CityLife

Bridgewater return for Kinks legend

CHORUS TIME: Ray Davies

WHEN your fingers have spread out into as many popular culture pies as Ray Davies' dexterous pinkies have, there's little need for introductions.

The former frontman for The Kinks, an iconoclastic commentator on our life and times, a CBE, a respected director for both stage and screen and a member of the music halls of fame on both sides of the Pond, Davies has earned enviable praise right across his career.

His solo career was sporadic until 2006, when a revitalised Davies (perhaps enlived following his near death experience in New Orleans in 2004, when he was shot in the leg) released two offerings in quick succession.

His latest release, The Kinks Choral Collection, was recorded with the Crouch End Festival Chorus and features new studio recordings of Davies' compositions, all but one of which were originally recorded by The Kinks (including; Days, Waterloo Sunset, Victoria, Village Green).

December's return to the city should be a perfect opportunity to revisit them then, but will he bring the Chorus on tour with him?

Ray Davies plays the Bridgewater Hall on Tuesday, December 15. Call 0161 907 9000.