Review - Ray Davies, October 30, 2001, State Theatre, Portland, ME

Date: October 30, 2001 1:39 PM
From: Pete T.

Well we finally got our rescheduled Ray show in Portland ME last night, and the wait was well worth it...incredible!! I didn't know much about his storyteller show, so getting the readings, songs and stories was a hilarious triple treat. Ray's the ultimate ham, in a good way. Vocals were in fine form, Pete M's accompaniment was totally pro, and Ray's rhythm guitar so solid! on the three or so Ovations that encircled him along with the amps and monitors.

Ray's uninhibited, yuck-it-up delivery kept making me picture the boys in that front room, learning to play and perform and just having a ball for their own goofy amusement. I was at first surprised with the incomplete renditions of songs, but soon realized how that fit in with the flow of the narrative of the story. Great impressions of his dad, agents and managers, and the infamous "Green Amp" with Dave's pencil holes in the speaker, too funny! He could have just as easily been a successful comic I suspect, after that promising soccer career bombed out.

I didn't know all the songs/titles, but here's what I remember (not necessarily in order): Come Dancing, Where Have All the Good Times Gone, Victoria, Low Budget, Julie Finkle, one intense one about being an individual/unique - I'm Not Like Everybody Else ?, Dedicated Follower - yessss!, Set Me Free, Tired of Waiting For You, several I have no idea, You Really Got Me; and two encores, first a gorgeous Waterloo Sunset, then a closing, rousing Lola.

This was not a full house at the State Theater by any means, but those that were there were way into it, singing along with great gusto with every word. Always good to see a wide age range too, from a few kids to quite a few teens to us old gray-hairs. Long live Ray and Dave and the Kinks!!!

Pete in Maine