This past Thursday evening saw one of the highlights of my year. Ray Davies, one of the absolute best songwriters to come out of the 60′s rock explosion, performed at Higher Ground to a rapturous audience.

Of course, the man needs no introduction, but if you don’t know, Ray Davies was the primary songwriter for The Kinks. Face To Face, Something Else by The Kinks, Village Green Preservation Society, Aurthur, Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part One and Muswell Hillbillies are all essential albums penned by the man in addition to classic singles like “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Til the End of the Day” and loads more. In terms of quanity and quality, I dare say The Kinks catalog is second only to The Beatles’.

The man is 64. He has remained surprisingly energetic, bopping about the stage with a wry grin. His voice has sustained remarkably. Closing my eyes during “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”, I could swear he was still in his twenties. With a competent band in tow, Davies offered a lot more than a feel-good nostalgia show. He rocked us good.

The audience consisted of everything from graying baby-boomers who’ve been listening to Ray’s stuff since the 60′s to young ‘uns who may well have first heard the Kinks on the soundtrack to some Wes Anderson movie. Davies did a commendable job of providing gems from various periods of his career to satiate everybody. (Of course, we all would have loved more from our favorite eras, but what are you gonna do?) Even though it’s not my favorite track, it was endearing to so many silver-haired heads bobbing along to “Low-Budget”.

Personal highlights for me included a pair of songs from Village Green, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”, “Sunny Afternoon”, and “Dead End Street”. Of course, he played a good amount of solo material which doesn’t really do much for me, but you gotta allow for that. I was surprised by much I enjoyed hearing their 80′s hit “Come Dancing”. It’s a decent cut.

Courtesy of Dave Zacharis (courtesy of someone else, probably), here’s the setlist:

(Ray Davies & Bill Shanley)
1. I Need You
2. Where Have All The Good Times Gone
3. Father Christmas
4. I’m Not Like Everybody Else
5. Apeman
6. See My Friends
7. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
8. Morphine Song
9. Sunny Afternoon
(Joined onstage by Milton & Karin)
10. The Getaway
11. Dead End Street
(…  Read Morewith the band)
12. Vietnam Cowboys
13. Working Man’s Café
14. The Tourist
15. Celluloid Heroes
16. Johnny Thunder
17. The Village Green Preservation Society
18. Come Dancing
(Encore 1)
19. Low Budget
(Encore 2)
20. You Really Got Me