Even the Kinks fans in the room may have forgotten some aspects of Ray Davies' life, such as the fact he was shot in the leg while living in New Orleans in 2004. But there he was to remind everyone, first from the seat of a wooden stool and, by night's end, in front of a five-piece band, beer bottle in hand.
"I'm Not Like Everybody Else," which played during the end credits of an episode of The Sopranos, opened a segment of the show that Davies called "Ray's songs used in films." Davies seemed to want to make a case that auteurs such as Wes Anderson understand the Kinks better than the recording industry ever has.
Davies' songwriting excellence outdistanced his ability to lead a band. After "Hard Way," a song from Schoolboys in Disgrace, Davies acknowledged a fan who said he had seen the Kinks on that tour. "Remember the wicked head master mask?" Davies asked, sounding a tad embarrassed by the production values he thought keen atthe time. Schoolboys marked the end of the band's regret-filled theatrical period.
After "All Day and All of the Night," the roadies took away the stools, and Davies and Shanley were joined by the 88, the night's opening act, for a four-song celebration of power chords. At age 65, Davies looked much like the spry figure who guided the Kinks through their resurgence in late '70s and early '80s. His forehead's a little bigger, but "You Really Got Me" still crushes.
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