The Kinks / Joe Ely

Gbauer10 Jul 14, 2024

We drove up from Costa Rica sea and went to the SB Bowl show instead of Irvine Meadows show because Bowl is way smaller. When we called to get tickets somehow I actually talked to the promoter and told him that we wanted tickets. He said he’d set 4 aside for use and took down our names and payment info. Said check with will call. We got there early and went to pick up tickets at noon. When we gave our name they said there were no tickets held. I asked to speak to promoter and he had them give us some tickets. No one was around so we hopped the fence and went to check out the seats. They’re were 3 rows from the top! We went back and I cussed out the promoter and he said to wait until partway through opening act and he’d have tickets for us. As we got ready to head down to the beach to wait suddenly a few limos pulled up and got waved through. We reclimbed the fence and went down to about 15 rows up. The Kinks came out on stage for their sound check, casually waved to us and proceeded to play several songs with just the four of us watching. Really cool! Then the promoter came through with tickets for tenth row dead center. Amazing performance by the Kinks and especially Ray Davies. I had never realized what a great frontman he was. The Destroyer album was solid too and it was a great time to see the band!