Reviews from Fans.

Ok, first one up, a review of Dave's show at The Bottom Line, 5/23/98, from Freaky Frank Reda:

"The second gig on the tour and history was made, at the late show, for
the final number of "you really got me",Pete Quaife  got up and played
bass , he was in attendance for both shows, and took pictures with fans
and signed autographs. I took a picture of me between the two. Also at
the show was Billy J. Kramer , remember "little children"? I got a picture
of him with Pete and Dave. Also,  the suprise was now "hold my hand" is
in the set,  he looks and sounds better than ever. Also Yoshi, a fan from
Japan flew in for the show, and 3 people from California came in: Lee
Arthur Wilkerson, Johnny Guiterez, and his girlfriend Orphelia, 3 of the
nicest people in the world. At the end of the night Rafaela got a big
hug and kiss from Dave outside the Bottom Line, he hugged me at sound
check at 5/22/ gig  opening night, and Ray did not turn up at Bottom Line
show, can't wait for rest of dates. I also saw Ray next day at trump
marina atlantic city. Pete Quaife attended that show but Ray did not call
him up, bummer. He has the limited cd again and t-shirt with dates, 
it's black with white and silver writing. Also in New York, Dave did a
little of strangers in the night by Frank Sinatra, as a dedication to his
passing on, he talked about it to, what a caring human being."

Here's another one from Frank, from the 5/27/98.

"Tonight I just got back from Ram's
Head-Annapolis ,Maryland. He did I'm on an Island, and Slum Kids, just
to much, sheer joy. That hug and kiss in New York, was for the fan club
president, because of loyalty beyond all others. Rafaela, cheers to you."

Here are a series of reviews by Joanne Corsano:

I never compare Ray's shows to Dave's shows.  I have had outrageously good
times at both.  But if you think Ray seems to be tired and going through the
motions, beg or steal an airline ticket (did I really say that -- but that
would be illegal!) -- do whatever it takes to get yourself to a Dave show.
Remember the spirit, the soul of The Kinks?  The excitement, the exuberance,
the spontaneity?  The FUN?  Those qualities are alive and kicking, at Dave's
shows.  The man may be 51 years old but he has an incredible amount of energy.
It looks to me like he's dropped a few pounds since the fall tour.  His face
is a bit thinner than in the fall -- a couple of times he even reminded me of
that impressively fit brother of his -- except Dave is wearing his hair
pleasantly long.  He's so much handsomer now than that goofy teenager looking
out at me from the '60s album covers.  Oh, somebody tell me to shush, already!
Before I start to sound like a total moron.

The Turning Point, 28 May, Piermont, NY.

At the ridiculously tiny Turning Point in the lovely Hudson River town of
Piermont, NY, Dave played the best show I've seen him do to date.  The stage
was about half the size of your average apartment kitchen.  The drummer was
crammed in the corner and Dave would have had enough room, if he was lying
down napping.  But they didn't care.  Dave was very relaxed and he was just
having a blast.  He still had the music stand with his lyric cheat-sheets, but
he looked at it all of twice.  He is obviously gaining confidence in himself.
What a joy it has been over the past year, over the course of three tours, to
watch that process unfold!  How wonderful that we have finally been granted
the opportunity, after so many years, to watch Dave romp through a show of his
own, having so much fun, acting like a delighted kid.

Is there a record-keeper personality type who makes song lists at concerts?  I
always do.  I'll put the set lists at the bottom of this post so if anybody
wants them, skim to the bottom.  He's using "Till The End Of The Day" to start
the shows.  As much as "I Need You", the song that opened the fall shows, is a
great song, starting with a known hit is a guarantee of getting the audience
in your pocket right away, and Dave played a great version of it, true to the
original recording.

The impromptu verse of "I'm a King Bee" right before "Creepin' Jean" had me in
stitches.  Where did that come from, Dave?  The band played such a raving
version of "Milk Cow Blues" that Dave was out of breath at the end of it.  He
announced "this part of the song is what we used to call a rave-up" and then
he and the drummer really went at it.

Dave is having a lot of fun with the fact that three out of four guys on stage
are named Dave.  For the record, the drummer's name is actually Jim LaSpesa.
The "Jim Davis" thing was a gag.  He is an excellent drummer and singer.
Watch his drumming during "Wicked Annabella" or "Tired of Waiting."  He nailed
the harmonies beautifully, particularly on "Love Gets You" and "Young and
Innocent Days."  Because there are so many Daves in the band, Our Dave would
occasionally introduce the drummer as "Dave, formerly known as Jim."  The
other musicians are Dave Nolte on keyboard, guitar and harmonica (hi Dave --
say hi to little Anastasia for me, will ya?) and Dave Jenkins on bass.  Mr.
Nolte played in the rehearsal tour last spring and Mr. Jenkins in the fall
tour.  The only drawback -- and a minor one -- is that Dave N. is not the
accomplished keyboardist that Kristian was during the fall tour; in fact, he
played the accompaniment to "Young and Innocent Days" on the guitar instead --
but it sounded just fine.  The whole band is having almost as much fun as Dave
himself, by the way, and they sound great.

Another new song is "Hold My Hand," never a favourite of mine on record, but
Dave sings it so beautifully live that I've decided to put it on my list of my
top 5 Dave songs (you know, the list with 25 songs on it).  In the first show
Dave played one verse of "Mindless Child" and it sounded great, but he stopped
it and said they needed to rehearse the rest of it.  In the late show, he
pulled out "I'm a Lover, Not A Fighter" -- and man was it good!  Very
countryish, the guitar was just great  This was in response to a request.
Another request had him playing the opening bars of "I'm On An Island" (a
wonderfully absurd song for Dave to do!!); he admitted he forgot the words,
and basically the audience sang the song, along with some clinking glasses
meant to simulate the cowbell on the record!

Last year members of the audience would meow during "Fortis Green" when the
song mentions putting out the cat (Kate H., did you start that?); and Dave
liked it well enough to give the meow vocal to Dave the bass player.  On
Thursday he meowed so badly that Dave cracked up, stopped the song, and
started the verse again.  At the end of "Love Gets You," Dave shouted ole' and
spontaneously played a few Spanish flamenco notes on his guitar.  If you
haven't gotten the idea yet, the shows Thursday night were a lot of fun.

Another change is in the arrangement of "Unfinished Business."  They have
added a melodic, almost mystical keyboard intro that sets a reflective mood
for this powerful song.  The keyboard comes in during the song twice more.
But it eventually turns into a straight-ahead rock number, with Dave wailing
away on the guitar with such passion and energy it makes the hairs stand up on
my arms.  That guy really does play the guitar like it was a part of him.

The late Turning Point show ended with a couple of tunes that had me laughing
out loud.  One of Dave's many strengths as a singer is his sincerity.  When he
sang "Money," he had us reaching into our wallets, he was so convincing!  He
segued right into "David Watts," a tune that, like many others, Dave has
reshaped and made his own.  The maniacal laughter, the line "I have never been
a queen," the hand gestures that originally were meant to mimic Ray (but
probably Dave just thinks they're part of the song now).

Go look at Dave's facial expressions, from the ecstatic concentration during
guitar solos to the elfin grin to the thoughtful biting of the lower lip.  I
think I would enjoy these shows even if I hated the songs, the guy is having
so much fun.

The Big Kahuna, Wilmington, DE, 30 May.

Jim and I took the train to Wilmington, DE where we were picked up at the
station (been a few mornings since I've been in Delaware) by the other half of
the Raving Dave Fan Kollective, my dear friends Leslie and Fritz from Ann
Arbor, MI who had just completed a 13 hour drive to see the object of their
admiration.  It was the first time the principal four members of the
Kollective have been together -- me, Jim, Leslie and Fritz.  We quickly
assimilated another member, the charming Lisa from (where the heck was it?),
Pennsylvania, who realized right away that resistance was futile.

Fred has already described the amazing Big Kahuna.  It was different, let's
put it that way.  It's the only rock concert I've ever been to that was tide-
dependent.  When we first went out on the deck facing the barge, the barge was
so high in the water I couldn't even see Dave-Formerly-Known-As-Jim's drum
kit.  After waiting around till 10:30 for the show to start, passing out
insect repellent to the rest of the crowd, the tide had gone out and the barge
had dropped at least 8 feet, and I could even see the floor of the stage from
my preferred standing spot in front of Dave, just to his left.  We were 5
meters away from Dave across this moat, separated from the murky water (I like
murky water) only by a flimsy cord fence.  I thought Frank Lima was going to
wind up in the river.  I would have had to dive in after him; but if Dave was
singing a song I liked, I might have had to let Frank sink.  (Let's see, does
Dave do a song I don't like?  Honestly, I'm not crazy about "Picture Book,"
but Dave himself enjoys the "scooby-dooby-doo's" a real lot.)

As others have commented, this show was a bit less intimate, with so much of
the crowd unconcerned with who they were seeing, and also with the 15 foot gap
across the moat, but what it lacked in intimacy the RDFK made up in energy.
Standing is the ONLY WAY to see a Dave show.  The four of us bopped and
boogied all night, raised our glasses of ice water to the death of a clown,
grabbed our sides at imaginary bullets during "Unfinished Business," held
hands and swayed during "Hold My Hand" (Kate H., did you start that, you sly
fox?), pointed right back at Dave during "You're Lookin' Fine," raised solemn
index fingers during "Strangers," weeped with joy during "This Man He Weeps
Tonight," (oh yes, Jerry, that song really is that good), and generally did
not behave ourselves during the 1 hr. 30 minute set.

The Iron Horse, Northampton, Mass., 31 May.

Yippee Yi Yay!  Finally Dave made it to that stronghold of the Kinkdom,
Massachusetts.  But this was the weakest of the shows I've seen because the
Iron Horse closes at 8:30 on Sunday.  (Um, did whoever booked your shows check
on these facts, Dave?  Really, now.)  The show was scheduled to start at 7:00.
Q: When does a rock show ever start exactly on time?  A: When the performer
has to be packed and out of the house in 90 minutes.  Man, it was tough on
Dave.  He played only a little mini-rave up during "Milk Cow Blues."  He
rushed through "She's Got Everything."  He dropped some of the tunes he'd been
doing, but he did add one of my particular favourites, "Love Me Till The Sun
Shines."  He joked a bit with the audience about his book, KINK, but in
general didn't have time for anything.  Did any of you who hadn't been to
other shows notice?  Julie?  Chris?  Odsie?  Doug?  His energy for the 1 hr.
10 minutes, 18 songs, was still as high as in the other shows, and he was
grinning as much and enjoying himself just as much .... just not for as long.

This night was declared by Dave to be National Leslie Night.  Dave, deeply
appreciative of fans who would drive all the way from Michigan, bestowed many
friendly glances and smiles on her as we sat just to his left (sat! if you
were paying attention you'll remember that's the WRONG way to watch a Dave
show).  As a result, she's probably still grinning from ear to ear as she
pulls into her little semi-detached in Ann Arbor right about now.  If Dave's
music hadn't been exciting enough that night, shortly after the show the area
had severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  (Tornado warnings?  Leslie and
Fritz, that's YOUR weather, not OURS.)

By the way, the longstanding RDF flower tradition was observed at each of the
shows.  One of the members of the Kollective (usually one of the female
members, but we're warming up Jim and Fritz for a turn) hands Dave flowers at
the end of the show.  This is simply our way of saying thank you to him for
the many years of great music.  Dave's music has made such a powerful impact
on my life; and his music is so under-recognized and under-appreciated.  This
love of his music makes me weak at the knees.

EPILOGUE.

Jerry and others have commented on the delight of sharing these concerts with
others who are not just fans, but who are good friends.  It was a quick tour
of the east coast with Dave, and I am sorry Leslie and Fritz had to go back so
soon to Ann Arbor, but jobs and things do sometimes claim a priority.  Dave
sings about making connections between people and being true to what you
believe.  When Leslie and Fritz met us at the train and they proudly pulled
out of their bag the set of four Raving Dave Fan t-shirts they had made up for
us to wear, and then I excitedly pulled out of my bag the set of four Raving
Dave Fan t-shirts I had made up for us to wear, not only did we all crack up
(we had not told one another about the t-shirts), but we realized that we had
had another experience like what Dave talks about in his music, and that this
is the reason we call ourselves The RDF Kollective.  It was with great
happiness and pride that Leslie, Fritz, Jim and I wore those t-shirts to the
two concerts we attended together.

We are not four, we are one.

Here's one from Leslie M. Ohanian:

First off let me say that I had the best time of my life the last week
in May ! I got to travel from Michigan to Delaware to see Dave at the
Big Kahuna, in Wilmington, DE and then again the next night in
Northampton, MA. And I got to meet a whole bunch of KPSers I've only
exchanged emails with; including FranK Lima, his lovely companion
Andrea, Kate Hunter, David "Odsie" Fleming, Julie Reid, Chris Locke,
Rafaela, Lisa and if I forgot anyone, I'm sorry I'm still recovering
from the long drive !!

The Big Kahuna didn't impress me as a great venue the first time I saw
it Friday the 29th. A member of the staff, Missy, who I bugged to death
and still she gave me free tickets, showed Fritz and I around when we
came into town. I mean really ! The stage on "the deck" was a reclaimed
cement barge that rose high in the air !

After picking up Joanne and Jimmy from the train station we headed to
the venue. It's in what appears to be an area formerly occupied with
warehouses. The show was a late one, 10:30 and I had plenty of time to
mingle with all of the true hard core fans.

The radio station broadcasting from the Big Kahuna kept referring to
Dave as the lead singer (???) of the Kinks and as I mentioned before,
credited him with "Lola" and "Come Dancing." !!! The assembled fans kept
shouting out "Those are Ray's songs !!!" and a few of us went over and
tried to clear up the mess with a clearly uninterested DJ.

Once Dave took the stage, the crowd (at least those in front of the
stage) couldn't have cared what the rest of the world around us was
doing. Despite the hot humid weather, he was clad in the typical long
sleeved black shirt and black jeans, and he ROCKED !!

I was so chuffed to hear one of my 'particular favorites'  "Hold My
Hand" played. Unlike TATNW this version was a slow soulful ballad, and
it took my breath away. Fritz got chills when the versatile Dave Nolte
started the keyboard intro to "Unfinished Business." WOW, that song
never ceases to enthrall me.

After about 2 hours of thoroughly wonderful music and the overt flirting
with all the ladies in the front rows, Dave walked down the gangplank to
the deck area. Joanne and I ran to give him the traditional bouquet. I
got called a sweetheart as I handed Dave the flowers and he gave me a
hug, and graciously posed for a picture with me. (by the way, he looks
GREAT in the picture, I looked possessed !! All you see of me is eyes
and teeth, very scary !) Joanne's wonderful tee shirt she gave to Fritz
and I got the attention of Dave, who said he loved it.

Then it was on to Northampton. As Fritz and I stood in line to get into
the small Iron Horse venue, we had a great time talking with The FranK,
Andrea, et al. I had promised Dave a tee shirt with the RDF Kollective
design Fritz and I did, the night before. When the tour bus pulled up in
front of the Iron Horse Dave recognised Fritz and I and spent some time
talking to us as his management tried to hustle him inside. I gave him
the shirt and he called me a sweetheart again, (that's 3 sweethearts and
1 liar, not too bad !!) and went inside for the sound check.

The Iron Horse was quite small and a sit down venue. Joanne and I were
just off to Dave's right and he spent most of the night flirting with
me, Joanne and Andrea. The show was cut short (an hour and 15 minutes)
by request of the Iron Horse. I can't gripe, Dave was in great form,
joking with the audience and when someone called out for "I'm Not Like
Everybody Else" (which he did the night before) he claimed to not know
the song. I said, I thought quietly, that I could sing it, Dave heard me
and jokingly gestured for me to come on stage and sing it. (NO WAY !!!)

After the show the crowd outside grew very restless waiting for Dave to
come out and mobbed him when he did. People were shoving album covers,
posters, copies of Kink and what have you  right in his face. He handled
it a lot more graciously than I would have !! I, being only 5"3 was
shoved into the middle of the mob, and consequently, wound up right in
Dave's path ! When he was right in front of me, someone knocked his arm
causing him to drop what he was carrying. I helped him pick up the tee
shirt I had given him earlier and the other stuff and he was finally
able to get onto the bus.

Dave puts on such an energetic, electrifying performance and he amazes
me with how much fun he appears to be having.
I love his music and have grown to not only admire him as a musician,
but also he seems to be a genuinely nice person as well. This whole
experience was so great, I got to see Dave play twice and hang around
with the most wonderful people !

Now if only Dave would come to somewhere near Michigan !! Perhaps when
the long awaited anthology comes out in September (as Dave said the
30th) or August (as Dave said the 31st of May !) Joanne, Jimmy and all
of us can see him in the Great Lakes or nearby area.

Here's a review of Dave's recent show in Redondo Beach, California, by Steve Smith.
Good afternoon,

Well, I saw another Rock and Roll Hall of Famer again last night,
something to always be appreciated, and never taken for granted. I think
you've been able to assertain over the years that I derive great
enjoyment attending the concerts of my personal favorite performers. I
don't even need to begin to tell you who they are. That would be stupid
and completely unnecessary.
Among them are, of course, Jethro Tull; McCartney; Jimmy Page; Clapton;
Emersom, Lake and Palmer; Pete Townsend; the Stones; and whatever Procol
Harum grouping Gary Brooker wishes to assemble. 
And the Kinks.
The band formed in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, originally as
the Ravens,  were leaders of the first British Invasion, following the
Beatles here in 1964-65. The Kinks are wierd, because you'll never find
a band with so many hits, yet so almost completely unknown by so many
people. 
One of my beloved reference books lists more than twenty bona fide
Kinks hits prior to 1980 (when the book was printed). That was before
such subsequent FM hard rock hits as Wish I Could Fly Like Superman; Do
It Again; Working At The Factory; Rock and Roll Cities; and Destroyer;
as well as beautifully graceful soft rock hits like Better Things; and
Lost and Found.
But, things have not always been better for the Davies boys. They have
had a classic love-hate sibling rivalry from the very beginning of their
success. Sometimes, the results of their feud are downright hilarious,
such as the times when they'd get into fights right on-stage, or engage
in spitting contests, which also involved original drummer Mick Avery.
Can you imagine three grown men spitting on each other on-stage in the
middle of a show? It's totally hilarious - I would have killed to have
been there for one of these little tiffs - just to experience it
first-hand.
Anyway, these days, the boys are hating each other. And, although they
re-grouped briefly for a very small tour in 1995 that saw them stop for
three shows at Hollywood's House of Blues (I saw two, but Mr. Kink
himself, Andy Briggs pissed me off by catching all three. Jealousy rears
it's ugly head); and for another brief re-grouping in the studio in
April 1996 to record the title track along with three other cuts to
their latest cd to date, To The Bone (two of those cuts remain
unreleased), the 
band has been nowhere to be
seen - much to the consternation of its' fans.
So, what's been doing?
Well, during the past five years, Ray's written two autobiographies and
has been touring with his solo acoustic show, The Storyteller
(personally, having seen this show four times, enough is enough - it's
time for something else). 
Meanwhile, Dave has recorded the soundtrack to John Carpenter's Village
of the Damned; as well releasing as another solo cd, Unfinished
Business. And, it was recently announced that a 3-cd boxed set of Dave's
solo stuff will be released in February (Andy, start saving your Kopecs,
bud).
Dave, who now lives in Hollywood a couple blocks above Sunset Blvd. and
its' House of Blues, has also been touring the past couple years, and he
and his band blew into Redondo Beach's Club Caprice last night. 
What you have are two distinctly different approaches to maintaining
the legacy of the Kinks - none of which comes close to the impact of a
standard Kinks tour: Ray, reading from his book, X-Ray, and crooning
acoutic run-throughs of the groups hits prior to 1976; Dave rocking the
clubs with a couple dozen gems, most prior to 1971. Each includes 3-7
new tunes.
Who do I prefer? The one I'm listening to at the time, of course. Each
presentation is just swell, and has its considerable charms, and high
points. 
After all, it's hard to beat a show that opens off with 30 seconds of
light meandering before kicking straight into the all-time great lyrics
of "A-baby, I feel good..." as Dave does when he begins with "Till the
End of the Day."
At 51, Dave neither looks nor acts his age, bounding around the stage
and still acting the part of the classic rock and roll swaggering,
riffing, gunslinger guitarist, the on-stage larger-than-life stage
persona that he, Kieth Richard and Jimmy Page patented more than 30
years ago  - the idol of literally millions and millions of young guys
who longed to be them. Seeing these legendary guys (and I've seen all
three withing the past year) still cranking it out with joyous glee,
vitality and credibility truly lightens my soul, and keeps me young.
Also, wheras Ray's Storyteller is fairly serious, Dave is the clown,
laughing, making stupid jokes, and cajoling the throng to join in
sing-alongs on tunes such as Death Of A Clown, David Watts
(fa-fa-fa-f-a-fa-fa-fa-fa) and Picture Book. Occasionally, he'll
interupt his telling about the song he's going to play at the drop of a
hat to engage in some lighthearted banter with an audience member, often
some babe.
While running through many of the same songs that he performed the
prior three occasions that I've had the pleasure of seeing him, he
nonetheless surprised the real afficianados by soloing on Young and
Innocent Days, from 1969's Arthur; and digging out a very rare cut
whose name escapes me right now, from Muswell Hillbillies (December
1971). His three new songs, Unfinished Business, Forrest Green (actually
at least three years old), and another, were also highly entertaining,
leaning
heavily on older brother, Ray's style.
What can I say, Dave was fun!