Court Date Awaits Rock Star’s Return

The British rock band The Kinks is scheduled to make a concert appearance in Southern California on Aug. 24, but some members may make a court appearance in Glendale before that.

The band’s lead singer, guitar player and songwriter, Ray Davies, 41, is named in a $400,000 lawsuit that charges him with assaulting a concert security guard as part of a ploy to excite the audience. A hearing on the case is scheduled to begin Monday in Superior Court in Glendale, and attorneys said it is likely that Davies and possibly other members of the Kinks and their stage personnel will testify.

The suit was filed by Daniel Rothschild, 33, of West Los Angeles, who worked as a security guard at a 1979 Kinks concert at the Universal Amphitheater. During the concert, the suit charges, Davies assaulted Rothschild by pulling him to the ground by his hair. Rothschild said he is 6 feet tall and weighs 125 pounds.

Other Contentions

The suit contends that Davies later jumped from the stage into the crowd, where he hopped piggyback onto another security guard, shoved another and led a group of dancing fans back to the stage.

Davies’ attorney, John Gaims of Century City, said that Davies was only trying to stop Rothschild from strong-arming two young women, who were rushing toward the stage with flowers for the band. He denied that Davies was trying to provoke the crowd and called the other incidents irrelevant.

“If we are trying to put the entire matter of rock concerts on trial, then we’re putting this case out of focus,” Gaims said.

Although Rothschild allegedly suffered bruises in the incident, his attorney, Ira Sherman of Northridge, said the suit was principally filed for what he asserted was Davies’ negligence for the safety of others by instigating a possibly riotous situation. Sherman said he will show a video of a Kinks performance and have expert witnesses testify that performers can easily manipulate crowds into a dangerous level of excitement.

The hearing has been postponed often, largely because of the London-based Davies’ recording and touring schedule, which will bring him to the Irvine Meadows Ampitheater on Aug. 24.