Comments on: Ray Davies

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 18:47:02 +0000

Thanks for posting these great photos. I flew to Salt Lake City (from Oregon) to see Ray, and made it to the front of the stage for the whole show. Shaking his hand during the encore of Low Budget was the best!
I’ve been fortunate to see the whole band about 10 times in the 80s and 90s on the east coast (Madison Square Garden, Roseland theater, NJ Meadowlands, JFK Stadium, and a few smaller theaters in NY and NJ), and I saw Ray in Portland in 2001, but being up that close was really great.
I still can’t believe he did “Long Way From Home.” I never thought I’d get to see that one performed.
Again, thanks for the website and here’s hoping Ray tours again soon.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:12:26 +0000

DM, Who among us hasn’t had a bad day, been in a foul mood, etc. etc. etc. I’ve met Ray Davies six or seven times, and he has always been friendly to me. I know Ray is a bit eccentric and at times aloof, but he has always been pleasant with me…of course that was before he was shot in the leg. Cheers!

By: gz

gz — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 04:55:33 +0000

DM, I wonder if Ray’s problems with the US federation of musician’s (or whatever it was) boycott of The Kinks from ‘65-’69 which effectively ended their US career might have had something to do with how Ray and his band reacted to working with the Teamsters, et al at The Taste of Chicago..?

It’s too bad. I know the Chicago fans love Ray. I saw him there several times.

By: DM

DM — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 18:22:52 +0000

Kirstie:

Thats o.k…...
you are more civil than most of Ray’s fans. I am glad you enjoyed the show.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 15:52:23 +0000

Thank you for sharing your photos. Its good to see that Ray can still get off the ground.

“Far from all the soot and noise of the city,
There’s a village green.
It’s been a long time”

God save the village green!

By: kirstiecat

kirstiecat — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 04:54:37 +0000

DM: I’m really sorry you had that experience. I was up front so the big screen wouldn’t have been near me anyhow. I felt that Ray was really warm and animated and considering the fans got over an hour long set for FREE…I mean, yeah he could have come out and played an encore when we cheered but really, I felt very strongly that it was a priveledge to see him play period. Then again, I’m a huge Kinks fan but am sadly not really into any of the other musicians and bands you listed. I did think it was nice to see Andrew Bird (who I love) on stage with My Morning Jacket, though.

By: Pallius

Pallius — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 04:12:07 +0000

I got deeply hooked at my first Kinks show, the Preservation tour in NYC, Thanksgiving Day, 1974. I was 17 and hardly knew who they were, jost heard they were great. Once the show started, with Victoria, YRGM, TTEOTD, etc, and Lola, I was hit with a lightning bolt with each song – a sudden realization that THIS was the group that made that song. And that song! and that song! Over an over. They rocked. Then the Preservation show – it endeared me and my bro to the Kinks forever. They played NYC almost every year for quite a while, enabling my 21 attendances at Kinks shows over a roughly 20-year period. Seen ‘em low, seen ‘em high. Bought every record. Question though: Does anyone recall the Kinks on Midnight Special or some similar TV show in or about 1974 performing Here Comes Another Day? By the way, 5 of my 7 siblings are dedicated Kinks fans for life.

By: Phil Richards

Phil Richards — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 00:40:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing the photos with us.

Down here in Australia the last time we saw Ray was in 1995 on the Storyteller tour so you can imagine how starved we OzKinkophiles are. I was lucky enough to see him in Warwick, UK last year though so it’s great to be reminded of that concert and to hear how this tour has developed and Other People’s Responses

By: DM

DM — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 22:53:29 +0000

I cannot believe that as nice a man as I am reading about on these pages, Ray Davies, surrounds himself with such jerks on his staff.

They were absolutely horrible during the a.m. load in at the Petrillo Band shell, the most rude bunch we have encountered in 22 years at this venue. They were so bad the Teamsters and Stagehands union guys refused to load them out after the show.

Mr. Davies has some insecurity issues too.

He refused to allow the big screen set up for the convenience of his fans to display anything other than a wide angle shot of the stage (no close-ups, no panning shots, etc.). He furthermore refused to allow the traditional 30 seconds of live broadcast by the local news media, including the Chicago affiliate for ABC-TV, the highest rated news program in the Midwestern U.S. and 3rd highest in the country.

Topping off the disrespect to his fans, after the last song, the fans clapped and clapped and cheered, waiting for an encore – after 10 minutes of this, we asked Mr. Davies, “sir, are you going to do another song” and he snapped, “I’ll do one if I feel like it”. He ultimately decided not to do one and left his fans in a lurch.

What a contrast between him and Dennis DeYoung, Macy Gray, Indie.Arie, Train, My Morning Jacket, etc. who were an absolute joy to work with over the past 10 days.

By: greg

greg — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 04:54:16 +0000

i’ve seen the kinks 4 times and just saw ray in salt lake city, it was great. I had been waiting a long time to see him again and i had a great time listeneing to the great kinks classics and his new material, i never wanted the show to end.