ray davies, part 2

Whisking into HMV, K & I asked a worker where Ray Davies was due to perform. We were directed to the second floor. As we stepped off the escelator we turned right and saw Ray's equipment being unpacked by a mini-roadie team. I took some photos of K by the equipment. One turned out really nice, as it has a close up of K with Ray's name visible on a nearby amp case. For the first half hour the floor was pretty empty. I spoke to a couple of Kink fans who were also waiting for the performance. Eventually the area in front of the escelator/stairs was set up with a small aresonal of cords, amps, and speakers with two chairs (one for Ray and one for his sidekick). As more people started to come upstairs K & I found a spot on the floor right in front of Ray's chair. The escelator and stairs leading to the second floor were corded off at around 5:30. At about 5:50 K told me she had to go to the washroom. I tried to convince her to wait but this was not up for negotiation. So, I spoke to a sympathetic HMV employee who offered to help. Nervously, I set my gear on the floor to save our spots and the kind worker (who has very good karma) took us down to the staff washroom in the basement. He walked us back up too and our front row spots were patiently waiting for us.

Ray materialized about 6:15, and with a smattering of audience interaction he played three songs from his new album - Vietnam Cowboys, Working Man's Cafe, In A Moment - followed by Lola (with energetic audience participation). K & I both took photos of the Godfather of Britpop. K's photo includes his sidekick while mine includes his Asics running shoes. The performance lasted about 20 minutes. K and I were third in the autograph line up. I gave Ray the Orson Welles book I had brought for him (Don't worry, I have doubles of that book) and he was quite excited. Somewhere I remember reading he is an Orson Welles fan (and he references Citizen Kane on his Think Visual album). Ray chatted with K a bit. He asked her if she's a fan and of course she said yes. He asked her name and personalized a CD booklet for her. Then, he opened a red box he had on his table & said to K "Would you like a chocolate? These are very nice. Very expensive." K said thank you and took one. There were two left and Ray recommended a diamond-shaped white chocolate, but K wanted the star-shaped chocolate. Ray then signed a CD booklet for me and the HMV worker who had helped us earlier took a couple of photos of us with him. Feeling very happy K and I went to the a market in the Eaton Centre for pizza and soup and then took the TTC home.