tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post5708285494336689328..comments2024-03-28T14:41:03.787-04:00Comments on PowerPop: Rise, Bleary-Eyed, and Report: Ray Davies' Old-Time SingalongNYMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-47497232941091215332010-03-14T05:02:34.125-04:002010-03-14T05:02:34.125-04:00Ray was actually named a Commander or CBE by the Q...Ray was actually named a Commander or CBE by the Queen in 2004 which stinks because it's 2 steps down from a Knight. So we'll have to suffer with "Sir" Elton John but no Sir Ray Davies.Mario Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07818397340260580691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-18176930200850722762010-03-13T18:10:21.860-05:002010-03-13T18:10:21.860-05:00Hey, I was just asking. But just to be clear, I do...Hey, I was just asking. But just to be clear, I doubt a pop-folkie like Maura Kennedy or hipsters like the New Pornographers and Fountains of Wayne attract the same kinds of fans as a Kinks/Davies show. That was my point.<br /><br />Here's really the thing for me: I'm sorry if a few drunk assholes around you made the show unpleasant - but you made a hell of a lot of assumptions about people, and there was no reason to paint everyone who was there with the same brush. A lot of us really were there for the music.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755779644266406135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-67423764959007808082010-03-13T16:43:36.105-05:002010-03-13T16:43:36.105-05:00Not that it'a germane to this discussion, but:...Not that it'a germane to this discussion, but: the last one was maybe three weeks ago, in NYC--a bunch of very cool singer-songwriters, and nary a drunk asshole in sight. Both Kelley Ryan and Maura Kennedy: highly recommended. A Descendents reunion show I had tix for was canceled at the last minute in January. That had high drunk asshole potential, but then it would have been at a club in Brooklyn--natural habitat. In the last couple of years I've seen both the New Pornographers and Fountains of Wayne a few times each.<br /><br />Look, I'm sorry you're offended, but the crowd *was* a problem, and not just for me. Davies deserved better.NYMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-32426801991556610062010-03-13T15:50:13.226-05:002010-03-13T15:50:13.226-05:00Just a question, Mary: How many live shows do you ...Just a question, Mary: How many live shows do you attend these days?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755779644266406135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-28245179158668224502010-03-13T10:46:10.691-05:002010-03-13T10:46:10.691-05:00Julie, hear, hear. What was the venue? In our case...Julie, hear, hear. What was the venue? In our case, I was kind of idly wondering, as a former sound person, if the problem was that they had a pretty meaty sound system in a house designed for subtler acoustics. It was theater seating, so the sound guys were way in the back, and because of the rake in the theater, well above my head: I wonder if that was the issue?<br /><br /><i>Also, your reference to "the provinces" is elitist and condescending. I would make that different if I could, but I can't.</i><br /><br />It's, ummm, my hometown. I've lived here the vast majority of my life. But living in the provinces doesn't have to make you provincial. That's a choice, as is taking offense.<br /><br />Glad to hear that things were even worse in Scranton.NYMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-65366661412734837462010-03-13T09:35:09.337-05:002010-03-13T09:35:09.337-05:00NYM,
Here's my homage to both your spot-on re...NYM,<br /><br />Here's my homage to both your spot-on review and to Ray himself.<br /><br />Cheers.<br /><br />http://boozeland.blogspot.com/2010/03/celluoid-hero.htmlCleveland Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514937281212775227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-73466402316898298862010-03-12T23:31:10.312-05:002010-03-12T23:31:10.312-05:00The sound system in Hartford at the show last Satu...The sound system in Hartford at the show last Saturday sucked as well. Great show especially with the inclusion of "Two Sisters" which I had not heard live before. <br /><br />I am all for drunken louts as long as I can hear the banter and the music and as long as the louts can detect the irony of their drunken and insistent requests that Ray sing "Alcohol". <br /><br />Ray Davies is a treasure. May he continue to write and tour; I will listen, attend all of the shows I can, and be very entertained by this most brilliant master of sentience, sentiment, sarcasm and the kind of rock and roll that feels closer to religion than anything else I have ever known.Julie Finklenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-19683706474700051792010-03-12T12:21:43.093-05:002010-03-12T12:21:43.093-05:00Lookee here...I can get drunk any day of the week ...Lookee here...I can get drunk any day of the week but how often do you get to see Ray Davies? Then the yobs can't hold their water & get up to piss every 5 minutes. NyMary has every right to talk about the drunken louts in the provinces...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-4484871393516765192010-03-11T18:38:04.340-05:002010-03-11T18:38:04.340-05:00Tuesday's show was NOTHING like the Friday sho...Tuesday's show was NOTHING like the Friday show in Scranton. The Cultural Center allowed people to bring their beers right to their seats, and it was $3 Yuengling night. They'd bring 3 beers each and then go back for more.<br /><br />My point was - why go after the audience? At least they were there and cared about the show. Would you rather have had even fewer people show up and the venue being less than 2/3 full?<br /><br />Also, your reference to "the provinces" is elitist and condescending. I would make that different if I could, but I can't.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755779644266406135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-64676934197600543732010-03-11T05:48:42.433-05:002010-03-11T05:48:42.433-05:00I should clarify: I have nothing against drunkenne...I should clarify: I have nothing against drunkenness particularly: it is a state I have been known to seek, on occasion. But as noted, this was in the local opera venue, with enforced closeness with other people, and it was pretty clear that many, if not most, were unclear on the distinction between that and a bar. At the break, I saw people buying four beers at a time, for themselves. (The line was long: I watched one guy sit there and drink them, one after another.) <br /><br />People were obviously drunk and actively nasty to the openers, and screeching and hollering throughout Davies' set, even during parts of the show obviously designed to be listened to--the Storytellers stuff. When he's reading from his book and you're screeching "Lola!" from the side of the house, he's not wrong and I'm not wrong: you are.<br /><br />In terms of class: well, whatever. If some of these people were tax attorneys, they weren't acting like it. My companion, my brother, was seated next to me: we has worked in the same imminently-closing factory for nearly 40 years. But he didn't seem to feel the need to interrupt the singer, or hold up stadium-style handmade signs. Much of the crowd was fine, but the sound problems were exacerbated be the drunk-asshole problems.NYMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-69135371605824583062010-03-11T05:28:28.748-05:002010-03-11T05:28:28.748-05:00Hey, I'd have made them different if I could h...Hey, I'd have made them different if I could have.NYMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-1955450068666345022010-03-11T02:39:51.728-05:002010-03-11T02:39:51.728-05:00Could you not have reviewed the show without insul...Could you not have reviewed the show without insulting the audience as "drunk shift managers in the provinces"? Just an idea.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09755779644266406135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-53116637622601230632010-03-10T22:05:22.058-05:002010-03-10T22:05:22.058-05:00Mary,
Great post. We're seeing Ray this comi...Mary,<br /><br />Great post. We're seeing Ray this coming Friday night in another northern blue collar burg that lost it's way 30 some years ago.<br /><br />The Palace Theatre in beautiful downtown Lorain, Ohio.<br /><br />Can't. Wait.Cleveland Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12514937281212775227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-49909647301962009352010-03-10T15:14:49.582-05:002010-03-10T15:14:49.582-05:00BG, thanks for the link to that article. It's...BG, thanks for the link to that article. It's amazing how many of the great and not-so-great are, or have been at some time in their lives, New Yorkers.<br /><br />BTW, Tip Top Shoes is still there and still a great shoe store.Gummonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-26757454447329926062010-03-10T14:19:00.582-05:002010-03-10T14:19:00.582-05:00Hi Mary,
thanks for this post, as others have said...Hi Mary,<br />thanks for this post, as others have said, it's wonderful. It was a nice bright spot in my morning, AND made me jealous at the same time!John Fowlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02640694304430187948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-6219687662836397632010-03-10T12:35:38.753-05:002010-03-10T12:35:38.753-05:00The Ray Davies piece from the February 25, 2008 &q...The <a href="http://www.raydavies.info/www/images/press/uspress/pages/newyorker.html" rel="nofollow">Ray Davies piece from the February 25, 2008 "New Yorker",</a> in which he mentions a certain watering hole on the upper west side ...<br /><br />Anyway, I saw him back in 1997 at the McCarter Theater in Princeton ... one of the best shows I've ever been to. He's just terrific, any way you look at it.Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18282613112168154071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-65462486362533350442010-03-10T10:48:59.422-05:002010-03-10T10:48:59.422-05:00I too saw Ray on the Storytellers tour. Most of t...I too saw Ray on the Storytellers tour. Most of the material he played was from 64-72, but all of it was fresh and touching; the man himself was funny, smart, proud & self-deprecating at the same time.<br /><br />But there is NO excuse for bad sound in 2010, for cryin' out loud; even the most modest venue should be able to afford a clean vibrant sound system these days.Gummonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-51207917668834256572010-03-10T09:06:39.628-05:002010-03-10T09:06:39.628-05:00Steve, Ray Davies' nobility comes from within,...Steve, Ray Davies' nobility comes from within, not from Windsor.fmcgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-85630841844148021682010-03-10T08:44:42.484-05:002010-03-10T08:44:42.484-05:00Sounds like a seriously good time. So glad you got...Sounds like a seriously good time. So glad you got to go.VforVirginiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05481078416430982240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-22790073594394639782010-03-10T08:25:32.090-05:002010-03-10T08:25:32.090-05:00Wonderful review Mary. I saw him on the "Stor...Wonderful review Mary. I saw him on the "Storytellers" tour back in 96? or so. By the time he ended his set with "Days", I was bawling like a little baby.Kid Charlemagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12109953353900729258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-1212362241647728112010-03-10T08:23:10.861-05:002010-03-10T08:23:10.861-05:00Lovely piece -- wish I'd been there.
Seriousl...Lovely piece -- wish I'd been there.<br /><br />Seriously, why he isn't Sir Ray at this point is beyond me. I mean, they knighted that talentless hack Andrew Lloyd-Weber fifteen years ago, but Davies is still a commoner?steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.com