An Unofficial Dave Davies Solo Tour FAQ
Q: What about European dates?

A: Dave has performed in Europe several times, beginning in September and October, 2001. His most recent European performance was at the Barbican Theatre in London on April 11, 2014.

Q: When he has toured, I haven't seen (m)any of Dave's shows listed on the TicketMaster Web site. What gives?

A: Many of his shows are not at venues that customarily use TicketMaster. For such shows, in order to get tickets, you will usually have to contact the ticket office for that venue.

Additionally, when looking for information on his tours, you may wish to search the site for the word "Kink Kronikles" (or "Chronicles", for those places that don't quite "get it"), an alternate name that was used by some venues for his past tours. Further complicating the search is that in the past one nationwide ticket agency has had his tour listed as "Dave Davies Kink Kronikles", "Kink Kronikles", "Dave Davies and the Kronikles", and even "The Kinks" (which Dave has never actually used for his solo tours), simultaneously.

For the record, Meta Media (Dave's organization) officially prefers to refer to cast of musicians backing Dave as "the Dave Davies Band."

Q: Has he released any solo albums?

A: Yes! He has released twenty one discs since 1997.

Q: How would you characterize his shows?

A: An undiluted rock and roll concert, performed with precision and punctuated by moments of pure glee. They're the most fun I've had with my clothes on.

Q: What material does he play?

A: On his tours he played a cross-section of the material he's performed over the years, both his own solo work and Kinks material. A list of the songs is available here.

Q: Does he read from his book, like Ray has?

A: Not really. This is a straight-ahead rock-n-roll concert.

Q: Are there any other differences between Dave's tour and Storyteller?

A: There are several, in fact:

Dave's show is more of a straight-ahead rock show, while Ray's is more like a musical rock-n-roll history lecture from a well-loved professor.

Dave plays entire songs. Unless, of course, he forgets the words, as happens from time to time.

Dave interacts somewhat more freely with the audience during the show. At each of the shows we attended, he made eye contact with everyone in the first two or three rows at least once during the show. At the Grand Rapids, Michigan show in 1997, he bent over and asked Leslie's name, then dedicated "Strangers" to her!

Dave tends to play smaller, more intimate venues, with far less advance notice.

Dave's set list and patter vary from show to show- it's never really the same show twice.

Don't get us wrong, we enjoyed both shows, but they are rather different in approach.

Q: Have any former Kinks appeared at his shows?

A: Pete Quaife attended a show during 1998 at The Bottom Line in New York City, watching the show, then joining Dave on stage for "You Really Got Me." Pete also attended the June 23, 1999 show at the Sit-N-Bull Pub in Maynard, Massachusetts as an audience member. No other Kinks have been seen at his shows.

Q: Did the Smithereens back him on his tours?

A: No, but Smithereens founder Dennis Diken is doing an amazing job of drumming and supplying supporting vocals for the Fall 2014 tour. This year's line-up features Dennis, Jonathan Lea on guitar and bass, and Tom Currier on bass, keyboards and supporting vocals, and Rebecca Wilson as supporting vocalist.

The make up of Dave's band has been fluid over the years. He is backed by a very competent band (with loads of personality) that he has assembled from musicians based out of LA and New York. This merry band varies from tour to tour, but has featured Dave Jenkins on bass, Jim LaSpesa (often introduced as "Jim Davis" by Dave) on drums and backing vocals, Dave Nolte on keyboards, rhythm guitar and harmonica, Jonathan Lea on guitar and keyboards, Brian Myers on guitar and Derrick Anderson on bass. Andrew Sandoval (rhythm guitar and harmonica) has not toured with Dave since the first few tours, but the summer 2000 tour featured the return of Kristian Hoffman on keyboards. In 2013, Tom Currier, of Jigsaw Seen joined the band to play bass and keyboards.

Typically, three or four of these musicians back him at a time. Jim LaSpesa held the position behind the drum kit for every tour until the June, 2004 date at the Stadtwerk Festival in Potsdam, Germany, where Dave's son Simon sat behind the drum kit.

In Kinks Preservation Society Digest #2462, Dave Jenkins explained that Dennis Diken, Jim Babjek and Mike Mesaros of the Smithereens were originally approached to be Dave's back up band on his first tour. For whatever reason, that did not come about, and Dave lined up a band comprised of some of the other LA musicians mentioned above. A misunderstanding when booking Dave's early shows caused the Smithereens to be billed as a separate act on Dave's first tour.

Q: Is there an opening act?

A: That depends on the venue- there is no opening act touring with him. Any opening acts have tended to be local performers booked by the venue, with widely varying styles and degrees of talent. We've attended shows with two or three opening acts, and shows with none.

Q: What's this I hear about a live Webcast of a Dave solo show??

A: Two shows at the Sit-N-Bull Pub in Maynard, MA were recorded and were available through Dave's Web site. The first show, from June 4, 1998, was available in stereo in RealAudio. Two songs from the second show, taped February 6, 1999, were available in streaming video form, as is an interview taped earlier that day.

Thanks go to Chris Locke (Webmaster of Dave's Web site at the time) for putting the Webcasts together, and working out the numerous technical details.

Q: When has he toured solo in the past?

A: He has toured several times. For details, click here.

Q: Does he take requests during the show?

A: Generally no, but a few times when a fan called out the name of a song he likes, he would try an impromptu version of it. A fan brought a copy of the lyrics to "Sleepwalker" to help him out and he gave it an honest effort. Another time someone yelled out "In You I Believe," and he was so excited that someone wanted to hear this song, he launched into it despite his statement that no one in the band knew it. This is an indication of how much Dave enjoys these shows and how relaxed and free-flowing they are.

Q: Does he sign autographs after the show?

A: Yes, sometimes, but don't pester him during the show, like a few fans have tried. While he's on stage, it's the music that matters. At most of the shows that we have attended, he has come out after the final encore and signed autographs, if only for five or ten minutes. Often the amount of time he has to do this is determined by the venue. At the Big Kahuna show in Wilmington, for example, the security guys hustled Dave away as fast as they could, so fans only managed to get a few autographs and photos.

Q: Dave gestures a lot with his middle finger during the show- is he really "flipping off" the audience?

A: No. He's trying to point at someone or something without losing his grip on the guitar pick. Besides, he's always pointing downward, instead of upward as in the traditional insult gesture.

Q: Are there any recordings of these shows available?

A: Why, yes! The Meta Media Official Bootleg Series - 'Solo Live': Live at Marian College, released in June, 2000. This disc covers Dave's performance at Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on October 6, 1999. During this show, he mixed songs with stories of his growing up and being part of The Kinks. The disc was available only through his official web site, but this disc is sold out.

The second live album was Rock Bottom: Dave Davies Live at the Bottom Line, which Koch released ten days after 'Solo Live': Live at Marian College was released. It contains portions of several live performances recorded at the Bottom Line in New York City in 1997. In addition, both the US release of his anthology and the second-pressing of the UK release include a live version of "Gallon of Gas Blues/You're Looking Fine" recorded at the same shows at The Bottom Line.

More recently, Bugged... Live! was released on Dave's web site, followed later in 2003 by Transformation. In 2004, he released Rainy Day in June, a recording of his show at the Stadtwerk Festival in Potsdam, Germany, and in 2008, Belly Up, a recording of his second live solo show. Around the Galaxy was the latest live release, in 2009.

Q: I didn't think that his solo stuff from the 1960s was really all that good. Why should I bother going?

A: By all means, go to the show! There's a big difference in his performing style now, as opposed to thirty years ago. He no longer sounds like a British teenager trying to be a blues man. The years have improved his voice and his showmanship.

Q: Does all of this solo touring by Dave and Ray mean the end of the Kinks?

A: Unless you're Ray or Dave, your guess is as good as mine. They still owe one of the labels an album, though. In a recent interview, Dave expressed interest in getting together with the band again (presumably a recent line-up, see below) to record another album.

Q: So, what about the reunion of the original Kinks line-up that has been rumored for the last few years?

A: So far, we've heard nothing official. Ray has talked about this more and more, and the rumor surfaced again in mid-September, 1999, and again as the 50th Anniversary of the Kinks neared in 2014, but we haven't heard anything from anybody else (such as a record label).

Dave has publically stated that he's not interested in a reunion of the original line-up or doing just an "oldies tour."

Q: What is an RDF? Whose site is this, anyway?

A: For a bit on the truly lovely people who have brought you this site (and a photo, too!), click here.

Q: Am I already an RDF? How can I tell?