Review - 31 July, 1995, Westbury Music Fair, Long Island, NY

From: JFalc
Newsgroups: alt.fan.kinks
Subject: Westbury Show & Davies' brothers finances
Date: 1 Aug 1995 00:14:03 -0400

I've seen talk on this board regarding the Davies' brothers finances and whether or not they are affluent. I thought you might like to know that tonight (7/31) at the Westbury, NY show Ray sang low budget with the discretely modified lyric: "....Millionaires, We're things of the past...."

The show was great! (definitely better than the Latham Show I saw on 7/20) I didn't write down all the songs, but Ray and Dave seemed playful and liked that the show was a sell out and the crowd was getting into it. Some highlights...Rock N Roll Fantasy...Dead End Street...Dedicated Follower....and Stop Your Sobbing. Solid show. Hopefully tomorrow nights Westbury show will be solid too.

-John Falcone


From: JerzykB
Newsgroups: alt.fan.kinks
Subject: Re: Westbury Show & Davies' brothers finances
Date: 1 Aug 1995 21:48:05 -0400

Sorry, but I STRONGLY disagree with the previous positive review of the 7/31 Westbury show. I think the *performance* was strong (tho, to be honest, not nearly as good as the Hyannis & Cohasset shows last week), but crowd was lame and the security over-bearing and heavy-handed. Despite the presence of a lot of real Kinks kultists, the audience remained seated and, to my eyes, impassive, through most of the show, adopting the posture of let's sit back and be entertained. Not until the last 3 songs (ADAAOTN, Victoria, YRGM) did the crowd stand. Security goons were everywhere, and if you stepped into the aisle to stay, they descended on you. They also hassled people going to the stage to throw plates, desoite Ray's repeated willingness to take messages from the audience.

This was a sedate, boring crowd, one as a group not worthy of seeing the Kinks, especially given the Kinks spirited performances we've been seeing and hearing about on this tour.

Jerry


From: susan demaio
Subject: Westbury 7/31
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 12:52:17 -0400 (EDT)

I haven't seen a posting about this show, so I thought I'd do the honors.

Well, I haven't seen them in a venue this small since Hofstra gym in 1977, but it was more than I could have hoped for. They were a total delight. Ray seemed so happy to be there; Dave played the bad-boy, smart-ass role to the hilt. Personal moments of pure joy included the beautiful smile and goofy wave I got from Ray when I took his picture during Celluloid Heroes. The flying plates really added to fun of the evening. However, Ray complained: "You want B-sides of records that failed!" But a plate requesting Big Sky prompted Ray to say the first two lines of that song. Nothing they played seemed entirely out of the ordinary like VGPS and See My Friends (I'm jealous), although Waterloo Sunset hasn't appeared on all the set lists posted. Ray seemed willing to do Hatred and one or two others, but Dave said no. Sorry I have no complete list.

Ray's solo set was:

Other song notes:

Standard encores:

I was so thrilled, my mind's a blur.

Dave's songs were (not in this order):

Did anyone else go to this show or Tues night's? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Someone in my office reading over my shoulder thought they saw a Kinks show advertised in NYC for this week. Did/will this happen???

In seventh heaven, Sue


From: National Advertising Division
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 95 09:12:15 PDT
Subject: Re: kinks review

THE KINKS
Westbury Music Fair

Lately, all anyone ever seems to talk about is interactive media. I admit that I'm guilty of spending too much time surfing the net. So that't why I find it ironic that the most truly interactive activity in some time kame kourtesy of The Kinks, the legendary kult superstars of yore.

The krowd at the Fair was pretty much what you'd expect: an aging bunch of die-hard Kinks kollectors and kultists who were simply starving to see the boys perform. It was absolute frenzy when the lights dimmed and Master Davies took the stage looking quite energetic for a 52-year old veteren. Ray, armed only with his acoustic guitar, voice and charm, opened the show with stunning versions of "A Well Respected Man," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," Stop Your Sobbing," "Sunny Afternoon," and "Rock and Roll Fantasy." Then, to the opening notes of "Do it Again," Ray jokingly intimated, "What a great privilege to open for the Kinks."

With that, brother Dave and the rest of the band kame on stage amid a shower of paper plates and unkontrollable applause (for the uninitiated, it is a long-standing tradition to throw paper plates on stage, with each plate kontaining a song request). The band ripped through a number of classic rockers and other kuts including "Apeman," "Dead End Street" (a plate request), "Waterloo Sunset" and "A Gallon of Gas," which contained some great guitar work from Dave.

Speaking of Dave, he was in astonishingly good voice (and spirits) as he sang three tunes that were three of the best of the night. The first two, "Sleepwalker" and "Too Much on My Mind" were both originally sung by Ray and it was nice to hear a different voice attached to those words. The last was "Living on a Thin Line," arguably the best Kinks song of the last 15 or so years.

The only downside to the evening (in addition to the revolving stage; afterall, I didn't really need to see drummer, Bob Henrit's butt half the night) was that the band felt compelled to close the show with "Lola," "All Day and All of the Night," and "You Really Got Me" (as well as Victoria, which was great). Nearly everyone in the place was an avid Kinks fan who has heard these songs milions of times and kould probably do without ever hearing them again. Judging by the obskure rekuests via the plates, the audience was kraving some long unplayed number(s) from the arkives (Hey, Ray, do you remember Walter?).

Oh well, perhaps I'm nit-picking. Overall, this was a truly great koncert and one of the best I've seen the band perform in years. Ray and Dave, especially Dave, were more interactive with the audience than they've been in years. The krowd was thrilled to see their beloved Kinks and The Kinks seemed to really enjoy their beloved krowd...God Save the Kinks!!!

by Barry S. Stelboum

This review originally appeared in The Island Ear, a terrific bi-weekly entertainment magazine based in Long Island, New York. For more information, call 516-889-6045.


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