Dave Davies Says There’s a 50/50 Chance of Kinks Tour
It's up to Ray Davies to decide if and when the Kinks reunite for a tour in 2014. But Dave Davies, the band's guitarist, makes it clear that he's up for it. In fact, he says he told his brother that now is the time because they're not getting any younger.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, an energetic Dave Davies doesn't hold back, describing his brother as a manipulative "a--hole" and comparing him to 'Star Wars'' evil Emperor Palpatine. "But I have to thank him, because if he wasn't so f---ing horrible to me, I wouldn't have understood more about life," he said.
Personality differences make the prospect of a new Kinks album seem very dim. Dave Davies said he can't imagine spending days in the studio with his older brother. As for the tour, the two have talked about it several times in the past few months. "I'd say the odds of that happening are 50/50," Dave said. The first two conversations went well, but the last one … "We had tea right before I came over to America, and he was so negative, grumpy and just mean.
"It was like he fell into a black hole," he continued. "He didn't want me to come back to America. I think it's because I'm happy, and I was doing something without his approval. I feel like he was miserable because I was happy. He's a really troubled man."
The younger Davies was recently in the U.S. for a few few solo shows in support of his new album. They were the first since his debilitating stroke in 2004, and they went well, he said. A tour next year would be to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Kinks. But it would be the two Davies brothers with a new backing band; none of the other original members would be involved.
"I really do want to do something with Ray before we both decay and decompose," he said. "I said to Ray last week, 'We don't have much time left.' But he didn't ... Ray, what an a--hole he is."