Aug. 8, 1979 review: The Kinks and Ian Hunter in Kleinhans Music Hall

 

In the midst of what seemed back then like the most depressing of times, here was the best of times.  

Aug. 8, 1979 

Kinks Rock with Oldies, New Tunes

With a tattered backdrop and a couple of frowsy palm trees, the Kinks showed a frisky sellout crowd in Kleinhans Music Hall Tuesday night that even on a low budget it’s possible to have a high old time.

         “Low Budget” is the latest theme to be taken up by this long-lived British band – first as an album, now as a tour – and it ranks with their best. They’ve grabbed onto the things that make modern times what they are: gas shortages, cash shortages and a general decline in the quality of life.

         Does this make them downhearted? Not at all. Like the album, the stage show rocked, from its first blast of flash powder to its wild and woolly two-encore finale. It as if the Kinks had turned themselves back to their free-swinging beginnings in the mid ‘60s British Invasion.

         Songs from that era – “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night” and, in the encore, “Twist and Shout” – brought the fans to their feet, clapping and singing along.

         Singer Ray Davies lived up to his reputation as one of rock’s better showmen. He pranced, gestured, raved up the singalongs, ran into the crowd and threatened to spray the front row with beer.

         As ever, Davies teased the limits of credibility. There were gasps as he almost tumbled in “Catch Me Now, I’m Falling.” His other hallmark – sloppiness – was not entirely absent. He dropped lyrics, punctured climaxes and introduced his brother Dave on guitar three times.

         Heaven knows what impact the Kinks might have if Davies focused his power the way Ian Hunter did in the evening’s opening set.

         Hunter, formerly singer with Mott the Hoople, brooked no nonsense in a short, hard-hitting set that laid out his musical replies to all the hard questions of rock ‘n roll – mortality, ambition, rebellion, frustration and the search for identity.

         An engaging figure in sunglasses and sandy curls, Hunter was upstaged for two songs by the provocative figure of blonde, pony-tailed Ellen Foley, the singer who tantalized Meat Loaf in “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” Hunter and guitarist Mick Ronson are producing Foley’s debut album.

         Ronson, who served in David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars band, riffed deadpan in the rear of Hunter’s spotlight for most of the set. The only number which flicked his Bic was “Just Another Night” off Hunter’s “You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic” album.

         For an encore, Hunter reached back into the Mott the Hoople treasure chest for “All the Young Dudes” and “All the Way to Memphis.” He made the Kinks’ low-budget night a rock ‘n roll bargain – two great shows for the price of one.

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IN THE PHOTO: Ray Davies, left, in an undated photo from the "Low Budget" tour.

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FOOTNOTE: "Low Budget," which turned away from the concept albums the Kinks had been making, was the band's best-selling album since the '60s and marked an upturn in their fortunes commercially. The lineup, however, was in upheaval, with bassist John Dalton and keyboardist John Gosling leaving and founding drummer Mick Avory ready to quit.

The setlist.fm report on the Kleinhans show is incomplete. Here's what they did two nights earlier at the Music Inn in Stockbridge, Mass.:

Sleepwalker

Life on the Road

Permanent Waves

Lola

Misfits

Low Budget

(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

A Gallon of Gas

You Really Got Me

Celluloid Heroes

All Day and All of the Night

Pressure

(encore)

Twist and Shout

Victoria