Since the The Kinks last played together in 1996, their music has been used in movie soundtracks (i.e., Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited) and commercials, and has been cited as influential by rising pop bands like Oasis (who have since imploded.)  This exposure has turned a whole new generation of fans on to The Kinks’ extensive catalogue of pop hits and guitar driven mash-ups.  That deep catalogue, which is as musically and socially relevant now as when it was first written and performed decades ago, is why any Ray Davies show should be an essential ticket. 

Davies, the Kinks’ founding member and the primary singer and songwriter, who is now 67, played the new Washington D.C. metro area venue Fillmore Silver Spring on Tuesday, November 15.  The Fillmore show differed from Davies most recent D.C. area performances – December 2008 at the 9:30 Club and March 2010 at the Birchmere.  At those earlier shows, Davies led the crowd through sing-a-longs of some of the Kinks’ more lyrically clever and radio-friendly hits for the majority of the show, while Bill Shanley strummed along on an amped up acoustic guitar.   The acoustic portion of the Fillmore show put on by Davies and Shanley lasted only six songs – including an outstanding Waterloo Sunset - before Davies summoned his opening band onstage– the L.A. based the 88 – to power through some foot-stomping Kinks rockers including; 20th Century Man, ‘Till the End of the Day, David Watts (during which Davies walked off stage to change into tennis shoes) and All Day and All of the Night. 

Davies was chatty and funny throughout the show, even fining himself $10 each time he mentioned The Kinks, with whom he is somewhat estranged – in particular from his brother Dave.  During the course of the show, Davies explained his inspiration for several songs.  He noted that “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout that Girl” off the Kinks’ second album, Kinda Kinks, was written for his first girlfriend – but he couldn’t remember her name anymore.  “Long Way From Home”, from the 1970 album Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, was written about his brother Dave – a purveyor of “fancy clothes”.  Davies also name dropped a few of the collaborators on his recent duets album “See My Friends” – including Big Star’s Alex Chilton, who passed away shortly after recording Till the End of the Day, and Lucinda Williams, who performs on Long Way from Home.  Though, it’s hard to imagine that anyone on that album will mean more to rock and roll than Davies has when all is said and done.

A few words about the venue; The Fillmore is a good addition to the D.C. concert circuit.  Easily accessible by public transportation, it opened earlier this year.  The space is large and clean, and boasts a good size stage and sound.  Management should consider a couple of improvements, however.  First, get rid of the silly rule that allows a person to buy only one drink per trip to the bar.  This rule prohibits one person in a party from bringing back drinks for his or her friends – and requires either multiple trips by the same person, or multiple persons in a party to head to the bar for drinks and risk losing their good spot on the upstairs rail or on the floor.  Let the bartender make the calls as to whether someone is too drunk for service.  Second, the outdoor smoking area needs to be expanded so a person can sneak around the corner and engage in some extracurricular activities involving mother nature, if that person was so inclined.     

Set List

I Need You
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
Sunny Afternoon
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
Waterloo Sunset
See My Friends
Victoria (first verse only)

[the 88 joined for the rest of the main concert]
20th Century Man (preceded by Davies reading an excerpt from his autobiography - X-Ray)

This Is Where I Belong
David Watts
Till The End Of The Day
Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl (written about his first girlfriend)
Too Much On My Mind
All Day And All Of The Night
Celluloid Heroes (took off his jacket during the intro)
Lola

Encores:

A Long Way From Home (written about his brother Dave Davies)
Misfits (Keith from the 88 joined in)
Full Moon (Keith again)
You Really Got Me (the whole 88 joined in)

The Congress are living the last American adventure.  They've been on the road in support of their debut record, Whatever You Want, for months.  They've been hauling a trailer full of equipment from city to town, looking for a place to spend the night, just trying to make a living.  "Every night we're in a new city.  We don't know anything about the venue.  We don't know anybody."  Says guitarist Scott Lane.  "Or we know everybody.  It's crazy."

"We're just trying to build a life for ourselves." Adds drummer Mark Levy.  "We have a room full of people, we try to make a connection.  Even if we have two people, whatever they want to do. We'll play."

That seems to be the good idea of The Congress - getting people together around music to have a good time.  Lane and Jonathan Meadows, a singer who can sing, knew each other from Richmond before Lane moved to Denver.  "The Congress originally began as a recording idea."  Meadows explains. "We were in different cities.  We'd call a congress to get together and jam."

Eventually Meadows followed Lane to Denver.  They met Levy on the Denver music scene and he joined the band when things didn't work out with his own outfit. That was two years ago.

Five months ago, on May 1st, they released their first record - Whatever You Want.  With song titles like "100 Miles" and lyrics like "Keep Virginia in your heart," you get the impression the band misses that city on the James River.

Well, they might.  They did just play two sold out shows to home crowds at The Camel.  But they are not despairing on stage this night.  They are making their Washington D.C. debut at Hill County BBQ, and open with "Distance", off their new record.  It pairs a dance hall riff right out of the 70's with a lyric straight out of Barnes and Noble ("The distance between us, you know it ain't that far.  From Mars to Venus, they're only miles apart.")  Unfortunately, the mostly-full house at Hill County is, for the most part, still sitting down leaning over its pulled pork.

"It's not something we set out to do." Meadows says of the apparent theme of the record. "I'm writing about what I know.  I'm making moves every day. I'm seeing the world through the car window.  If that came out in the lyrics on the record, it was not a conscious choice."

Fair enough. It's exactly how you might feel coming home from work on the bus on a Tuesday night.  If you're tired and want to go home and you write songs, you'd write a song.  You don't have to swim a thousand miles to find the answer.  And Meadows admits, "After this tour, it will be nice to put my feet up in Denver, look at the mountains, and write some new songs."  Who can argue with that plan?

Anyway, time for that later.  As Warren Zevon said, I'll sleep when I'm dead.  Tonight, there's a show to play. "We like and listen to all music, but if you made us put a spotlight on one genre, it's 60's and 70's rock." Levy says.

True to that word, sprinkled in with a healthy dose of music from their new record and their EP, The Congress, the live show includes covers of Fleetwood Mac (with Meadows doing a gorgeous impression of Stevie Nicks), The Grateful Dead, Paul McCartney and Wings, The Band, Neil Young (with Lane turning in a solo that could have come out of the Neil Young archives if it wasn't so much his own) and a show-stopping second set cover of "Killing Me Softly" by Roberta Flack that finally got the two cute blondes at the bar unglued from their stools and onto the dance floor after most of the rest of the crowd had already found their feet.  (Outside for a smoke after the first set, Meadows promised things would get looser.)

If their sound on record jumps from blues, to jazz, to reggae, pays tribute to Paul Simon's Graceland (on the tune "Echoes"), and goes from carnival organ to doo-wop harmony on "Oh Babe"; on stage The Congress is more transparently a confident, straight-ahead blues rock band.  And they can play.  Levy, schooled in the classical style at New England Conservatory in Boston is frenetic, hard to keep up with on the drums.  Meadows grooves inside his bass line, even though he is still learning after the former bassist recently left the band.  And Lane, what to say about his playing?  It's a testament that whatever The Congress aims to be on record, at the core, it's a rock and roll band.

And that's a party.  Early in the set, a friend of the band got onstage to welcome The Congress to D.C..  He called his girlfriend to the stage to say a few words (thought process - what the hell is going on here) but it turned out to be pretense.  He proposed, she said yes, and the band launched into The Dead's "They Love Each Other".  After the third shot of tequila was passed around onstage, Meadows toasted, "Hey, it's a Thursday night.  Happy prenuptials.  Happy Thursday.  Happy life."

On tour in a new city, playing music that makes a connection with the crowd, whatever you want.  It's the last American adventure.

Until Ric Ocasek died, my knowledge of Cheap Trick‘s music revolved primarily around their “Live At Budokan” album and the stuff I heard on the radio and saw on MTV. Pretty good stuff. Ric Ocasek was the driving force behind the band, The Cars, so actually had nothing to do with Cheap Trick, but we’ll get to that.

The Budokan record was released when I was nine. Around that time I was hanging out with my neighbor, David. David was a teenager but I don’t know exactly how old he was. His family moved in and then moved out pretty soon after they arrived so our relationship was short-lived. But I know he was old enough to have a girlfriend and know what to do with her because sometimes he would ask me to leave when Debbie came over. 

When he didn’t make me leave we would all listen to this radio program called Dr. Demento. I’m pretty sure that the first time I heard the song “Ain’t that a Shame,” the Cheap Trick cover of the Fats Domino tune, was listening to Dr. Demento with David and Debbie.

A few years later, in the summer between 7th and 8th grades, a few friends and I would gather each day at Ben and Roland’s house while their folks were at work. Ben and Roland’s brother had the Budokan record and while I’m not at liberty to reveal how we destroyed that house each day, I can say that record was always on the turntable while we did it. 

When Ric Ocasek died in September 2019 I read an article in the Washington Post that described how both The Cars and Cheap Trick - who both broke in the late 1970’s - were just what the author needed in a time when the radio soundtrack was too predictable.  

Of course, that sent me to my phone to download the catalogue of both bands. Cheap Trick had always intrigued me. Rick Nielsen playing that double-neck guitar. Bun E. Carlos with the ever-present cigarette dangling from his mouth. Pretty boys Robin Zander and Tom Petersson. Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the Dream Police, da-nana-nana-na-ne. I already knew their hits; the stuff from MTV and the radio (and the great live record). But I didn’t know anything from their records.

In this time of corona-virus isolation, I’ve had a lot of time to do what I used to do; listen to a record over and over and over.  I’ve found some gems, I think, from the Cheap Trick catalogue that I thought I would share with those who have previously only heard the “popular” stuff.. 

First, here are the ones you’ve probably heard. If you don’t know them and you like rock and roll, listen to them. 

Ain’t That a Shame (released in 1979) - My favorite Cheap Trick song.

Surrender (1978) - Gene Simmons (from Kiss) signed the band to their first recording contract. Kiss gets a shout out in this tune.

I Want You to Want Me (1979) - Listen to it on the studio record “In Color” and then listen to it from the Budokan record.

Dream Police (1979) - Loved it ever since it was referenced in Fast Times.

If You Want My Love (1982) - Doesn’t get as much recognition as a great song as it should.

The Flame (1988) This song sucks, IMO. But it was the only song the band recorded that went to number one on the Billboard charts so I put it on the list of Cheap Trick shit you’ve probably heard. Also, another strike against it; it was co-written by the band with someone hired by the record label. Whatever, feel free to skip it.

Tonight It’s You (1985) - Meh. But it did pretty well on the charts so it reached a lot of people. And the bridge is pretty cool.

And here are some of the Deep Tracks I’ve discovered:

Downed (1977) - IMO, one of their best songs I had never heard. I love the guitar played behind the verses.

She’s Tight (1982) - I remember this one from MTV but put it in the deep tracks category because it charted pretty poorly when released as a single so maybe nobody heard it. When my 17-year old daughter listened to it, she said, “This song has got to go on the list.” She was right. It’s a good one.

Come On, Come On (1977) -  If you know the Budokan record you know this one. It’s from their second record “In Color” (maybe their best studio record.) Also one of my favorites of theirs, especially the live version.

Oo La La La (1982) - Part of a very strong four song set in the middle of the “One on One” record. And it has this great lyric, “there is one thing that I know and say each day, uu ya ya ya, oo la la la.”

I Know What I Want (1979) - So what if what he wants is pussy? It’s a rock and roll song.

Baby Likes to Rock (1980) - Guitar riff reminds me of something by Jimmy Page. If Robert Plant had sung this one it would be a classic. 

Hot Love (1977) - From their debut album. Checking in at under 3 minutes and with a killer riff, it’s appropo of the nascent punk movement that Cheap Trick was part of. It’s also strong evidence that Rick Nielsen was a better guitarist than lyricist.

The Birchmere concert hall in Alexandria, VA is a great space to see live music. The main performance room seats 500 and with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis, you can be as close to the band as the length of a dining table.

During the years I lived in town I got to see some major classic rock acts - Ray Davies, Peter Wolf, George Thorogood, and the Marshall Tucker Band - all from the front row. I’ll throw Greg Brown in there too, even though he doesn’t fall into the classic rock genre.

The only thing I really knew about MTB the night I saw them in 2017 was that my friend Andy liked to do “Can’t You See” at karaoke and that he was driving from New Jersey to Alexandria to see them. Looking back on it now, to say we saw the Marshall Tucker Band (MTB) is a bit of a stretch. The only original member of the band standing on stage that night was the singer Doug Gray. Toy Caldwell, not Doug Gray, wrote most of the songs that made the band famous. In fact, as far as I know, Doug Gray doesn’t even play an instrument in the band, unless you count the tambourine.

Basically, Doug Gray and the band were doing Toy Caldwell songs that night, but they did rock them. The show really turned me on to MTB and I’ve listened to them a lot in the years since. They’ve got a lot of great songs so I thought I would do my part during these corona-times to encourage you to put them on your playlist.

The original lineup of the MTB (Toy and Tommy Caldwell, George McCorkle, Jerry Eubanks, Paul Riddle, and Doug Gray) made nine studio albums. Then Tommy Caldwell died in a car accident. Then they put out a few more lackluster albums and Toy Caldwell died. And that’s the end of MTB for me, even though they put out a few more albums and still tour (with a band that only includes Doug Gray from the original crew.)

I don’t include anything on the below lists from their seventh, eighth, or ninth album (called Tenth, because their ninth album was a greatest hits deal.) Their sound is a bit too jazzy/country for me on those records. But their earlier records are classic - the kind of records that don’t really have a bad song . . . almost. There are a few stinkers. But only a few.

The first list are the songs that got released as singles. None charted that well, but you may have heard them on the radio.

The (Almost) Hits:

Can’t You See (released 1973) - A classic from their debut and Andy’s go-to karaoke song.

Take the Highway (1973) - A lot of MTB songs have to do with love, loss, and moving on.

Fire on the Mountain (1975) - A lot of MTB songs take the love, loss, and moving on theme and incorporate a story about chasing adventures out West.

This Ol’ Cowboy (1975) - And other MTB songs are about cowboys. What holds them all together are Toy Caldwell’s guitar and the Jerry Eubanks’ flute. 

Long Hard Ride (1976) - Instrumental. But even without words, do you see the cowboy theme?

Searchin’ for a Rainbow (1976) - Why not. It’s catchy in a plaintive kind of way.

Heard it in a Love Song (1977) - This song was their highest charting song, reaching number 14.

Deep Tracks:

24 Hours at a Time (1974) - My favorite MTB album is their second record, called “A New Life.”  I could have put the whole record in the Deep Tracks list but I’m trying to be selective and choose songs from their first five or six records. But if you want to listen to a great MTB record, that’s the one. Anyway, this song is on that record, but take 13 minutes and listen to the live version from the record “Where We All Belong.”

You Ain’t Foolin’ Me (1974) - My favorite song from my favorite MTB record. I love Doug Gray’s voice in this one. 

Now She’s Gone (1973) - The best (IMO) Toy and Tommy Caldwell collaboration. From the debut.

Low Down Ways (1976) - Sometimes the girl screws the boy, and sometimes the boy screws the girl. And sometimes they just agree to go their separate ways. Toy liked to write about that.

Ramblin’ (1973) - Together with Hillbilly Band (below) it’s just a fun romp from the debut album.

Hillbilly Band (1973) - See above. I couldn’t choose between the two as to which to put on the list so I put them both.

Fly Eagle Fly (1974) - A song about squirrels, buffalo, and a little cottontail. It makes me want to just sit and look at the sky.

That’s my list. Hope you enjoy it.

Thank goodness for thin apartment walls. Otherwise Liah Alonso might still be singing for herself.

“Before i had any idea that I wanted to pursue a career in music, I lived in Brooklyn and would sing while in my bathtub as a way to relax after school,” says Liah Alonso, a singer-songwriter who splits time between NYC and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. “A neighbor heard me through the walls. You have such a beautiful voice, she told me. I’m going to introduce you to a producer friend of mine.”

“I had always been musically-oriented. I remember singing at the piano with my grandfather when I was very young. I played the piano, cello, and trombone growing up and would make up songs to pass time when I was alone. But I didn’t play an instrument at the time my neighbor heard me,” Liah remembers.

Vinnie, the producer friend, put guitar harmonies to her songs, got a band together, and before long Liah and her band, Whispering Muse, were playing at CBGB’s and at others spots around the city.

Eventually, Liah began to take guitar lessons. “It got to the point where I knew how I wanted the songs to sound,” she says. “I needed to have the ability to take the songs where I wanted them to go.”

It’s hard to categorize Liah’s music as fitting into one category, though she identifies with the Gypsy Cowgirl moniker, a name she got when she was passing through New Orleans on tour and found a leather bracelet with those words. “I finally had a name for how I had felt my whole life. My parents were Mexican and Spanish. We never lived in one place for very long, bouncing around between the US and Mexico City. That’s the gypsy part. And I always loved and rode horses. That’s the cowgirl part.”

While she acknowledges that “cowgirl” implies a country influence, Liah describes herself more as a musical anthropologist. “I like to explore different styles of music and then do a project based on that influence. I combine rock and latin influences as well as musical theater and pop.”

The different styles are evident in her music. “Matches, Sticks, and Gasoline” is a country-tinged protest song that reflects her activist bent. “Box of Light” is pop-influenced, but with a social message about being too connected to our phones.

Liah’s upcoming album is called “Light To The Universe.” It’s a collaboration with international dance producer DJ Taz Rashid that takes the messages of yoga and other spiritual traditions and puts them into a pop dance space. “My mission with music is to tell the truth and to inspire us all to overcome sadness and obstacles,” Liah explains. “Light To The Universe wants to bring light to the dark dance floors that are often filled with negative messages. We want to empower people with encouraging messages that also make them dance.”

The first single, also called “Light to the Universe,” is a club/dance mix that was released on Liah’s YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/user/liahalonso

Friends can also catch Liah playing live each Sunday night at 7 p.m. EST at: https://www.facebook.com/liahalonso/live

“Honestly,” Liah says. “I don’t love to live stream. There’s not the same energy as playing a concert to a room full of people. Before coronavirus I would gig in San Miguel two or three nights a week and then go to the US and tour for a week or two. Obviously, my touring schedule is on hold, but live streaming allows me to reach different audiences. I’ve had people watching from around the world. So there are plus sides. I’m just trying to do something good in the world with music and art.”

Liah uses her weekly live stream platform to raise money to feed her neighbors in need in Mexico. Half of her proceeds go to feeding the people and animals hit hardest by the covid pandemic. To learn more or donate: [email protected]