Ray Davies / Duke Special

There’s an exciting buzz about the BBC Electric Proms. Now in its second year, the festival involves over 80 artists in 33 shows in venues around Camden. Apparently these Proms are loved by the music industry because they encourage the artists involved to create a unique performance, indulge in one-off collaborations or showcase special projects. Over the last few nights the Roundhouse has featured Mark Ronson with various guests, Bloc Party, a triumphant gig by Paul McCartney, and the Kaiser Chiefs collaborating with David Arnold. Tonight is the last performance of the series at this venue.


Duke Special has the challenging task of supporting his V2 stable-mate Ray Davies tonight. Song sheets are handed around early on in the set and we’re encouraged to sing along, divided into boys and girls, to the simplistic and catchy ‘I’m Gonna Love You Till You Love Me Back’. Duke performs a cover of Chaka Khan’s hit ‘I Feel for You’ which is unrecognisable and is transformed from a disco track to a funky love song. Romeo Stodart from the Magic Numbers joins the band to sing backing vocals to the uplifting and irresistible ‘Our Love Goes Deeper Than This’. Despite a few heckles to sing some Kinks’ songs and Ray Davies’ fans looking perplexed at the theatrical flourishes – the mask that Duke wears at the start of the set (arguably either a horse or a teddy bear mask depending on your perspective of whether he looks fearsome or cuddly) and the messing about with bottles of beer - overall the crowd response to his vaudevillian show was very enthusiastic.


Ray Davies needs no introduction to most people - he is the legendary singer-songwriter from The Kinks, the band which he formed with his brother Dave back in 1963. The Kinks were quintessentially English and perhaps the best British band ever (well, according to my editor anyway – has he seen Duke Special?!). I’m here with a completely open mind as I’m not convinced that I know much of the Kinks’ stuff. The set starts with the only song of theirs that I definitely had heard before as a friend’s band used to cover it – the defiant ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ which is an upbeat start to the show. As the set progresses I realise that I do know quite a few of their songs and can sing along with every word with the rest of the audience. It’s a euphoric atmosphere in front of the stage which seems to spread to the outskirts and even the people in the balcony are standing and dancing, and Ray seems to be smiling throughout and thoroughly enjoying himself.

He showcases some of his new album which was released in a Sunday newspaper last week though I understand the fans are also buying the official release because it has two extra tracks. He dedicates the title track ‘Working Man’s Café’ to his brother Dave. Johnny Borrell of Razorlight appears to sing on the Kinks’ song ‘Sunny Afternoon’ though his vocals are partially drowned out by the audience singing. Ray plays ‘Come Dancing’, his tribute to the big bands, and a song dedicated to his father’s generation called ‘20th Century Man’ which was written for the conceptual ‘Muswell Hillbillies’ album.

Most of the set is proper thumping guitar-driven rock ballads with the occasional breather like ‘Celluloid Heroes’ which Ray says was inspired by his time in Los Angeles, a slower, more contemplative song. Then we’re back into singing and bouncing along to ‘Tired of Waiting For You’. Ray talks about being spurned by all the major record labels when he and his brother were starting out - one rejection letter describing the songs as being “very promising” but that the guitar sounded like a “barking dog”, then he launches into ‘All Day and All of the Night’.


For the encore, he’s joined by his “singing angels from North London”, the Crouch End Festival Choir who lend powerful, and slightly eery, other-worldly backing vocals to ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’, ‘Days I Remember’, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ and ‘Shangri-La’ which has apparently never been played live before. The second encore includes another new song ‘Imaginary Man’ from ‘Working Man’s Café’ which the crowd gently sways along to.


He ends with a story about how he wrote the next one as a blues number in the style of Howlin’ Wolf, which he demonstrates on guitar, but his brother twisted the song in the studio and made rock and roll history. Ray finishes on a high with this song, the classic and timeless ‘You Really Got Me’, a great finale to the Electric Proms.

Set List:

I’m Not Like Everybody Else
Where Have All the Good Times Gone
Till the End of the Day
A Well Respected Man
The Tourist
Sunny Afternoon
Working Man’s Café
Morphine Song
One More Time
Come Dancing
20th Century Man
Celluloid Heroes
Tired of Waiting For You
All Day and All of the Night
***
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Days
Waterloo Sunset
Shangri-La
Lola
***
Imaginary Man
You Really Got Me

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.