Today’s Blimp Time-Hop: The Kinks Last Portland Show

35 years ago tonight, The Kinks played for the second and last time ever at the Civic Center. The singular storytelling brilliance of Ray Davies shone once again with Come Dancing. It was one of the band’s biggest hit singles and had been spinning on BLM since the Fall of ’82. So needless to say, by the time these former 60’s British Invaders arrived in Portland on June 9, 1983, it was a sold-out show!

This was the State of Confusion tour and The Kinks played here in Portland the night before the album of the same name was released. Blimpsters got to see original members Ray Davies, Dave Davies, and Mick Avory perform classics like Lola and You Really Got Me (now really souped up since the Van Halen cover!) along with new stuff like Don’t Forget to Dance and the title track of the new album.

We can't find the list of what they played in Portland. However, it was probably pretty close to this from the next night in Wusstah!

 We forget how much we loved this anxiety filled romp!