KINDA KINKS

Tonight. Ray Davies and band at The Palais.

The wish list:

Victoria, Australia, Brainwashed, Mr Churchill Says, Autumn Almanac, Shangri La, Driving, All Of My Friends Were There, Picture Book, Johnny Thunder, Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, Do You Remember Walter, 20th Century Man, Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues, Dead End Street, Alcohol, Lazy Old Sun, Sunny Afternoon, Days.

You Really Got Me? No. Waterloo Sunset? Heard it a million times. Lola? Bogan anthem.

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ST KILDA TRIANGLE PRESERVATION SOCIETY #

Here's a stat for youse: On the Wednesday before Easter in 1973 my mum, my brother and me went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palais in St Kilda. On the Wednesday before Easter 2008, my brother and me (and Nabakov) went to see Ray Davies at the Palais in St Kilda. If that amazing coincidence is not a good enough reason to preserve the Palais and Luna Park from the developer's wrecking ball, then my name's Grollo.

(Compounding the co-incidence, and for completion, I should also add that on the Wednesday before Easter in 1999 me and my mate Will saw the dreadful John Spencer Blues Explosion at The Palais, but no one, least of all me, likes to admit to mistakes. No idea what insane fit of caprice made me go see that tuneless fake funk hack.)

As always with going to see old favourites, I harboured doubts about whether Davies would be a let down. The Stones (2003) were dreary while the Who (2004) were a lot better but still not great; not Warren Zevon Stand In The Fire great, anyway.

Also, as Nick Lowe says: "people change, that's the long and short of it". Seeing a band 20, 30 or 40 years after they were great and maybe trying lo leverage some superannuation, as well as 20 years after you liked them most, after they gave you that original gut reaction, is a dicey proposition.

(Update! Sorry, forgot to mention that I was also slightly worried Davies would do something similar to his 1982 tour downunder when the Kinks were going through their dreadful heavy rock phase. As it happened, Nabakov's friend Glen saw them on that tour at the Entertainment Center in Perth and agreed they were shocking. However, my brother saw Davies in Ipswich England in 1999 and described a show somewhat similar to last night's.)

The Palais was a better option than either Rod Laver Arena or Vodaphone Arena; both crappy sports venues. The format was different, too. Davies' show was broken up into two one hour halves with a twenty minute intermission in the guts.

Early doors the signs weren't propitious. The sound for the first few songs was dreadful. Interestingly, out of the (roughly) ten tracks played in the first half, the best three were all off his 2006 solo album Other People's Lives. After The Fall, Next Door Neighbour and the Tourist were all terrific. From the other seven, Celluloid heroes went alright, and 20th Century Man, which I was looking forward to, was promising, but Davies and the band fvcked around with it, playing it too fast, and messy. A pity. The great strength of the song is the tight tempo and slow build up.

After the break there was a small acoustic set; just Ray and his guitar offsider Milton doing three songs. Given that I can't remember what they were - I think Sunny Afternoon or Dead End Street was one - they can't have been magnificent, or anything, but they weren't too shabby as far as I remember, which I don't.

After that trio the show hit top gear. Five beefed up songs starting with Set Me Free and ending with All Day And All Of The Night closed the second half. Milton should have used the blue guitar all night. Although I've never been a huge fan of All Day, it was the best song of the night; a gutsy, tight, balls and all ripper.

Days, and smacking suspiciously of a personal taunt, Lola and Waterloo Sunset were the encore. Days was the second best song of the night. Broken into three parts which consisted of an acoustic opening, a more-or-less standard middle and a rocked up third. It was ambitious - maybe too ambitious given the acoustics of the Palais - but it was a winner. Lola dragged on a bit, but despite my previous remark, it was fine. And Waterloo Sunset was also ambitious given its intricate structure, but Ray made it work just fine without the studio bells and whistles.

Disappointingly, there was nothing from Arthur or Village Green and only Waterloo Sunset from Something Else and only 20th Century Man from Muswell Hillbillies. They are my four favourite Kinks albums.

Aaaaaand: "You Really Got Me? NO" Doesn't even give a reason why don't want to hear it, except perhaps to suggest that you are too cool to listen to anything that made the Aus top 10." Spoken like a true non-Kinks fan, Yobbo you tin-eared fvcker. Not that I have to give a reason, but I didn't want to hear it because I have heard it a too many times and there are oodles of better Kinks songs. Nor did I even know what a Top 10 was when these songs were released. All my Kinks music appreciation started at least ten years after their zenith.

Comments

[Francis Xavier Holden]

Dedicated Follower of Fashion.(with updated references) I could handle any of your NO list provided they are not done "faithfully" like a cover band.

[Yobbo]

You are like one of those music critics who rates bands according to how few fans they have. And when asked to name your best 10 songs of the 80's would name 10 Tiny Tim B-Sides.

"You Really Got Me? NO" Doesn't even give a reason why don't want to hear it, except perhaps to suggest that you are too cool to listen to anything that made the Aus top 10.

[Francis Xavier Holden]

10 songs of the 80's would name 10 Tiny Tim B-Sides

You talking to me or Tnes.

I plead guilty.

[Clem Snide]

What, no "Freebird"? No "Stairway to Heaven"? No "Macarena"? Sacrilege.

[Simon]

You really gotta go those good times, no matter where they've gone. If they were good enough for Diamond Dave ...

[Tony T]

If you want, I'll name Tiptoe Through The Tulips ten times.

[Nabakov]

That's about how I remembered it too before the double whiskies and actresses kicked in after the show.

I'd add that for a sixtysomething with a notoriously troubled past, Ray was a very lively, relaxed and affable showman, clearly enjoying this part of his life a lot, and with some good quips and a voice that seems to have improved with age. Unlike some of his audience.

[Francis Xavier Holden]

Thanks.

Man I'm wondering why I didn't book tickets.

"Picture book .....lal la do do dadda .."

and btw it's:

"me mum, me brover and I"

[Tony]

You want to hear a confession: me no like I.

Dunno why. Just do.

[carneagles]

Lucky he didn't play Better Things, I understand that you have to be dead to hear that.

[Professor Rosseforp]

The Kinks were definitely a tier or two below The Beatles, the Stones or the Who. That's why their albums were sold cheaply on the Astor Star label in Australia. People wouldn't pay full price for them.
A sort of Small Faces with a longer lifespan, and without Stevie Marriott's voice ; like Traffic, but without musical ability.
Listen to "Dogs", "Pictures of Lily" -- or anything -- by the Who, and you'll see the socio-musical background the Kinks tried to explore, but didn't quite succeed.
Not as good as Gerry and the Pacemakers, but probably a bit better than Freddy and the Dreamers.
They had a couple of good songs.

[Lad Litter]

If I could just stop spluttering. There, that's better.

Professor Rosseforp has taken wrong-headed rock snobbery to a new level.

Better than Freddie & The Dreamers? Everybody was better than Freddie's manic music hall schtick and choreographed lantern-jawed band. Not as good as Gerry & The Pacemakers? Only in certain deep parochial corners of Liverpool where porridge was considered a balanced meal.

Small Faces; Traffic; and The Who were all great. So were the Kinks. They do not suffer by comparison with any of the above.

I would have loved to have heard All Day; Set Me Free; Picture Book; & Victoria above all others if I'd been there.

[pat]

Some Lost related trivia: the late Charlie Pace sang the Kink's song "He's Evil" in the episode "The 23rd Psalm" and it was also background music in the "Fire + Water" episode.

Charlie was a big Kinks fan which no doubt inspired his "Drive Shaft" (the name of his prior band)offerings like "You All Everybody".

[carneagles]

As I understood, the Kinks didn't get the best service when they were on Pye in the UK. It wouldn't surprise me at all if their Australian distribution was poor as well.

[Tony T.]

Prof was being sarcastic. I think.

At their bests. The Kinks were every bit as good as the Who, not quite as good as the Stones or Beatles.

At their worsts. They all had their faults, but at least the Beatles has the good manners to leave when they knew it was time to leave. Most everything the Stones, the Who and the Kinks have done since about 1980 (probably earlier) was a turgid bore.

Case in point. The Who's latest album, Endless Wire - Who's Shit! Absolutely dreadful.

PS: The hideous overaged teenager Tracee Hutchison interviewed Davies on the 7:30 Report on Thursday. Talk about a head tilting, coquette suckfest.

[Amanda]

I don't want to live in a world where people can really think the Beatles were better than the Kinks.

[Amanda]

My favourite ever Stones song is post-1980. Come to think of it, its post-1990 even.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Au contraire, Tony T., I was deadly serious. The Kinks had a couple of good songs, but so did Elvis. If I'd recorded as many songs as Elvis, I might easily have had a hit record, too.
Amanda, the world you live in does think the Beatles were better than the Kinks -- by a country mile. In spite of Tim Rogers' career built on a passing resemblance to Pete Townsend with a Ray Davies haircut, the Kinks have had minimal impact on subsequent music, and properly occupy a place on "Greatest Brit hits of the 60s" with the Dave Clark 5, the Tremeloes (sans Brian Poole), and the Scaffold.
On the other hand Amanda, the Stones had a creative lacuna post-Brian Jones, and their latest album, Bigger Bang, is their best since Sticky Fingers -- leaving about 30 years worth of albums which are pretty samey -- but they have never hit the heights of Under My Thumb, Paint it Black, Sympathy for the Devil. Back of my hand comes pretty close.

[Tony T.]

P: Hard marker on The Kinks. But is that a sign you're a fair marker on You Am I? Straya's most over rated band. I throw it in for debate. Or maybe Weddings Parties Anything. Or Hunners & C'lectors. Actually, it's probably Silverchair.

A: Much as I like the Kinks more than the Beatles, I've never been able to bring myself to judge them better than the Beatles.

But for me the Kinks are a far sight better than the DC5 (and the MC5, for that matter), the Tremeloes with or without Brian Poole, The Small Faces, Freddie & the Dreamers, Gerry & the Pacemakers with or without Arthur Mack (thanks, Wiki) and Traffic.

In the Shanghai noodle factory, place where I once used to be, noooo where, doing nothing.

Sorry. Pavlov's dog drooled on me.

[carneagles]

It's difficult to get a clear perspective on the Beatles given that I - like many others, I suspect - had absorbed the first five years of their work by osmosis by the time I cleared my teens. On the other hand, I was a late-in-life Kinks convert when, a few years ago, I was flipping through a Kutprice Kinks Kompilation (past the usual fucked-amp suspects) and landed on the brilliant Victoria.

So I reckon the Beatles were better, but there's a definite bias there. Still reckon the White Album was self-indulgent, though.

[carneagles]

PS: Silverchair.

[Professor Rosseforp]

Tony T., yes I listened to the latest You Am I album a while back. I'm repeating myself, but I thought that when they got an extra guitarist a few years back they probably should have got a singer and songwriter instead.
Carneagles, I agree with your estimation of the Beatles' white album. Again, at the risk of repeating myself, have a listen to Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man, which was written when Donovan and the Beatles were in India together, and I think Donovan's is the better album. I would also toss in Abbey Road, which, with its scraps of songs and hooks, is a little too much like Wings for my liking. The production, experience and professionalism almost carry it off, but it's very weak.
Also, Manfred Mann was better than the Kinks.P.J. Proby was -- and is -- better than Elvis.

[Amanda]

Luckily my musical appreciation does not depend on toting up the sterile algebra of "importance."

[boynton]

yeah yeah yeah

I guess millions of us still keep getting the maths wrong on the beatles.

I appreciate the Kinks too I think.

[Gareth]

SO. How about them Demons?

[Tony T]

At any one point my fave band has been the Beatles, the Stones, the Who or The Kinks. But across the journey, the Beatles loom largest. They virtually invented - codified, maybe - modern popular music. (If that can't start an argument, nothing will.)

Interestingly, I divided the Beatles with the Kinks and discovered the remainder was Agadoo.

[Tony T]

Demons? Whuzzat?

[TimT]

"Here's a stat for youse: On the Wednesday before Easter in 1973 my mum, my brother and me went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palais in St Kilda. On the Wednesday before Easter 2008, my brother and me (and Nabakov) went to see Ray Davies at the Palais in St Kilda. If that amazing coincidence is not a good enough reason to preserve the Palais and Luna Park from the developer's wrecking ball, then my name's Grollo."

Does this mean Nabakov is your archetypal Mother figure, or am I misinterpreting?

[Tony T.]

You're misarchetyping.