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Garmon Rhys (Pete Quaife), Ryan O'Donnell (Ray Davies), Andrew Gallo (Mick Avory) and Mark Newnham as Dave Davies. Pictures: Kevin Cummins. Sunny Afternoon
The New Alexandra Theatre
**** FOR those who lived through the 60s The
Who were mad, The Stones raunchy and edgy and The Kinks were, well, The
Kinks. A band who had fights on stage, made headlines
for often sensational reasons and, through the troubled mid of Ray
Davies made
As Ray’s dad, played by Robert Took, said: “It’s
sod’s law that the only socialist band in the business would be brought
down by the unions . . .” Davies is one of the
finest, and most prolific, song writers that this country has ever
produced and Sunny Afternoon
takes us through the early years of the band from their days as The
Ravens (weddings and birthdays a speciality) to their rocky rise to fame
as The Kinks.
Ryan O’Donnell gives a convincing performance as
the troubled Ray, a lad who just wanted to write songs and sing, never
wanting to be a star, a life that had nothing in it for him. Davies,
incidentally was later to attempt suicide and be diagnosed as having a
bipolar disorder. Brother Dave, though, who indulged in cross dressing among other things, played with a permanent air of teenage angst and defiance by Mark Newnham – a fine guitarist as well by the way - lapped up the stardom with the booze and the birds . . . and did I mention the booze and the birds. Dave was also
responsible for one of the great musical inovations with the power
chords on You Really Got Me,
the band’s first big hit. He slashed the cone of one speaker then fed the
raw, damaged sound through another, all at maximum overloaded power, a
guitar distortion that was to become a mainstay of many a heavy metal
power ballad. Ray and Dave had a love hate relationship, a
turbulent sibling rivalry through much of The Kinks’ 32 year history,
but there was no love between Dave and drummer Mick Avery played by
Andrew Gallo, just a simmering dislike bordering on hatred which saw a
fight on stage in Cardiff which saw Dave taken unconscious to hospital
after being lamped with a foot pedal. You can keep yer Take That’s,
that’s real rock and roll for you. Despite all that Avery was to be the next longest
serving member of the band after the brothers, 20 years a Kink. Then there was bass player Pete Quaife, played by
Garmon Rhys, quiet, unassuming, and frightened by all the fame. He was
to leave the band as he didn’t feel he fitted in . . . probably too
normal. Pete, sadly was to die in 2010. For no real reason as far as the plot is
concerned Gallo gives us a long and skilled drum solo, which those who
lived through the era would recognise as one of the cornerstones of any
band’s performance, especially in arena shows. You had to have a drum
solo lasting for what appeared to be days often on drum kits that
probably needed their own artic to carry them around. It was some sort
of rock law. While Dave had girlfriends by the dozen, often at
the same time, Ray had Rasa, his first wife, played and sung beautifully
by Lisa Wright, who also weighs in on guitar and There is good support from Nathanael Campbell and
Tomm Coles as first managers Gregory Piven and Grenville Collins, who
both play a mean trombone, joined by Richard Hurst as Larry Page and
Michael Warburton as Eddie Kassner as those living off Davies and the
Kinks grew. And there is a lively ensemble covering everyone
else from union leaders to shady mafia messengers.
Writer Joe Penhall and
Davies, who provided the story and the music, have thankfully avoided
the tried and tested, and let’s be honest, tedious, jukebox musical
route of a skimpy story wrapped around a tribute act, instead they use
the music to tell a real story with Kinks’ hits reworked with new
arrangements to fit in with the narrative, for example, there is a
delightful a cappella version of Days. Miriam Buether’s set design is a clever one,
walls of speakers, bass, midrange and tweeter cone everywhere and, this
the early 1960’s remember, so it is nice to see mikes and guitars with
leads trailing everywhere rather than radio link-ups. Part of the fun in
those days was seeing bands untangle themselves after each song. The only bugbear is the peninsula stage
protruding into the audience a la rock concert. It means circle
customers see just tops of heads and sometimes not even that. Like
Jersey Boys
this is a musical about a group that goes way beyond just an excuse to
pack a couple of hours with nostalgic music – hence four Olivier awards.
It has a story to tell, involving real people, a working class group,
people of didn’t really get on but who needed each other. The music is there of
course, familiar songs such as Lola,
Walerloo Sunset and the title track
Sunny Afternoon
and it is a chance to wallow in nostalgia for
those of a certain age, but there is much more than that to enjoy in
this slick, fast paced production directed by Edward Hall. To 10-09-16 Roger Clarke O6-09-16
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music
that ranged from gentle melody to hard, raw rock – oh and got themselves
banned from the USA because of disputes with the musician's union.
banjo, and a daughter. One of the few pop stars to reveal he was married
giving his management team apoplexy.