Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

There are some musicians who can just stand on the stage and their very presence is enough to send a venue into rapture and unreserved ecstasy. The former lead man of the superb London band The Kinks is one such man and as Ray Davies came on stage to thunderous applause it really felt as though time had been wound backwards to the days when they were one of the most talked of and much loved groups.

To get a Liverpool audience excited from the very off you have to have something incredible about you, an aura that never dims and no matter what, never fades. His songs have been covered by a multitude of musicians such as The Jam, The Stranglers and Robert Palmer and it is this lasting legacy that still brings the crowds in to watch him perform.

Ray Davies has that in bucket loads and as he played songs from every facet of his time in entertaining crowds world-wide to a delighted crowd, the sparkle, the glint that separates a good musician to a living legend was evident and much admired throughout the entire set.

The opening part of the night saw Ray flex his musical muscles with songs such as the 1966 hit Dedicated Follower of Fashion, In a Moment, the enigmatic Sunny Afternoon and the beautiful Victoria in which time Ray, who was by now visibly enjoying every moment in front of a crowd that he rates so highly, that he was urging the crowd on to join him on some of the songs he created in a sensational and outstanding career.

With his excellent band behind him, Ray flitted back and forth from his time with The kinks to the latest in a long line of albums and from See My Friends, he played the song he collaborated with Lucinda Williams, the rather haunting but stand-out song A Long Way From Home.

At one point during the night Ray read a segment from his book X-Ray, it was only a few lines long but the message resonated round the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. As he threw the book down on the table next to him his parting words from the book were “I knew one day I would be an individual.” With his unique perspective on life and the songs he has penned since the 1960’s he is nothing short of phenomenal.

With so little time to perform there were going to be songs dropped from a personal fan favourite list but the crowd were left more than happy with the tunes Waterloo Sunset, All Day and All of The Night and You Really Got Me being included in a set that was simply knock-out.

Ray Davies remains one of the finest musicians to come out of Britain and as he was more than made aware of at the end of this tremendous gig, he is welcome to Liverpool any time he wants.

Ian D. Hall