Ray Davies was very much the charming Kinksman at the Tower Theater on Saturday night, working the crowd like a schooled British vaudevillian, even going so far as to cheekily tell the fired-up Upper Darby crowd that he had just come from New York, "that suburb of Philadelphia." Plus, he kissed a baby who, naturally, was named "Lola." Lots of audience participation in a show divvied up between 45 minutes of sit-down acoustic and an hour of stand-up rock and roll, and lots of great songs, that still only skimmed the Davies catalog: "Waterloo Sunset," "Sunny Afternoon," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion,""Apeman," brother Dave's "Death Of A Clown" (and the heartfelt and obscure "A Long Way From Home," written and sung for Dave), along with the rockers "Till The End Of The Day," and "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?," and the fuzz tone classics "All Day And All Of The Night" and "You Really Got Me." Plus a healthy helping of Davies' two 00's solo albums, whose tunes like  "In A Moment" and "The Tourist" fit in quite nicely. Here's a bunch of pictures, more after the jump.

»  More Ray Davies at the Tower

It's almost enough to make me consider spending a Saturday afternoon outlet shopping: Country-rock spitfire and superb songwriter Miranda Lambert, whose latest, Revolution, is a Top 10 of 2009 contender, is playing in Reading tonight.  It's a beautiful day for a drive to the Pretzel Capital of the World, and the only opportunity to see the pistol-packing Texas firecracker in these country music deprived parts any time soon, as the next closest tour date on her itinerary is in South Carolina in March.

Here's a profile of Lambert I wrote back in 2007 when she was on tour with Toby Keith, and here's Nick Cristiano's review of the new album. And below is the new single "White Liar," in which, for once, she dispenses with a wayward man without whipping out a weapon, and a rocked-out cover of John Prine's "That's The Way The World Goes Round," which give youn a good idea where Lambert's coming from. And check out the bearded preacher in the "Liar" video: It's rough-and-tumble (and worthy of investigation) country baritone Jamey Johnson.

Info on Lambert's show at the  Sovereign Bank Performance Center is here.

Previously: PJ at ACL

Pearl Jam - those dudes from Seattle who dressed up as Devo when they closed out the Spectrum last month - are going to be on Austin City Limits this weekend. Somehow I'm saying that nothing they do will be quite as crushing as this cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" from the next to last night Spectrum night.  Details here.

Previously: Heaven Can Wait

Never mind the Bob Dylan "Must Be Santa" video. This one, "Heaven Can Wait," a collaboration between Beck and Charlotte Gainsbourg - the daughter of Serge, who played Susie Rotolo-slash-Sara Dylan to Heath Ledger's Bob in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There and was named best actress at Cannes for her role in Lars Von Trier's Antichrist - gives dear old Dylan a run for his money for non-sequitorial weirdness. Watch for the half-bearded man, and the fellow with the pancake face. Gainesbourg's Beck-produced IRM comes out January 26.

Previously: Must Be Dylan

Who's the guy in the goofy wig and the Santa hat? Must be Bob Dylan. If you thought the Christmas in the Heart album was strange, here's something weirder still: The Nash Edgerton-directed video for Dylan's Xmas polka tune "Must Be Santa," featuring a jaunty bard swigging wine, smoking a stogie and hanging out with St. Nick himself at a smashing holiday party. Nice socks, Bob. Watch it here.

Previously: Norah vs. Fiddy

Here are a couple of audio-visual aids to go with my Norah Jones-50 Cent review, which is in today's Inquirer. Below, Jones doing "Chasing Pirates" on Letterman, and Fiddy doing "Baby By Me," with Ne-Yo.

Previously: Adam Arcuragi at the North Star

Georgia-born, Philly-bred and now New York-based singer songwriter Adam Arcuragi plays the North Star Bar in Brewerytown tonight. Here's my review of his new album I Am Become Joy, from yesterday's Inquirer. And here's a clip of Arcuragi and band busking in Manhattan, doing Joy's joyous "The Bottom Of The River."

Previously: Live Lobos

Sometimes the best gigs happen in the strangest places. There I was, eating fondue on Saturday night, and getting ready to go see Los Lobos at Harrah's in Chester. "Los Lobos is playing a casino?" a friend of mine said. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Not really - though the low-ceilinged Harrah's ballroom where the east L.A. rockers played a wicked 80 minute set was a long steep escalator ride down from the casino floor.  Harrah's may be Tony Orlando and Ronnie Milsap territory, and the sparkly lights hanging behind wouldn't have been out of place in a high school gym. But there's next to no stigma left for rock bands playing casino showrooms anymore, and Los Lobos are a working band, 30 plus years down the road, who handle themselves with class whether they're playing the White House (which they did last month as part of Fiesta Latina) or a less august venue. And from the sound of the sextet on Saturday night, they're as good as they've ever been when it comes to reading an audience and thinking on their feet on stage.

»  More Live Lobos

I caught Max Tundra at a day party at SXSW in Austin, Texas earlier this year, and as the video below suggests, the DJ, guitarist and crowd pleaser is quite the clever all-around entertainer. He's at Kung Fu Necktie in Fishtown on Saturday night.

Previously: Los Lobos Does Disney in Chester