April 22, 1974 review: The Kinks

 


Continuing a cruise through the greatest rock shows at the long gone Century Theater. 

April 22, 1974 

Kinkomaniacs Greet Group

With Banners, Sing-along 

          The biggest display of Kinkomania this city has yet seen greeted the British rock band’s third annual appearance here Saturday night. Its expressions were strange and various.

          Hanging from the balcony of the Century Theater was a homemade “Demon Alcohol” banner in honor of the villain of that beery Kinks melodrama.

          Ray Davies, the group’s fluttery lead singer and creative mastermind, vamped about in a floppy checkered hat flung up to him from the floor.

          And the crowd SANG! Buffalo crowds never sing along. But this one sang not only the chorus of “Lola” (which anybody does), but also the chorus of “Sunny Afternoon.” Now that’s Kinkomania.

          The rise of the Kinks Kult is matched by the growing ease with which Ray Davies handles the contradictions that give his songs and his stage presence their dramatic tensions and delights.

          Davies, resplendent in tropical shirt, white pants and a dark blazer with orange piping, opened with a dowdy but exuberant “Victoria” and magnificently squeezed all the trashy but heartfelt tragedy out of “Celluloid Heroes,” the group’s two sleazy ladies singing backup.

          A medley of their 1965 hits – “All Day and All Through the Night” and “You Really Got Me” – brought the sold-out hall to a peak from which it refused to descend, even for the wordy newer songs like dark, political, double-talking “Here Comes Flash.”

          Davies’ voice gave out early, but his coy clowning grew bold on the crowd’s adoration.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: The Kinks in concert in 1974.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Looks like the layout editors once again cut the bottom off this one.

          This date preceded the release of the band’s “Preservation Act 2” album, which came along in May, and was their second concept album in a row. They transformed the live show into something more theatrical, adding a horn section and female backup singers.

          Here’s what setlist.fm says they played that night at the Century Theater, but it definitely feels incomplete:

          Victoria

          One of the Survivors

          Celluloid Heroes

          (unknown)

          Lola

          Sunny Afternoon

          Alcohol

          Here Comes Flash

          Demolition

          You Really Got Me

          All Day and All of the Night 

          The list from April 10 at the Music Hall in Boston, Mass., is probably more like what they did:

          Victoria

          One of the Survivors

          Mr. Wonderful (Teddi King cover)

          Money Talks

          Dedicated Follower of Fashion

          A Well Respected Man

          Mirror of Love

          Celluloid Heroes

          Here Come the People in Grey

          Here Comes Flash

          Demolition

          Salvation Road

          Lola

          Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)

          You Really Got Me

          All Day and All of the Night

          Alcohol

          Sunny Afternoon

          Skin and Bone

          (encore)

          Good Golly, Miss Molly (Little Richard cover)

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