photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Ray Davies & choir @ The Wellmont Theater

67-year-old Davies brought out 46 members of the Dessoff Choir in the second half of his concert at the Wellmont.

Davies started the evening with an acoustic guitar before adding a rock band and then the choir, in a two-and-a-half-hour performance that covered most of his musical career (although with only a five-second snippet of The Kinks hit, "Lola").

And yes, the choir joined in for the encore, The Kinks' first big hit, "You Really Got Me." -[MontclairPatch]

The Kinks legend Ray Davies is currently on a tour with the Dessoff Chamber Choir. Some of the dates on the tour are to make up for the shows he had to cancel in 2010. Two of those makeup dates took place in the NYC-area over the weekend - Wellmont Theater on Friday (11/18), and the Beacon Theater last night (11/20). We have some pictures from the NJ show. More of them, with the setlists from both shows and more dates, below...

Continue reading "Ray Davies played Beacon & Wellmont w/ the Dessoff Choir (pics & setlists)"

Furthur are going on a tour that hits MSG on November 10th. Tickets are on sale now. The after party is at BB King's.

As previously mentioned, Ray Davies is going back out on tour. Tickets to the Beacon Theater show are now on AmEx presale and go on general sale Saturday at 10am.

Tickets to all four National shows at Beacon Theater (in case you hadn't noticed) go on sale today (9/16) at 11am.

Other shows now on sale at the Beacon include Steely Dan, Bryan Ferry, Yo Gabba Gabba!, The Jayhawks & Rosanne Cash, Gillian Welch, Weird Al, NY Comedy Fest stuff, two Noel Gallagher shows, and Tori Amos.

Shows coming up and on sale at Town Hall include more comedy stuff and Rufus & Martha Wainwright's "Not So Silent Night" Christmas Show.

Ray Davies hits the road in November for a tour that starts in New Orleans, passes through Chicago and lands in the NYC-area for shows at the Paramount Theater (on sale now) Wellmont Theater (on sale 9/9 at noon) and Beacon Theater (no tickets yet). All tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Ray Davies -- 2011 Tour Dates"

"Ray Davies' U.S tour dates have been cancelled. Ray personally did not want to cancel this tour but was ordered by his doctors not to fly or travel until his medical condition has stabilized to their satisfaction. At this moment, his doctors could not provide a time frame as to when he could travel to the U.S. and advised him to cancel below dates."

The press release refers to "his medical condition" but doesn't say what it is. It does go on to say that "Ray Davies would like to thank all his fans for their continued support and asks that everyone respect his privacy so he can concentrate on a swift recovery." I hope all is well with him. A list of the cancelled dates, Beacon Theatre and Wellmont Theatre included....

Continue reading "Ray Davies cancels tour w/ The Dessoff Chamber Choir "

Tickets are still on sale for DJ Shadow's upcoming show at Irving Plaza. And I have a couple of pairs you can win. Details below.

Tickets are still on sale for the Shearwater/Damien Jurado/Anni Rossi show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. And I have a pair you can win. Details below.

"WITNESS' 6th Annual Focus for Change Benefit Dinner & Concert" goes down on Thursday, December 2, 2010 at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. Co-Hosted by Peter Gabriel, there will be performances by Antibalas, Jimmy Cliff and Sheryl Crow. Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, will be there too. Click the link to get your $750 tickets.

Fistful of Mercy is Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper & Dhani Harrison, and you can catch them at the Apollo Theater on November 17th. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the upcoming Girl Talk shows at Wellmont Theatre and Terminal 5.

Tickets go on sale at noon for Gang of Four's show at Webster Hall.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Interpol show at Radio City Music Hall.

Iron & Wine Radio City tickets are on sale now.

Tickets go on sale at noon for the Tokyo Police Club/Two Door Cinema Club show happening at Temrinal 5.

Josh Ritter & the Royal City Band play Terminal 5 on 2/12. Tickets are on sale.

Pete Yorn and Ben Kweller play Terminal 5 on 3/11. Tickets are on sale. Way before that you can catch Ben Kweller on his own solo tour which is underway now.

Bindlestiff Family Circus has been added as an opener to the New Years Eve Drive by Truckers show at Terminal 5. Tickets are still on sale.

UK band Peggy Sue are worth getting to Terminal 5 early on November 19th. They open that date for Kate Nash. Tickets are still on sale.

Randy Newman plays Town Hall on March 5th. Tickets are on sale.

Ray Davies plays the Beacon Theatre in NYC with the Dessoff Chamber Choir on Wednesday, November 24th, two days before his previously announced NJ show. Tickets are on sale.

Lia Ices, full of CMJ buzz, plays Mercury Lounge on 12/14. Tickets are on sale.

Rural Alberta Advantage play Mercury Lounge on 1/12. Tickets are on sale.

Contests below...

Continue reading "Peter Gabriel, Randy Newman, Ray Davies, Josh Ritter, DJ Shadow, Interpol, Girl Talk, Fistful of Mercy, Lia Ices & other tickets"

Ray Davies has a new LP on the way entitled See My Friends due on November 1st. The release will see The Kinks frontman pairing with multiple bands to re-record, and sometimes re-imagine, Kinks songs. And these bands have names like Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Spoon, Black Francis, Metallica, Mumford & Sons... and the legendary Alex Chilton (RIP).

"This project came about almost by accident," says Davies of the project, which was kick-started when he recorded a version of 'Till The End Of The Day' in the summer of 2009, with Alex Chilton.

The full list of collaborators is below.

Davies is getting back on the road as well, though so far he just has scattered dates in Europe, and a newly-announced show in the United States. He'll be performing his 2009 LP The Kinks Choral Collection with the Dessoff Chamber Choir at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ on November 26th. Tickets go on sale at noon today (10/8). NYC got that show in 2009.

All dates, the See My Friends tracklisting, and some video are below...

Continue reading "Ray Davies re-recorded Kinks songs w/ special friends, playing NJ & other dates "

Bruce Springsteen & Tom Morello @ MSG (BMoreSweet)

U2 closed the second night of the MSG Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shows on October 30th. At the first (10/29), it was Bruce Springsteen & Billy Joel (before one big group sing on Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher")...

After "Badlands" much of the drained audience began leaving and then rushed back to their seats when Billy Joel sat down at the piano and launched into "You May Be Right," "Only The Good Die Young" and "New York State Of Mind." (The pair were uniting the kindred spirits of New Jersey and Long Island, Springsteen explained.) "Higher and Higher" wrapped up the night. The official set list had the show ending at 11:36:55 (yes, they thought they had it down to the exact second), but the final notes rang out at 1:31 a.m. Six straight hours of music, and that was just the first of two nights. [Rolling Stone]

Bruce was actually there both nights (one of many possibly "filling in" for Eric Clapton, who canceled last minute on the second). Those in attendence on the 30th got to see U2, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith sing together on "Because the Night." (And U2 + Mick Jagger (another unannounced guest) + Fergie + Will.i.am sing "Gimme Shelter"...). Ray Davies, Lou Reed, and Ozzy Osbourne all performed with Metallica. Many played with Stevie Wonder. Full setlists below.

HBO will be airing four hours of highlights on Thanksgiving weekend.
(November 29th at 8PM ET).

Bruce's current tour wraps up November 22nd in Buffalo. He was at Giants Stadium earlier this fall, playing the last concerts ever there. U2 also played the venue for two nights in September, and will be back in Jersey in 2010 as part of their just-announced tour.

Set lists for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows are below...

Continue reading "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hosted 2 very long shows @ MSG (setlists), will air on HBO Thanksgiving weekend"

After a massively successful career spanning more than 40 years, Ray Davies, the legendary lead singer of The Kinks, is back with creative and unusual interpretations of songs from his extensive catalogue. These are not merely re-recordings of the originals but whole new choral adaptations. Often referred to as "almost indisputably rock's most literate, witty and insightful songwriter," Davies had the ambitious idea to collaborate with the 65-strong Crouch End Festival Chorus at the 2007 BBC Electric Proms in London to create The Kinks Choral Collection. This masterful CD will be in stores November 10th on Decca with a nationwide tour scheduled to coincide with the release.

Ray Davies is playing two shows at NYC's Town Hall in November with The Dessoff Chamber Choir. Both go on sale at noon. All dates below.

Also coming up at Town Hall is a zillion shows by Robin Williams, one by Devendra Banhart, and two by Tegan & Sara.

After canceling her tour with Kanye West, Lady Gaga came back with a tour announcement that includes two shows at Radio City Music Hall: January 20th & 21st. No tickets yet.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Antlers show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are still on sale for the official BrooklynVegan CMJ show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (happening 10/20), a show that also includes the Antlers. Walter Schreifels plays a special early, hour-long set at 7:30pm. Before him is another opener that I'm about to announce. Fanfarlo closes the night around 11:00. Dave Hill, who is big in Japan, hosts the evening.

Speaking of Frenchkiss Records, tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the second Passion Pit show at Terminal 5.

Tickets are also on sale (@ noon) for the Mew show at Webster Hall.

Continue reading "Ray Davies, Lady Gaga, Antlers, Passion Pit, Mew, other tix"

"Fans would like The Kinks, who split in the early Nineties, to re-form and Davies might it it was "done right" but remains resistant to trotting out the old numbers. "I know the other original members would like to do it. But I always have to have something new." Yet in one significant way, he remains rooted in the past. While all his extended family have moved away, he still lives in Muswell Hill within streets of where he was raised. "Of the people who do what I do, I'm one of the few who live exactly where I grew up. I haven't moved to LA like Rod Stewart who grew up in Highgate," he says." [Louise Jury]

Ray Davies has some shows scheduled. Tickets are on sale for December performances at Hammerstein Ballroom and the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. All dates below...

Continue reading "Ray Davies - 2008 Tour Dates (Hammerstein Ballroom)"

At sixty-three, Ray Davies is still pretty feisty: After getting shot during a mugging in 2004, the Kinks frontman recovered and knocked out 2006's solid solo album Other People's Lives. On this follow-up, "No One Listen" finds Davies railing at the Louisiana officials who dropped charges against the man who allegedly shot him. Elsewhere on Working Man's Café, Davies carps about globalization ("Vietnam Cowboys"), young'uns who seek advice from him ("You're Asking Me") and the loss of a local greasy spoon ("Working Man's Café"). Davies' tune sense is still relatively intact, and he turns out loose melodies amid nimble bar-band grooves. [Rolling Stone]

Tickets go on sale Sunday March 2nd @ 10am for a an April 8th Ray Davies show at the Beacon Theater in NYC (TICKET PRICES: $99.00, $89.00, $69.00 & $59.00).

Will the Kinks ever reunite? Ray very-recently talked to the Canadian Press...

Davies: My brother and I get along well, as well as we've ever gotten. He was seriously ill himself. ... He had a stroke a few months after (my shooting). And he got really angry. I think when people get that sort of thing there's so much pent-up anger inside them, they feel responsible for it. I can't put myself in his shoes but he's recording at home. The others want to do it, the original band and the various incarnations of the band. It would be fun to do and I want to set a rule that we have new music as well.

CP: What do you think of these reunion tours, like with the Police?

Davies: They've milked it to death, haven't they? ... (Stewart) Copeland's a great drummer and Andy (Summer) is a good guitar player and (Sting) is good. But I saw the Police play in New York when they first came over and, I don't know, a good thing about the Kinks is, it's never the same every night.

CP: It seems a lot of fans are drawn to these reunion tours because they want to see if there'll be a blow-up on stage.

Davies (laughing): The Kinks would definitely not disappoint in that area.

Tour Dates below...

Continue reading "Ray Davies - 2008 Tour Dates, new album, Kinks reunion"

sing-along @ Carnegie Hall, NYC Feb 13, 2008 (Kathryn Yu, P4K)

Sufjan Stevens treated show-goers to "The Star-Spangled Banner", while Kinks man Ray Davies led a bill-wide sing-along. Also on-hand for the evening of charity and good cheer: Band of Horses, Philip Glass, Marisa Monte, Ashley MacIsaac, Phamie Gow, Tibet-born Nawang Khechog, and the monks of Drepung Gomang. To learn more and find out how you can help, head to the Tibet House U.S. website. [Pitchfork]

Ray Davies @ Camden Roadhouse, Oct 28, 2007 (CRED)

Band of Horses, Tom Verlaine and Ray Davies join Sufjan Stevens and Philip Glass on the lineup of this year's Tibest House benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. Ray Davies also played the show in 2005. What I remember most about it is that he has really enthusiastic fans. This year's show is on Wed. February 13th....

Concert tickets are $35-$108 and can be purchased by calling 212.247.7800 or in person at the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street & Seventh Avenue). Concert-only tickets are not available through Tibet House.

Sufjan has also played it before.

Ray Davies recently said the Kinks would reunite. Then Dave Davies denied it.