren't convinced before are now, and the most important person of all is sure that Dave can pull off this solo bit: Dave himself is sure of that. His poise and self-assuredness grew as the tour progressed. He jammed more on his guitar, he developed comedy bits for the show, he addressed and teased the crowd, he introduced songs, he seemed more relaxed, he got the "frontman" bit down while relaxing into it and enjoying it. In other words, he got to be more like Ray, and I mean this in the best possible sense; Ray has a real talent for working a crowd -- and so does Dave -- he just never got a chance to show it before.

A lot of people, from reviewers to fans to undoubtedly the performers themselves, have been making the Ray vs. Dave komparison. The standard komment is that Ray is the intellect and Dave the animal of The Kinks. What an oversimplification. Like the Yin and Yang of Chinese mysticism, there is a lot of Ray in Dave and a lot of Dave in Ray. Go see Ray perform "Big Fat Cowboy" or "20th Century Man" and you will see the animal in Ray. Go see Dave sing "Strangers" or "Imaginations Real" and you will see the intellect, the sensitivity in Dave.

Although we all love the Kinks and want to see them again, I am grateful to Ray for extending his own solo thing long enough to give Dave no choice but to go out on his own. After all this time, Dave has his chance to shine. It is richly deserved. I hope that I will get a chance to see Dave solo again. If I had to choose between Dave and The Kinks, I would choose Dave in a heartbeat.

God Save The Kink!

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