Ray Davies ~ 2008 April 6 ~ The Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA
Setlist
First set:
I'm Not Like Everybody Else - Where Have All the Good Times Gone - Till the End of the Day - After the Fall - Well Respected Man {in which he flubbed one line, saying "father goes to meetings while mother pulls the maid" ... instead of the other way around ... or was that deliberate?} - one line of I Need You {in response to paper plate requests} - Harry Rag {very short ... evidently a case of "planned spontaneity"} - The Tourist {wearing Union Jack jacket ... added extra verse: "in the French quarter danger lurks ... 'give me the money!'"} - Celluloid Heroes {short ... only movie star mentioned was Greta Garbo} - Working Man's Café - Apeman {short} - 20th Century Man
Second Set:
{Acoustic section ... Ray sat on a stool for a few songs, but he stood the rest of the show} This is Where I Belong - In a Moment - One More Time - Vietnam Cowboys - The Real World - No One is Listening {end of sitting section} - Sunny Afternoon - Come Dancing {the keyboard player used an accordion, which was very effective} - Tired of Waiting - Set Me Free - All Day and All of the Night
Encore:
Low Budget {pranced around the stage like some outrageous poof ... it was delightful} - Imaginary Man {with audience singalong on "imaginary"} - Lola
Second Encore:
You Really Got Me
Review
I spent a rockin' night in the company of other Kinks fans enjoying a satisfyingly long koncert by Kinks leader Ray Davies. The varied song selection included many old Kinks songs along with songs from his recent solo records. Davies has in recent years abandoned the acoustic, story-telling presentation of the first few years of his solo touring, and has assembled a rock band to present a more conventional koncert. I personally enjoyed the story-teller shows more than the rock shows; if Ray is playing a rock show, it's just hard to watch him up there with musicians who aren't the Kinks. But it was good to see that he had a good deal of energy and was able to move around like a RAWK STAH on stage; this is a man who sustained a serious gunshot wound to the leg just four years ago, in an attempt to foil a robbery. As the Kinks go, I'm primarily a Dave Davies fan, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy a Ray Davies koncert as much as the next Kinks fan.
The show was burdened by one of the worst opening acts in recent memory, a blues screamer called Dana Fuchs. I hope she hasn't quit her day job because she was awful.
Ray Davies is a bigger name than most of the performers I go to see, so I'm not usually close enough to the stage to get pictures, but I always keep a set list. Scroll up for the set list, with a few komments on some of the songs. He played two sets and a pair of encores.