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)"

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 "

DOWNLOAD: THE POLYPHONIC SPREE - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: OVER THE RHINE - ALL I EVER GET FOR CHRISTMAS IS BLUE (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: RYAN ADAMS - HEY PARKER, IT'S CHRISTMAS (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: SMASHING PUMPKINS - RUDOLPH THE RED NOSE REINDEER (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: SUFJAN STEVENS - JOY TO THE WORLD (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: LIZ PHAIR - WINTER WONDERLAND (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: EELS - CHRISTMAS IS GOING TO THE DOGS (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: THE WHITE STRIPES - SILENT NIGHT (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BRIGHT EYES - BLUE CHRISTMAS (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: RILO KILEY - XMAS CAKE (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: ROGUE WAVE - CHRISTMAS (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: MY MORNING JACKET - SANTA CLAUS IS BACK IN TOWN (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: WEEZER - THE CHRISTMAS SONG (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: THE KINKS - FATHER CHRISTMAS (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: MORPHINE - SEXY CHRISTMAS BABY MINE (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: DEERHOOF - THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PEARL JAM - SOMEDAY AT CHRISTMAS (MP3)

Just some songs Nick and I quicky put together for our Christmas Eve show on Sirius XMU. Enjoy, and happy holidays. More HERE.

"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.

The Kinks are planning to follow in the footsteps of rockers Led Zeppelin with a highly anticipated reunion next year. Lead singer and guitarist Ray Davies said the band's original members, which included Davies' brother Dave on guitar, Mick Avory on drums and Pete Quaife on bass plan to play together for the first time in nearly four decades in 2008. Davies, 63, said a full reunion is on the cards next year (2008) for the first time in almost 40 years. [Daily Mail]

Continue reading "The Kinks to reunite?"