Ray Davies Live Winter 2010

I saw Ray Davies the other night in Atlantic City NJ.

I saw Ray about two years ago and I saw the Kinks in the mid 80’s when they were doing the Think Visual Tour. I’ve had at one time or another most of the Kinks albums. I’ve been a long time Kinks fan.

Anyway Ray has kicked off his 2010 winter tour at the Music Box in the Borgata Casino. He basically was doing a Storyteller show that was mostly acoustic sets with the assistance of a wonderful guitarist Bill Shanley who played acoustic, electric and back up vocals. The opening act was an LA band called “The 88” who were young and really good. They also joined Ray at the end with a full electric performance of three Kinks songs.

Now Ray always likes to get his audience involved with the performance. He likes to get them to clap to the beat of the songs and even sing along and have the crowd do the chorus refrains and this performance was no different. Ray was great as usual and he really wants the crowd to be a part of things even though he was doing less known Kinks and solo stuff. Basically you really had to know your Kinks and Ray’s solo stuff. Even for me who has most of the Kinks albums and two of Ray’s albums there were two or three songs I didn’t recall but it didn’t matter- it was about having fun.

So Ray was great but I was disappointed in the audience. I was center and a few rows from the stage. Age of the crowd was mainly in their 50’s and 60’s. There were a few of us 40 something and younger. But in my section I was surrounded by corpses and I’m not referring to their age but their attitudes. It was like they were watching TV. I saw Ray two years a go in a small theater setting and everybody was rocking and having fun. But this group seemed totally lost. Now there were a couple sections being more involved, like the section to my left. They were up and participating and Ray would keep looking over to them and smiling and almost started playing to them.

I don’t know why they seemed lost and just sat there. Maybe, because it was a casino and most of the people who came in thought it was a lounge act or if they as middle age people who were scarred as little kids by seeing their parents dancing and having fun at parties swore they would never act that way when they get old or they only knew three Kinks songs is why. But even in the end when “The 88” came out and joined Ray on stage to rock out, the crowd in my section just sat there and eventually got up and tried to participate. But man it was sad.

There was this couple in front me and you think they would be rockers. She had blond hair and was wearing a little leather jacket with Harley Davidson spelled out in rhinestones. I would say they were in there late forties to mid fifties. Well, they were corpses, occasionally looking back at me when I would softly clap to the beat or sing along (because Ray asked us to) as if I was bothering them. I was getting annoyed with them and I was wondering why they even came and not just go buy a DVD of him and watch him at home. I said to my wife we should go sit in the fun section to the left. I mean I’ve seen more active crowds at an André Rieu classical music concert with an older crowd.

So look you old hippies and rockers if you think you’re being cool by not being part of the concert, you actually are being boring and looking like a bunch of old folks. Ray is 65 and had more energy and youth than what I saw around me.

I encourage you, if you have chance to see Ray Davies, go! For you young ones you would be seeing one of the great artists that have influenced many bands to this day. And as for you old ones, go and enjoy. Advice to young and old don’t get drunk. One, you might not remember the concert. Two, chances are you’re going to yell things that don’t make sense or interrupt the performance. But you old ones don’t be afraid to let the teenager out in you. You just might have a little bit more fun and fonder memories.