Kinks vocalist/guitarist Ray Davies played his first solo date in New York in years last night (Nov. 28) at the Supper Club, treating fans to six songs that will appear on his first solo album. As previously reported, “Other People’s Lives” is due Feb. 7 via V2 and is led by the track “Thanksgiving Day,” released last week on EP of the same name.
Smiling throughout and clearly feeding off the audience’s energy, Davies noted that the nearby Edison Hotel was the first place he’d ever stayed while visiting the Big Apple. “All these strange women kept knocking at my door,” he said with a grin.
In addition to “Thanksgiving Day,” the 26-song set featured such new songs as the Tom Petty-ish “After the Fall,” “Next Door Neighbour,” “The Tourist,” “Things Are Gonna Change (The Morning After)” and “Stand Up Comic,” which Davies sang as his alter ego, “Max.”
On several occasions, Davies made mention of his brother/Kinks guitarist Dave, who suffered a stroke in 2004 and has only recently begun playing music again. “He’s giving me a hard time, so he must be better,” Ray said.
He also performed acoustic versions of several tunes from the Kinks’ classic “Village Green Preservation Society,” including “Animal Farm,” “Johnny Thunder” and “Village Green,” and reveled in the notion that the album was considered a flop after its 1968 release. “If you feel down and feel like a failure, stick around long enough and you’ll become a cult,” he said.
The set concluded with such Kinks classics as “All Day and All the Night,” “Waterloo Sunset, “You Really Got Me,” “Lola” and “Low Budget.” Davies is expected to return to North America for additional touring in late March and April.
Here is the track list for “Other People’s Lives”:
“Things Are Gonna Change (The Morning After)”
“After the Fall”
“Next Door Neighbour”
“All She Wrote”
“Creatures of Little Faith”
“Run Away from Time”
“The Tourist”
“Is There Life After Breakfast”
“The Getaway (Lonesome Train)”
“Other People’s Lives”
“Stand Up Comic”
“Over My Head”
“Thanksgiving Day”
