Ray Davies @ HMV (In-Store Performance)
It was a brief performance, so I figured I'd throw up a brief review before hitting the hay early on a Friday night. First of all, it should be mentioned that the HMV at 333 Yonge Street in Toronto has hands down the worst setup I've ever seen for an in-store performance. By mere fluke I got there mega early, and as it turns out, it's a good thing I did. The setup made it possible for maybe 20 out of the ... um ... way more than that, to see what was going on. However, waiting over an hour to see a 20 minute show will not go down as one of the brightest moments in my personal history. On the other hand, how often do you get to stand a few feet away from a true rock legend?
Ray Davies was here on one of only a couple of appearances to promote his new CD "Working Man's Cafe." The man of course, is an incredible songwriter, and the songs that he performed from the album sounded quite good, for a first listen. He's always been applauded for his often satirical lyrics, and his presence and banter during this performance proved that he is just as witty and amicable as ever. I could've sworn that he promised to play a few Kinks classics, but he only played "Lola," which had everybody singing along, as they should. Aw well, one is better than none, I guess. Afterwards, he stayed behind to do the autograph thing, but the line was long and I've never been a big autograph person. I already had a better view of the show than almost everybody else there anyway. Because I was an hour early. Because I'm cool. And now I'll get back to going to bed early on a Friday night.
Photos: Ray Davies @ HMV on flickr
Myspace: Ray Davies
Video: 'In A Moment' on David Letterman on youtube
Labels: concert review, hmv, in-store performance, ray davies, the kinks
posted by Quadb at 8:02 PM
6 Comments:
I saw the Zappa quote on your profile, and it's good to meet someone who likes both Ray and Frank.
Anyway, have you heard anything regarding Ray touring North America? When/if he does, I'll have to travel to see him (I live in Bloomington, Indiana, but when I saw him I traveled to Nashville, TN), but he's absolutely worth it.
2:58 PM
Nope haven't heard anything as of yet, but he did allude to a North American tour coming soon at the end of his little performance yesterday. He's still got it though, 'eh?
3:07 PM
I was at the store too and arrived about an hour and a half early. We might've even been standing by each other.
Cool write-up. Ray's awesome eh?
11:38 PM
Yah we probably were since it was probably the only spot where one could actually see Ray.
Thanks for the kind words and yes, Ray is cooler than cool. Looks like he's back in April. He'll be at Danforth Music Hall on the 3rd.
3:31 AM
Ray is a bonafide genius, but amicable? He must've mellowed since I saw the Kinks more than twenty years ago. Definately not amicable.
Still, I'd love to see him again.
2:48 AM
Haha. I knew that comment might raise an eyebrow or two. I think he has mellowed a bit with age, but there are two kinds of cocky. There's the idiot kind and the tongue in cheek kind and I always thought of him as the latter. I might be wrong, but his style of cockiness always entertained me more than annoyed me. I always assumed he was a pretty decent guy though.
4:39 AM
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