Saturday 21st January 2017, back at the Millenium Centre here in Cardiff Bay for two performances of the Kinks musical, Sunny Afternoon. Having never seen this before, I’m not sure what to expect. I’ll probably fall in love with it, and wish I could have seen it more times, as it ends at the Centre tonight (only here for a week).

I must confess that I am not a massive fan of the Kinks music, there are a few exceptions of course, but then I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the 60’s music, again some songs were brilliant, while others just melted away into the background, never to be listened to again. Although I have an open mind on most shows I see, and have yet to see a show I didn’t like, or completely fall head over heels for it.

So onto this main event. The first thing I have to say is ‘Oh My God’ that was absolutely brilliant, I was not expecting that. I laughed, cried and just had an amazing time watching and listening to this fabulous musical. This has totally changed my view about the music of the Kinks. The way the band members came on stage and sung better than I could have imagined. Sheer genius. So many great moments to cherish throughout. I particularly love the way Ray (Ryan O’Donnell) sings between the main songs,as he tries to influence the audience into seeing his own thoughts, and what a great voice he has To go with it. I also love the way all the Band members and cast play the instruments live on stage, adding a thrill to each song sung. A mention to the band members too, Mark Newnham as Dave Davies, Garmon Rhys as Pete Quaife, Andrew Gallo plays Mick Avery and Lisa Wright as Rasa. All of these were fabulous, and made for a fabulous show. The ensemble were again so brilliant, as they always are.


Plenty of songs throughout to keep everything going, most of them bringing a tear to my eyes (again). So many stand out numbers, including ‘Sunny Afternoon’,a great song in itself.  ‘I go to sleep’, so beautifully sung by Rasa. ‘Days’, sung accapela style to a appreciative audience, who never made a sound throughout. To ‘Lola’, one of my favourite songs, sung by the whole cast at the end. But my favourite piece is definitely the lead up to ‘Waterloo Sunset’, my favourite of all Kinks songs, and probably in my top 20 songs of all time, I cried as this was being sung, and I must say what a performance it was too, just brilliant.

I never realised how much good music they made in their younger days, I loved every song they did on that incredible Millenium Centre stage. So I’m keeping my first few paragraphs in as a reminder to myself that musical tastes can change, especially if heard through a different medium, meaning of course, the theatre. I’ve learnt so much over the past 4 years and now realise just how good these musical shows can be, and how much happiness they bring to my life. This is another Fantastic show I really want to see again, (told you so).