The Dave Davies Band ~ 2001 August 2 (Thursday) ~ The Station ~ West Warwick, RI
Band Personnel: Dave Davies, lead vocals, lead guitar; Jim Laspesa, drums and backing vocals; David Jenkins, bass and backing vocals; Kristian Hoffman, keyboards; Jonathan Lea, guitar, harmonica
Set List
Till the End of the Day - I Need You - Susannah's Still Alive - Creeping Jean - Gallon of Gas/You're Looking Fine - Tired of Waiting - See My Friends - Living a Lie - Unfinished Business - Dead End Street - Death of a Clown - Young & Innocent Days - Fortis Green - Living on a Thin Line - All Day & All of the Night - I'm Not Like Everybody Else - David Watts
Concert Review
I don't agree with the criticisms I've read of this club in other fans' posts. This is one of the best venues where I've seen Dave. The stage is roomy, the band has a backstage, there's plenty of standing room, there's adequate sitting room, the sound is very good, the people at the club are friendly (counts for a lot!), it's easy to find, there's lots of free parking, the crowd were very big and genuinely interested in Dave, noisy when they should be and quietly attentive when they should be.
We got to the club in late afternoon and hung around relaxing in the club as other fans and the band arrived. Like Susannah, the band were bedraggled, a result of the van having broken down somewhere in the wilderness of Connecticut (Guilford, I think David Jenkins said it was). This was one of the hottest days on tour (in the high 90s -- while we were in the mid-Atlantic it was actually much cooler).
There were two ho-hum warmups tonight. "Bonnis Herd" was a boring mostly southern-rock 5-piece (think The Band but with no talent) -- the best thing about them was their lively drummer. The second warmup was Grumpy Old Men -- three older guys (in their 60s?) playing screaming guitar hard rock from the '70s. If you like Ted Nugent you'd like them. The gimmick lost its appeal after about two songs, and the fact that the band members *really* were grumpy -- they seemed to genuinely dislike one another -- was annoying. When faced with warmups like this all I have to do is remember Awake, Thrust, and Last Laugh from the Beach Club last August (three bands that were so bad that they stunned two of my traveling companions into unconsciousness) -- and I am grateful not to have to face them again.
Before the show today we were discussing the absence of "Unfinished Business," "Milk Cow Blues," and "Wicked Annabella" from Dave's set lists to date. These are the songs where in the past he has had an extensive jam, a "rave-up." The absence of these songs means the only really "jamming" song is "See My Friends." It felt like a little something was missing from the show. Tonight he did one of the missing songs -- "Unfinished Business."
Another addition to the set list was "Dead End Street," a song Dave used to perform in the fall of '97 but I don't believe has done since. It's a crowd pleaser and I'm wondering if he'd like to drop "Death of a Clown" altogether and substitute this one as an audience sing-along, since tonight "Death of a Clown" was hardly even a song, more of a comedy routine. He messed the lyrics up on purpose. "Dead End Street" features a really great honky-tonk piano played by Kristian.
"See My Friends" is still a stand-out, but two years ago it was more effective when they started the song with Jim pounding out a haunting rhythm on the drums. For me, it doesn't work as well for Dave to start the song on guitar and for Jim to join in after a few bars. He introduced it as a song about "absent friends and lovers, including those that have gone on to the spirit world ... and I don't mean the ones by the bar." Even with the less-effective opening, it's still a very moving song, Dave's singing on it is marvelous, and his gesture toward the band or to the crowd on the line "see my friends" is genuinely loving.
A corresponding gesture is on the "creepy friends" line during "Creeping Jean" when Dave often gestures to the band! (But he's only kidding!) "Creeping Jean" is an improved song on this tour (hard to believe considering it was already perfect!) because Jonathan Lea is playing a very nice slide guitar on it.
More Dave
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