Club Caprice
Redondo Beach, Calif.
Thursday, Oct. 8

Nothing like sibling rivalry to bring out the best in the Davies brothers.
Younger bro Dave is busy proving that anything big brother Ray is doing these
days he can do to. Write a book on what it's like to be a Kink? No problem.
Ray has written a couple of volumes and Dave followed up with his own tome
about life in this legendary Hall of Fame band.

A solo tour? Continuing right on the heels of Ray's "Storyteller" shows, Dave
has decided to dust off his Fenders and rock clubland. And judging from his
wildly received South Bay appearance, this is a very good idea.

Backed by a young, nerdy four-piece that obviously worships at the Kinks
altar, an enthusiastic Dave Davies rocked through a nearly two-hour set that
showed him to be in fine form. Always the Kinks' rock 'n' roll heart, Dave
never met a big, loud chord he didn't like. And, to the surprise of many, he
did not perform the two songs most associated with his monstrous riffing;
namely "All Day and All of the Night" and, of course, "You Really Got Me."

A minor quibble, however. What really made this show special was the musical
nuggets, many obscure and rarely played live, that Dave unearthed for the
large contingent of Kinks fans in the house. As Davies exclaimed near show's
end, "I'm playing you many of my favorite Kinks songs. I hope you like it ...
but if you don't that's too bad." No problem Dave; we liked it.

Sprinkled liberally throughout the set were some serious Kinks rarities,
particularly from the Kinks Katalog circa 1965-71. Heard "Picture Book" or
"Young and Innocent Days" played lately? How about "Too Much on My Mind" or
the yearning "Strangers"?

Throw in a couple of numbers from the "Arthur" album and the poignant English
whimsy of "Village Green Preservation Society" and you get an idea of how deep
into the Kinks vaults Davies tunneled.

Who knows when the Davies brothers will go out as the Kinks again? They
probably don't even know. In the meantime, little brother is doing the family
name proud all by his lonesome.