Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 11:50:43 -0500
From: Fritz Milhaupt
Subject: Dave in Grand Rapids!!!
WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING This is another long-winded bit where
I gush and rave about Dave... I'll try to keep it shorter this time, but
am not making any promises!
The show in Grand Rapids was absolutely amazing- despite a turnout of only
about 150 people, and the most obnoxiously drunken crowd of the Dave shows
we've seen, Dave blasted through a stand-out performance!
Dave's cold doesn't seem to be much better, in fact he sniffled quite a
lot and seemed to be sweating a lot and positively radiating heat.
His voice was still in great form, though!
The last time I was in the building that's now the Orbit Room (13 years
ago), it was still a struggling little two-screen movie theatre- its new
role is a definite improvement, even if it doesn't have the character of
the Odeon. I particularly liked the chest-height stage (without a "moat"
like the Odeon's), which allowed us to get right up close.
Dave still seems to be having problems with his mic stand- he caught himself
pretty hard in the mouth at least four times last night. I don't know whether
they need to move the pedal closer, or switch him to a more vertical mic
stand. And Monday night, it was Dave's turn to get a taste of the guitar
cord problems that had plagued Andrew in Cleveland- when he switched guitars
before starting "Wicked Annabella", the roadie handed him an unplugged
guitar. A look of absolute puzzlement shot across his face for about half
a second as he realized what'd happened, before he marched back and shot
the roadie that tight-lipped grin that at least one of his siblings has
grown to love and hate...
The play list Monday night was:
- I Need You
- Beautiful Delilah
- She's Got Everything
- Look Through Any Doorway
- Suzannah's Still Alive
- Creepin' Jean
- Love Me 'Til The Sun Shines
- Milk Cow Blues
- Imagination's Real
- Wicked Annabella
- Lola Intro/"Channeling for John Lennon"
- Picture Book
- Strangers
|
- Love Gets You
- Too Much On My Mind
- Death Of A Clown
- Young and Innocent Days
- Fortis Green
- Living On A Thin Line
- ADAAOTN
Encores:
- Lincoln County
- You Really Got Me
|
I'd never heard "Young and Innocent Days" before last night--
it was amazing! Although Ray sang it on its album release, Dave made the
song very clearly his own!
During the bit I list as "Channeling for John Lennon", Dave tore
off into bits of "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Sunny Afternoon",
"Waterloo Sunset", and some gibberish presumably directed to his
non-corporeal friends... It was pretty funny.
Leslie's in absolute heaven (lucky she took today off!)- Dave had been
flirting with the women in the front row like he always does, but before
he started "Strangers", Dave asked Leslie's name, then dedicated
it to her- her feet haven't touched the ground yet!
As I mentioned earlier, the crowd was the most drunkenly obnoxious bunch
of any of the shows-- one drunken slob, wearing only a pair of overalls
(in 25 degree weather!), actually marched around back and up on stage,
until Andrew turned and looked at him, and a security guy hustled him off
the stage. Another guy grabbed the play list off of Dave's monitor before
the encores were over.
This show was also my sister's first real exposure to any form of Kinkdom.
She had the time of her life- for somebody who'd heard maybe three Kinks
songs in her life, Mary had a GREAT time! She spent the whole show mesmerized,
her gaze fixed on Dave's flying fingers. It wasn't too surprising, then,
that she left the concert repeating our mantra: "Oh wow, was that a
great show, or WHAT?" She has been assimilated into the RDF Kollective!
She needed it too, following the shooting outside her apartment last week
that sent a couple of bullets through her bathroom!
Leslie passed up flowers right before ADAAOTN- he seemed touched (again,
but didn't do the dance he did when he got Joanne's flowers in Cleveland),
and set them down on the monitor. He came out after the encore to get them,
signed a CD booklet Leslie had brought, asked where he'd seen her before
(her dark eyes, red-brown hair and bandaged hand rather stand out!), then
gave her a hug and a kiss! He also kissed Mary, though I dunno whether I
like this guy kissing my sister ;-) I got my copy of "Kink" signed,
and Leslie passed him up her last KPS bumper sticker, which he took with
him.
The opening act, a local trio called "The Bimini Brothers", put
on a funny, raunchy, 45 minute set before Dave went on. We thought
they were hysterically funny, even if they were crude. Sort of a Howard
Stern meets Weird Al type of act. They kept handing beer down to Leslie
who, not being a beer drinker, passed it along to the rest of us. They even
hauled her up on stage to sing along with one of their numbers, which turned
out to be a rather rude piece about feminine hygiene products. Instead of
caving in from embarrassment, Leslie, the last person I'd ever describe
as a "shrinking violet", picked up the tune and the words and
floored them with her voice (she's had voice training, you see).
There were only about 30 "Dave Davies" T-shirts Monday night
(which Dave brought in himself), but we got our three! The T-shirts are
a pretty cool black, white and pink, with the photo from the back of the
US printing of "Kink" on the front, and the tour schedule (only
the Midwest and East Coast dates) on the back.
The Grand Rapids show wrapped up our trio of Kinks-related shows for the
month of November. Neither Leslie nor I can normally stand November, but
this was one of the most tremendous months we can remember! It's gonna take
all of Thanksgiving Weekend to recover!
I'll say it one last time (I promise!):
IF YOU CAN POSSIBLY GET TO ONE OF THE REMAINING SHOWS--
DO SO!!!
-fm
RDF #4 - Now, more than ever!
Raving Dave-Fans Unite!
From: Leslie Ohanian
Subject: Dave in Grand Rapids
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 08:22:23 -0500
For those of you who are still undecided about seeing Dave, a word of advice
DO !! Or you will regret it later !
The show in Grand Rapids was the best show yet, in my humble opinion. Dave
has a fairly bad cold going right now, but it didn't effect his voice or
his enthusiasm one bit !
I had a place right in front of Dave and he flirted shamelessly with me
and other audience members. At one point he made sure I was looking at him,
crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. If at all possible my smile broadened.
He did a few of the more familiar tunes from past shows, and yes, Joanne
he did "Love Gets You" !! About 3/4 into his set he announced
that he was going to do a song he'd always liked (another "particular
favourite") which turned out to be "Young and Innocent Days".
Now that song had never really caught my fancy before, but the way he sang
it made even Fritz swoon.
He
had an hysterically funny bit where he put his hands on his temples while
the band played "spooky" music. And pretended to be channeling
for several people. He started out with "Strawberry Fields" and
went on to a snip of "Sunny Afternoon" and "Waterloo Sunset"
then spouted gibberish and then came out of the mock trance. It was hilarious
!
Right before launching into "Strangers" Dave looked down at me
and said that he was going to dedicate the song to me !! Then he leaned
down and said he didn't even know my name, so I squeaked "Leslie"
and he straightened up and announced that "This song is dedicated to
Leslie" ! The English language fails me as to how this made me feel.
Happy, hysterically chuffed, well close, but not the real thing ! Joanne
isn't it great that he picked this one to dedicate ?
At the end of the set, I handed him flowers (Great idea Joanne !!) and
a KPS bumper sticker (thanks Frank !!). He did an abbreviated flower dance
and did two more songs. During the encore he brought the flowers back out
and set them in front of one of the monitors. But when he left the stage
the flowers were still on the monitor, so I had thought he had forgotten
them.
My fears were dispelled when he came back after the house lights came back
on to pick up the flowers and the bumper sticker. He thanked me for the
flowers and when I told him that I had seen him 3 times, he smiled and said,
"I knew I recognized you from somewhere !" I said, "Cleveland"
and he nodded, "that's right !".
I was floored to be recognized !!!! I managed to stammer out a thank you
for dedicating "Strangers" to me, then he signed my AFL1-3603/Glamour
CD cover, leaned over and gave me a hug and a kiss, and called me "a
sweetheart" then leaned over and gave Fritz's sister Mary (a new RDF
!!!!) a kiss. This is a step up from being called "a liar" in
Chicago when I got his autograph on "Kink" !
On the stuff side, while waiting to get in I asked one of the staff if
there were any posters I could have and one of the bouncers gave me one
! I also was given a pick and bought a tee shirt, which are lovely shirts
! The CD is still not available, Dave said that it should be available soon
at the shows.
RDF#1, This woman she smiles tonight !
-Leslie M. Ohanian
This review first appeared in Kinks Preservation Society mailing list edition
Number 758, November 25, 1997.