GiGinJapan Artwork of Japanese CDs (mostly) Kinks / Nagoya 1993 Dat Master / 2CDR / Uxbridge
Live at Club Diamond Hall, Nagoya, Japan 11th October 1993
Play sample :
In the early 1990s, there was a dream time for the Kinks to come to Japan at short intervals. The first 1993 was a great success, and soon after, they visited Japan again in 1995. Thanks to that, there were various items for the performance in Japan in 1995, but the number of items in 1993 is small.
That is the title such as “ON THE ROAD AGAIN” and “SECOND COMING”, and both are now difficult to obtain. Also, those items were only recorded live in Tokyo in the first half of the tour, and enthusiasts were hungry for the appearance of items that captured local performances.
Because, the Kinks concerts of this era had a development that the composition and song selection changed drastically with Ray Davies’s existence, and from the enthusiast’s point of view, it was so varied that it made me want to collect every day. is.
The Nagoya performance that will be released this time can be said to be the ultimate. From the opening, Ray played “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly instead of his own song. Furthermore, the ultimate is the timeless masterpiece “The Village Green Preservation Society”, which was the only show in Japan.
The Kinks performance in Japan in 1993 showed great excitement in various places, but this day was particularly terrible. The standard call and response on “Low Budget” and “Lola” is commonplace, and the backing chorus is so hot that the audience takes on the backing chorus with recent songs such as “Did Ya” and “Hatred”.
In such a situation, it was “The Village ~” that Rei, who had a good feeling, bumped into and sang in the actual performance. I think it was a moment of ascension to the Kinks enthusiasts in Japan, who sang a masterpiece that was rarely performed on the stage of this era. ..
Unfortunately, the recording started from the moment Ray started singing another highlight, “Peggy Sue”, and it was a little lacking (I think Ray suddenly appeared on the stage alone and was surprised). Furthermore, the sound is slightly cracked when Ray raises his voice or when Dave Davies’ lead guitar grows louder.
Therefore, this time it was a CD-R release, but I closed my eyes and the sound was so good. Anyway, the performance and Ray’s voice are really close. Still, the sound quality is very clear, so you can hear the tight performance of the Kinks of this era. A band sound unique to the Kinks of this era, supported by a rhythm section called Jim Rodford, who is now dead by Bob Henrit.
An incandescent night in the latter half of the tour that was not heard in the items released nearly 30 years ago (so much?). The item “ON THE ROAD AGAIN” at that time attracted a lot of attention due to its high sound quality, but it has a powerful sound image that is comparable to that. On the other hand, there is no cheer that interrupts the performance even though the realism is very exciting. And finally released the legendary day when “The Village Green Preservation Society” was performed from the performance in Japan in 1993, which was a great success every day. I affirm that it is an item of mania tears
1990年代前半、キンクスが短いインターバルで来日公演を行うというマニアにとって夢のような時期がありました。一回目の1993年が大成功となり、程なくして95年に再び彼らは日本を訪れてくれたのです。おかげで95年の来日公演アイテムは色々と出ていたのに対し、93年の方はアイテムの数が少ない。
それが「ON THE ROAD AGAIN」や「SECOND COMING」といったタイトルであり、今やどちらも入手困難という状況でもあります。また、それらのアイテムがツアー前半の東京でのライブばかりを収録していたもので、マニアからすると地方の公演を捉えたアイテムの登場を渇望していたのでした。
というのも、この時代のキンクスのライブはレイ・ディヴィスの一存で構成や選曲がガラッと変わるという展開があり、マニアからすればどの日もコレクトしたい…と思わせるほど変化に富んでいたのです。
その極めつけともいえるのが今回リリースされる名古屋公演。まずオープニングからしてレイが弾き語ったのは自身の曲の代わりにバディ・ホリーの「Peggy Sue」。さらに極めつけは日本で唯一披露された不朽の名作「The Village Green Preservation Society」。
ただでさえ各地で大きな盛り上がりを見せた93年のキンクス来日公演ですが、この日は特に凄まじい。「Low Budget」や「Lola」での定番コール＆レスポンスなんて当たり前、「Did Ya」や「Hatred」といった近年の楽曲でバックコーラスを観客が担ってしまうほどアツい盛り上がり。
そんな中で気をよくしたレイがぶっつけ本番で歌い出したのが「The Village～」だったのです。この時代のステージで滅多に披露されない名曲が歌われたという、日本のキンクス・マニアには昇天ものの瞬間だったのではないでしょうか。。
惜しむらくはもう一つの目玉である「Peggy Sue」をレイが歌い出した瞬間から録音が始まっており、若干ながら欠けてしまった（いきなりレイが一人でステージに現れて驚いたのでしょう）こと。さらにレイが声を張り上げる場面やデイヴ・デイヴィスのリードギターが大きくなる場面などでは若干ながら音が割れてしまう。
それ故に今回はCD-Rリリースとなったのですが、それに目をつぶってあまりある音の良さ。とにかく演奏やレイの声が実に近い。それでいて非常にクリアーな音質ですので、この時代のキンクスのタイトな演奏が引き立って聞こえる。ボブ・ヘンリットに今は亡きジム・ロッドフォードというリズム隊によって支えられたこの時代のキンクスならではのバンド・サウンド。
今から30年近く前に（もうそんなに？）リリースされたアイテム群では聞かれなかったツアー後半における白熱の一夜。当時のアイテム「ON THE ROAD AGAIN」はその高音質が話題を呼んだものですが、それに負けない迫力の音像。一方で凄く盛り上がった臨場感は抜群なのに演奏を遮るような歓声は皆無。そして連日大盛況だった93年の来日公演から「The Village Green Preservation Society」が演奏された伝説の一日を遂にリリース。マニア感涙のアイテムだと断言いたします。
Disc 1 (55:01)
Ray Davies Solo Acoustic
1. Peggy Sue
2. A Well Respected Man
3. Do It Again
Electric Kinks
4. Intro
5. Till the End of the Day
6. The Hard Way
7. Low Budget
8. Phobia
9. Loony Balloon / Drift Away
10. Celluloid Heroes
11. Over the Edge
12. It’s All Right
13. Only a Dream
14. The Village Green Preservation Society
15. Come Dancing
Disc 2 (45:21)
1. Alcohol
2. Aggravation / New World
3. I Gotta Move
4. Welcome to Sleazy Town
5. All Day and All of the Night
6. Did Ya
7. Lola
8. Hatred
9. You Really Got Me
Ray Davies – Vocals, Guitar
Dave Davies – Guitar, Vocals
Ian Gibbons – Keyboards, Vocals
Bob Henrit – Drums
Jim Rodford – Bass, Vocals
Uxbridge 1494
