The hardest part of writing reviews as far as I am concerned, is staring at a blank screen and wondering how I can find a theme to make what I am about to key onto it interesting. One day I might actually get it right. From the moment, some time last year, I saw that this musical was coming to Leeds Grand Theatre I knew exactly how I would begin because me and The Kinks had a bond and there were a couple of interesting, and hopefully humorous, incidents to relate. Sadly, all of that went out of the window after I had seen the show.
At my age, and experience of seeing musicals, I knew that there would be a certain amount of dumbing down of the facts and situations, I wasn’t prepared, however, for the extent to which this would be done, especially as the credits read “Original story by Ray Davies.” They did go on to say, “Book by Joe Penhall.” so I can only assume that, once Mr Davies had related the story, it was the author’s version we were treated to. Actually, my autocorrect tried to change his name to Joe Penal, which would have been more appropriate for this criminal act. The reason I am so upset about the production is that, within the space of two and three-quarter hours, my teens were defiled and my heroes treated like a comic book cartoon.
Danny Horn as Ray Davies, Oliver Hoare as brother Dave, Zakarie Stokes as drummer Mick Avory – looking more like Keith Moon – and Harry Curley, bass player, Pete Quaife.
I realise that this was meant to be entertainment and not a documentary, but to me and my friends, The Kinks spoke to us about our situation. Dead End Street was the back-to-back slum in East Leeds where I spent the first twelve years of my life, with one room on the ground floor, two bedrooms and a damp-riddled cellar. There was no bathroom, nor even hot running water, and the toilet was in a communal block at the end of the row. Autumn Almanack was my lifestyle, ‘I like my football on a Saturday, roast beef on Sunday’s alright. I go to Blackpool (Scarborough – actually) for my holidays, sit in the open sunlight.’ Our rebellious streak was summed up in I’m Not Like Everybody Else and for adolescent ennui Where Have All The Good Times Gone? hit the spot. They are even credited in some quarters by inventing Heavy Metal, the opening riffs of All Day And All Of The Night and You Really Got Me, a total revelation at the time followed by the lyrics, which allowed us to let off steam. Even the lighter songs such as Well Respected Man and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, were cutting satire, the former against the authority figures we encountered, such a teachers and the latter, the rich London kids shopping in the King’s Road, Chelsea every Saturday morning for completely new outfits to wear when going out that evening. Here they were used as music hall comedy songs, to parody the group’s managers.
The story of The Kinks is complicated and dark in places. Ray Davies was given his first guitar for his 13th birthday by his sister, who, later that day, went out dancing and died from a congenital heart condition. This obviously left a scar on both him and his brother, Dave, although that half was not explored here. The result was that music became the only way in which Ray could express himself, except by fighting with Dave, and whoever else upset him. When the Kinks formed, the other two members, Mick Avory, the drummer, and Pete Quaife, the bass player, would also join in the melee, quite often during performances on stage. On one occasion Mick Avory hit Dave Davies with a cymbal during a performance in Cardiff, resulting in serious facial injuries causing later dates in the tour to be cancelled, which affected me as I had a ticket for their performance at Leeds Odeon, a week or so later. The show went ahead but I got my money back as the replacement headliners were The Walker Brothers, who no one had heard of at the time. When they headlined the bill a few months, and two hits, later it was a sell-out.
There were the obligatory management problems and being ripped off by publishing and record companies, seeing them sell millions of records but earn next to nothing. They were also banned from the USA for failing to obtain union clearance before touring, so a major source of income was denied.
Danny Horn as Ray Davies and Lisa Wright as first wife, Rasa.
I found that the scene illustrating the homesickness of Ray Davies whilst on tour went on a bit longer than necessary, but it was obviously included to facilitate the more tender songs such as I Go To Sleep. A big fuss was made of his first marriage, but I don’t remember it being a ‘thing’ like John Lennon and Cynthia.
I was also disappointed by the casting. Not only didn’t the actors look like the people they were playing, Harry Curley as Pete Quaife and Zakarie Stokes, Mick Avory were miles off. What was worse, however, was that Danny Horn as Ray Davies didn’t sound like him either, his voice was too mellow to handle the edgy tone of his character when singing, not only that, but he seemed to be flat on a lot of the passages. I can’t comment on Oliver Hoare as Dave Davies as he couldn’t be heard over the instruments.
Now that is out of the way, I will turn to the good points. As instrumentalists, the group was superb, note perfect in all the songs. I was especially impressed by an incredible drum solo from Zakarie Stokes, and later, the way in which seemingly random chords suddenly took shape to morph into Waterloo Sunset.
My final plaudit goes to the audience participation at the end, when we were all on our feet singing and dancing. It gave me a chance to belt out Lola, so loudly that I could drown out the bum notes of Danny Horn, and sing it in tune – with added edge.
In conclusion, if you want a good night out with some of the best banging tunes of the 20th century and are not bothered by the vocal execution or the flippant way in which the characters are portrayed, this is for you. If, on the other hand, you were a fan of the group who provided the soundtrack to your formative years, I would give it a miss.
Sunny Afternoon, is at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday, 28th February. For more information and tickets, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/sunny-afternoon-2026/ To see what else is on at Leeds Heritage Theatres it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/
Photographs by Manuel Harlan
Tyke It To The Limit 