I'm trying to play catch up with a bunch of photos from shows in the last little while this week. Today's is the great Britpop sounds of Locksley. They're hyper and feverish and, as we said about them before , "It's not all pop-goes-the-fuzzy guitars though for Locksley, there's definitely some other things happening there, so be sure you listen to more than one track." 
Locksley opened the show for the great Kinks-frontman, Ray Davies. If any band these days was utterly appropriate to do this, it was their head-bobbing punk-Britpop.
Listen: Why Can't I Be You (live)_Locksley
Theirs was an utterly proper amping up for Davies, and Davies' set proved why he's still influencing musicians who could be his grandchildren. The first part of Davies' set was him and Bill Shanley both playing acoustic guitars and covering the gambit in terms of Davies' solo and Kinks-ian catalogue. Davies is an excellent teller of the stories surrounding his life and myth, explaining what made him write this song or that song, including some interesting not-so-well-known facts (for example, the song "Come Dancing" was a tribute to his sister who died because she loved to go dancing at dance halls). He also rather candidly talked about the mugging/shooting that he experienced in New Orleans that almost killed him a few years back, and, of course, the famously acrimonious relationship with his brother and Kinks-band mate, Dave. While I enjoyed hearing him play, I must say, I think I probably enjoyed his tales more. It was all very comfortable, like the 930 Club was his big living room.
Locksley came out to back up Davies and Shanley, everyone plugged in and turned up to 11, for the encore including hits like "Lola" and "All Day and All the Night." The addition of Locksley was something really special in terms of the songs and Davies, as we watched this living legend sharing the stage and his most known songs with a young indie band, something that's not uber-common. The combination added a new life and energy to the songs, making them seem as fresh as when they were first released more than 25 years ago.
Davies, even after all these years, still very obviously loves what he does. And unlike some other performers his age who still put out records, (Mick Jagger I'm looking at you here), Davies' well for beatiful phrasing has not run dry; his songs are still creative and interesting enough that you listen to them on repeat. I know I came away a bigger fan for sure...then again, how can you not love such a witty wiseass?
