Tues. Nov. 17

Ray Davies, the former Kinks leader, has released a couple of strong solo albums over the last few years. But he's never run away from the Kinks - no reason to do so. And on his latest work, "The Kinks Choral Collection," he thanks "the band then and now." Now, of course, implies the Kinks still exist and we really don't know the answer to that. When we've interviewed Ray over the years he's given various answers to that question, too, so it may just be open ended, still. But what Ray is doing now is touring behind that "Choral" album, which he recorded with the Crouch End Festival Chorus, composed of 65 singers. (He also employed Ian Gibbons, keyboardist for one of the latter-day Kinks incarnations.) For the album, he did eight Kinks songs - including, two of the most lovely, "Days" and "Waterloo Sunset" - a title track from his last solo disc, "Working Man's Cafe" and a medley of songs from the Kinks' classic LP, "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society." Ray's on the road right now, and stops at Berklee Performance Center Tuesday Nov. 17 at 8. Here's the odd thing. He will have a chorus accompanying him on four dates but not here.

On his website, Davies posted this: "With a song like 'Waterloo Sunset,' I feel as if the people I wrote it for are singing it. I know some of the singers in the choir, though not all, but as a group I imagine them all living in north London, and they are my subject matter as well as the people singing it. There's some sort of symmetry there." And, you have to hear how "You Really Got Me" is re-interpreted. Heck, it's been re-interpreted by hundreds of bands, so why not Davies doing it with an angelic chorus starting song and then the band kicking in with the primal rock chords? The chorus doesn't disappear; it continues to contribute and fascinate. No, I never envisioned the song in this format, but that's part of the magic. It's not tacky or a gimmick. Think of this tour as a bookend to the "Storyteller" tour Ray did in the '90s - up close and personal stories and stripped down songs. Here Ray is adding rather than subtracting. It works. "Celluloid Heroes" will break your heart once again. Having said all that, you'll have to have seen the show in San Francisco, L.A. or New York to hear how this translates live. In Boston, Davies will be backed by the same quintet he's using along the tour. Tickets: $85-$40. Starts at 8.

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