Ray Davies live!

Ray Davies
Chicago Theatre, Chicago
Tuesday, April 1, 2008

No one can ever credit Ray Davies as being a prolific solo songwriter: at age 63, he just turned in his second proper full-length offering, Working Man’s Café (New West). But for fans of his time in The Kinks, a fairly thin individual catalog meant spending plenty of time in the original British Invasion, recalling the group’s seminal classics that have since shaped several generations of alternative acts. (Oasis anyone?)

Though The Kinks never reached the superstar stratosphere as say The Beatles or Rolling Stones, the mod rockers were certainly among the second tier’s upper echelon (alongside The Animals and The Zombies), presenting a simple, yet sophisticated sputtering rock sound catapulted by antagonistic arrangements and infectious harmonies.

Though the solo star wasn’t joined by Dave Davies, the brother who loves to hate him, he did give props to that estranged Kinks’ guitarist when introducing a more-than-component, four-piece band. “Let’s hear it for my brother Dave because these tunes ain’t easy to play,” he offered right before blasting into “All Day And All Of The Night.” (While cheers abounded with the glimmering hope of a reunion, Dave has been less than receptive, making this take on the indelible track the closest experience.)

But it made no difference who was backing Ray, especially considering the fact he was the co-founding lead singer of The Kinks who also wrote the majority of the material. And even though it’s more than four decades after its heyday, he’s still a remarkably vital performer who seamlessly translated the melodic “Till The End Of The Day,” the tropical swinger “Come Dancing,” and the psychedelic “Lola” to present tense. Of course the evening wasn’t all about The Kinks, but unlike most elder statesmen peddling new material, Davies wasn’t the victim of frequent bathroom breaks by attendees.

That’s because some cuts from Working Man’s Café (most notably the title track and “Vietnam Cowboys”) adapt a similar pre-punk aesthetic, wrapped around the lively songwriting that has always pervaded the frontman’s tunes. “The Tourist” was also among the most appealing recent selections (from 2006’s Other People’s Lives) offering comical commentary on everything from insanity over ABBA to Ricky Martin’s “Livin’La Vida Loca,” sold even further by Davies’ reversible sport coat boasting a British flag on one side and America’s colors on the other.

The only dip came during an acoustic set following intermission, which was reminiscent of his 1990s storytelling tours, but lacked the zest of the plugged-in portions. Current cuts “In A Moment” and “One More Time” were amiable enough, but were drained of The Kinks’ charisma, a fumble Davies would later reclaim during a progressive version of “You Really Got Me.” Though he started the mega-smash with slow, smoldering blues licks, it gradually evolved with fully adorned aggression, anchored by its iconic, bark-heavy chords. That track would’ve been a fitting ending to a mostly explosive evening, though Davies also offered “Victoria” as a rare gesture of what appeared to be an unscripted encore, once again in the influential but still relevant tradition of the previous two hours.

— Andy Argyrakis

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly