The Kinks Night at The Clissold Arms November 12th

I went along to a Kinks fan get together at The Clissold Arms on Saturday night, apparently it was a warm-up for the real Kinks Konvention being held on the Sunday at the Boston Arms, and it turned out to be a really enjoyable evening. 

We arrived quite early, around 6:30 pm and already people were up dancing and singing along, I must admit it took me a couple of pints before I dared to join in! The band, Geoff Lewis and the Kinksfan Kollektiv, comprising of fan/musicians from America, Holland, Spain and the UK enthusiastically went about performing a huge selection of tracks from The Kinks back catalogue. I'd already visited The Clissold Arms, which you can read all about in my previous feature on my little Kinks Walking Tour excursion, and it really is a great pub. The owners have done a fantastic job in paying tribute to the important part it played in The Kinks story and have made it a place that any fan of the band should be proud of.

There was a superb atmosphere and despite the large presence of die-hard fans, a lot of whom seemed to know each other very well from similar get-togethers, it was very friendly and welcoming to us more casual visitors. We spoke to a lovely father and daughter from Biarritz in France and to Bruce, a charming American proudly wearing his "Number One Kinks fan" T-Shirt. We also encountered fans from Scandinavia and Spain too, it would have been interesting to know how many countries were represented. 

I would definitely go again next year and hopefully also get along to the full blown Kinks Konvention too. You can keep up to date on future arrangements at the Kast Off Kinks site here.

Here's a few photos taken on the night, sorry for the poor quality but singing juggling pints and taking photos at the same time proved a little difficult...!

Geoff Lewis (keyboards) and the Kinksfan Kollektiv - photo by Steve Worrall

Fans sing along to covers of all the hits and a few more obscure tracks too - Photo by Steve Worrall

Come dancing in the aisles of the Kinks Room - Photo by Steve Worrall

Geoff Lewis and the Kinksfan Kollektiv - photo by Steve Worrall

Geoff Lewis and the Kinksfan Kollektiv - photo by Steve Worrall

By the end of the evening The Kinks Room is jammed by happy fans.

The chap on the left is Bruce from Washington, USA, proudly displaying his Kinks Fan of The Year T-Shirt