Very rarely in our lives are we confronted with true genius. Brilliance is the type of quality that seems effortless and clever, at times quite humorous as well. Such was the case when witnessing Ray Davies, core member of England’s The Kinks. Though Davies has written many songs after going solo, the vast majority of the set concentrated on his best songs with The Kinks, which the audience elevated to a shared experience by singing along with great feeling. Davies was incredibly candid while relating stories from his life of music as well as reading excerpts from his autobiography X-Ray. Like all good storytellers, Davies teaches you something insightful in between the laughs and, in essence, furthers your understanding of the man and the music behind him.

Davies essentially divided his 120 minute long set into two distinctive parts. The first part consisted of Davies playing guitar and singing whilst sitting on a stool next to a second guitarist, Bill Shanley. Davies was truly forthright during this first part of the night and read many of the autobiographical excerpts during this beginning portion. The songs were quite stripped down as well with just the two plugged in acoustic guitars in a way that made the audience appreciate their apt lyrics and fundamental chord progressions.

This first part also gave the best perspective into the inner personality of the great Ray Davies. Davies has been a musician all his life and his accomplishments are clear in his stage presence. Yet, like any great man he is capable of adapting in any situation and his frankness proved just as exhilarating as when he rocked out with a full backing band later on. He was witty when talking about how the band only received rejection letters when they first started out as teenagers. All of the major labels told them that the lead singer was too ugly (Davies quipped this was before all of his plastic surgery) and that the guitar sounded too middle class like a barking dog. Equally amusing was his Johnny Cash imitation during “Dedicated Follower of Fashion.” In addition, Davies showed himself to be alarmingly honest while speaking of his relationship with his brother and fellow Kinks member Dave Davies. He spoke of writing the song “Two Sisters” about their relationship before playing it, for instance, which shed an interesting light on the song.

Davies has proved himself to be a unique songwriter over time is his clear ability to write not only the catchy hooks but the songs that have feelings of angst and even despair which so many people from Great Britain as well as this side of the pond have related to across several generations. Perhaps the best part about this section of music was the block of Kinks songs from films and T.V. “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” “Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'bout That Girl,” “Too Much on My Mind” and “A Well Respected Man” proved incredibly pleasing in succession. Davies continued the set with another famous Kinks song, “Sunny Afternoon,” which the audience on both the floor and balcony joined in singing wholeheartedly. This song was followed by “Dead End Street,” whose lyrics would be much more somber if not for the hook and easy to yell out song title.