Last Best Show: Dave Davies at the Wilbur
Bill Brotherton
Watching Dave Davies on stage at the Wilbur Theatre Thursday night, it was impossible not to flash back to the wondrous Kinks shows of the past. Twice a year the iconic British band would come through the area, and they were always amazing, whether they played the Orpheum, Music Hall, Garden, Manning Bowl, Great Woods […]
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Boston Herald
Watching Dave Davies on stage at the Wilbur Theatre Thursday night, it was impossible not to flash back to the wondrous Kinks shows of the past. Twice a year the iconic British band would come through the area, and they were always amazing, whether they played the Orpheum, Music Hall, Garden, Manning Bowl, Great Woods or the many college arenas they packed back in the day.

Davies is 68 years old now, and it's a miracle that he's up there on stage, wielding his guitar like a weapon and attempting abbreviated scissor kicks. He appears to be fully recovered from a 2004 stroke that left him unable to speak and limited the use of the right side of his body. Most importantly, it seems like he's having fun. This wasn't merely a night of nostalgia; Davies and his band performed several newish songs and they were among the evening's highlights.

It was also a world-weary Davies on stage last night. Classic Kinks songs took on new meaning. Take for example "Young and Innocent Days," which Dave dedicated to his "dear loving brother Raymond." Dave sang "I wish my eyes could only see/Everything, exactly as it used to be/It's too late, so late/Young and innocent days." Or "Tired of Waiting For You," one of songwriter Ray's better early hits; it seemed like Dave was resigned to the fact that his brother would never agree to the long-rumored Kinks reunion.

Ray is the best songwriter of his generation and was the focal point of the band, but Dave, who founded the band, and his innovative guitar work were the heart and soul of the Kinks.

This was never more evident than during the night's closing song, "You Really Got Me," perhaps the first-ever heavy metal song. Dave came alive and seemed 20 years younger as he rocked the house, hovering dangerously close to his fans in the front row, pushing his guitar in their direction and letting them touch and strum the instrument. He smiled broadly throughout.

He and his excellent band — Jonathan Lea on rhythm guitar, Tom Currier on bass and keyboards, and Smithereens' frontman Dennis Diken on drums (we have fond memories of the Smithereens surprise backing gig of an acoustic Ray and Dave at a 'BCN-sponsored show at the Garden in the '80s) — blazed through some 20 tunes during the 90-minute show.

"Death of a Clown" and "Dead End Street" became loud sing-alongs. "I Need You" was a burst of rockin' blues. And the acoustic numbers were sublime. Dave's singing voice was never more than passable, and it hasn't improved with age, but his own ballads "Strangers" and the new "Flowers in the Rain" were terrific.

Dave's girlfriend Rebecca Wilson came out to dance a bit and sing the "lalala lalala" chorus on "Death of a Clown" and add harmonies to the witty new "King of Karaoke."

Oddly, Dave and band performed "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" twice. Perhaps he was disappointed with the tepid first version, the second song of the night, because he led off the encore with a fired-up run-through that delighted the misfits in the crowd but also left them a bit bewildered. With so many great songs in the Kinks catalog — including Dave-penned tunes "Living on a Thin Line" and "Susannah's Still Alive" — why repeat a song?

If you have tickets to one of Dave's three sold-out shows at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, N.H., this weekend expect to be thrilled, sentimental and a bit disappointed. Those old Kinks classics bring you back to young, more innocent days. Kudos to Dave for hitting the road, but it's tough not to yearn for the impossible dream: Dave and Ray on stage together.

Boston's Corin Ashley and his band were a perfect opener, performing a winning set of British-flavored power pop that was very much in the Kinks/Beatles/Zombies mold. And like Paul McCartney, Ashley, who displayed a playful sarcastic streak in his between-song banter, played the hell out of a Rickenbacker bass.