The last few weeks before the off was, when I look back on it, jam packed with live music. On Sunday 12 August 1990 we all went to Alexandra Palace (Ally Pally) for the last night of the Town & Country Club's 5th Birthday celebrations. The advertised programme had an up and coming Irish band called The 4 of Us and Squeeze on the bill but the main attraction was the Kinks. We arrived in time to see The 4 of Us principally because Brian was very enthusiastic about them. To my mind they took themselves a little bit too seriously. I had bought a couple of their CD singles beforehand but having seen them was not as enthusiastic as Brian. Squeeze didn't make the show (they must have cancelled) but the Kinks did. Frankly they were a bit disappointing too. They were by this time a band that were still very big in the USA where they were effectively a heavy rock outfit. I've been told that rather than Ray Davies being the leading member of the band it was his brother Dave who was the main driving force. According to my mate Steve he was/is quite mad. In fact I am now lead to believe he is no longer with us. His musical influence tended towards metal. Ally Pally wan't the greatest venue either. At one point Ray Davies came to the mike and said "I suppose you want to hear the old stuff?" The crowd went wild to which he said "Well, if we were going to play that stuff we'd be in Vegas". They did however play a medley of their big hits which went down well enough. It would have been a much better gig if they had played more of their well known numbers. It was the climax of the Town & Country Club's 5th Birthday celebrations and it would have more fitting. Never mind.
