He really got us

Correspondent Ami Albernaz reports back from the Ray Davies show in Providence Wednesday night:

At Lupo's last night, Ray Davies blended old (Kinks stuff) with new (songs from his two solo albums), graciously shepherding the eager audience through the decades of his career. He dwelled in New Orleans, the provenance of numbers like "Morphine Song" (off this year's "Working Man's Cafe"), written as a tribute to the hospital staff that took care of him after he was shot in the leg during a mugging. Much of the largely middle-aged audience, as expected, was there to hear the songs of their youth -- and with characteristic charm and wit, Davies obliged. "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" and "Shangri-La" still rang true, and a high-voltage rendition of "You Really Got Me," aided by a full backing band, proved that 64-year-old Davies has still got it.