Ray Davies - Royal Concert Hall Nottingham - 19th May 2010

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Its something of a mystery that while his contempories such as Paul McCartney, The Who and Brian Wilson can sell out arenas, Ray Davies performed to a half full Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday night. The Kinks back catalogue in my view exceeds that of most of his generation but for some reason we seem to have taken it for granted. Such is the fickle taste of the general public and we can only hope that at some point the opinion turns round and recognise the value of Ray Davies as in recent years that recognition came to the likes of Johnny Cash & Neil Diamond. Perhaps Rick Rubin should get together with Ray because despite the setlist being dominated by Kinks songs, there was evidence in newer songs such as In A Moment that Ray still possesses a songwriting talent that most bands today would die for.

There is an interesting article in the most recent Word Magazine about live performances in the rock era. Of particular interest is how certain artists of the 50s and 60s now phone in minimal performances, taking the money and run. This was emphatically not the case last night. 25 songs in under two hours, divided into an acoustic half, followed by a full band session. At Rays' age the fact that the initial stage setup featured stools for the acoustic session suggested a laidback vibe, however once the band were in place Ray showed he could rock with the vigour of youth. As thin as a racing snake, Ray danced and jumped across the stage and looked in much better shape than some of his grizzled contemporaries. Mick Jagger would have been proud of him.

What was most impressive was the clear thought that had been put into the performance, offering more than just a straight resume of the hits. Whether reading an extract from his book X-Ray, to segues into old instrumentals such as Apache during Vietnam Cowboy, Ray clearly was looking to engage with the audience and make them feel part of the spectacle.

Of course the Kinks were famous for their internal fighting and despite the generally positive vibe there were still a couple of examples of that fractious nature, whether having a sly dig at other ex-Kinks trading on the band name, or telling his roadies that he'd setup the stage in future due to some layout issue which was certainly not noticeable from the audience. However, while Ray's fractious relationship with his brother Dave may be famous, the most touching point of the night was his brotherly outrage at Dave being excluded from the recent BBC show on greatest rock guitarists. Sometimes family comes first.

The show came to a notable climax with a run of six Kinks classics including a full rock workout on All Day and all of the Night, and a touching take on Days, opening with just Ray on acoustic guitar before building into a band crescendo. To hear this songs still sounds special and vital after all these years.



Setlist

01 This Is Where I Belong

02 I Need You

03 Where Have All The Good Times Gone

04 Autumn Almanac

05 In A Moment

06 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion

07 See My Friends

08 I'm Not Like Everybody Else

09 Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' Bout That Girl

10 Too Much On My Mind

11 Well Respected Man

12 Sunny Afternoon

13 Victoria > X-Ray Reading > 20th Century Man

14 The Tourist

15 Come Dancing

16 Vietnam Cowboys

17 Celluloid Heroes

18 Workingmans' Cafe

19 After The Fall

20 So Tired

21 Set me Free

22 Waterloo Sunset

23 All Day And All Of The Night

24 Days

25 Lola