Ray Lamontagne review

[ForeverAutumn]

Wow. What an interesting show. Let me start by saying that the music was outstanding and we had a great time, because as I move into the description of the show you might get the impression that I thought otherwise. But as I think about what I’m going to write, I can say that I’m starting to feel like this show might have been about as close to a religious experience as I’m ever likely to get.

Ray Lamontagne has a raspy, gruff and strong singing voice, but he seems to be a very soft spoken a man. I say “seems to be” because in the hour and 45 minutes that he played he barely acknowledged that there was an audience in the room. He came out and sang song after song. It wasn’t until about the eighth song that he finally managed to stumble out a weak, “thank you very much”. He then thanked us every few songs. But that was the extent of Ray’s interaction with the audience. He has a new album being released next Tuesday. He played a lot of tracks from it. Songs that the audience were hearing for the first time. He never mentioned the album nor did he introduce the songs. It was only at the start of his second encore that he quietly started with, “this song is called Gossip In the Grain”. And then he sung. This was the longest, in fact the only, sentence that he spoke all night...if you don’t include “thank you very much”. Gossip in the Grain is the title track to the new album, which he still hadn’t mentioned.

The stage set-up had the band in a semi-circle with Ray at one end. We were eight rows from the stage and over to the side that Ray was standing on. He didn’t move his position or even turn his head through the entire show. The right side of his face could be horribly disfigured and I wouldn’t know.

The sound mix was far too quiet for the first four songs. In-between songs audience members were yelling “TURN IT UP”. The sound guy finally turned up the volume to the instruments but it was another two songs until they got Ray’s mic to a good level.

I have to say that I was surprised when Ray’s concert sold out in about a half hour. Even the scalpers who were hanging around in front of the theatre last night sold out of tickets. There were people walking around looking for tickets and they couldn’t get any. It made me wonder, briefly, what we could sell ours for.

If the show selling out surprised me, the reaction of the crowd when Ray stepped onto the stage shocked me. I’m used to seeing such reactions for large scale legendary concerts. Concerts that you wait a lifetime to see, like a huge Rolling Stones fan finally seeing them for the first time. It was this kind of legendary status that the crowd had pinned on Ray. I didn’t know that anyone even knew who Ray Lamontagne was. If not for Swish, I wouldn’t know him. Not only did they know him, they worshipped him with three heartfelt standing ovations!

And the standing ovations were not undeserving. His CDs do not do his voice justice. Among that raspy whispery voice is unbelievable strength and control. The band was tight and the music was great! After about a dozen songs, the band left the stage and it was just Ray and his guitar. He sung a track off his new CD and the crowd was totally mesmerized. Had he stopped singing for just a moment, you could have heard a pin drop. This bearded man who never addressed the audience had 2000 people hypnotized with his voice. It was like we were all just waiting for him to whisper his incredible secret to us and we didn’t want to miss a word. It was a memorable moment.

Although he’s a man who is obviously very comfortable in front of a microphone, he doesn’t seem very comfortable in front of an audience. I think that he’d better get over that issue real quick. I’m glad that I got to see Ray in such an intimate theatre because I suspect that it will be the last time that he plays such a small venue here.

[Hyfi]

Wow. What an interesting show. Let me start by saying that the music was outstanding and we had a great time, because as I move into the description of the show you might get the impression that I thought otherwise. But as I think about what I’m going to write, I can say that I’m starting to feel like this show might have been about as close to a religious experience as I’m ever likely to get.

Ray Lamontagne has a raspy, gruff and strong singing voice, but he seems to be a very soft spoken a man. I say “seems to be” because in the hour and 45 minutes that he played he barely acknowledged that there was an audience in the room. He came out and sang song after song. It wasn’t until about the eighth song that he finally managed to stumble out a weak, “thank you very much”. He then thanked us every few songs. But that was the extent of Ray’s interaction with the audience. He has a new album being released next Tuesday. He played a lot of tracks from it. Songs that the audience were hearing for the first time. He never mentioned the album nor did he introduce the songs. It was only at the start of his second encore that he quietly started with, “this song is called Gossip In the Grain”. And then he sung. This was the longest, in fact the only, sentence that he spoke all night...if you don’t include “thank you very much”. Gossip in the Grain is the title track to the new album, which he still hadn’t mentioned.

The stage set-up had the band in a semi-circle with Ray at one end. We were eight rows from the stage and over to the side that Ray was standing on. He didn’t move his position or even turn his head through the entire show. The right side of his face could be horribly disfigured and I wouldn’t know.

The sound mix was far too quiet for the first four songs. In-between songs audience members were yelling “TURN IT UP”. The sound guy finally turned up the volume to the instruments but it was another two songs until they got Ray’s mic to a good level.

I have to say that I was surprised when Ray’s concert sold out in about a half hour. Even the scalpers who were hanging around in front of the theatre last night sold out of tickets. There were people walking around looking for tickets and they couldn’t get any. It made me wonder, briefly, what we could sell ours for.

If the show selling out surprised me, the reaction of the crowd when Ray stepped onto the stage shocked me. I’m used to seeing such reactions for large scale legendary concerts. Concerts that you wait a lifetime to see, like a huge Rolling Stones fan finally seeing them for the first time. It was this kind of legendary status that the crowd had pinned on Ray. I didn’t know that anyone even knew who Ray Lamontagne was. If not for Swish, I wouldn’t know him. Not only did they know him, they worshipped him with three heartfelt standing ovations!

And the standing ovations were not undeserving. His CDs do not do his voice justice. Among that raspy whispery voice is unbelievable strength and control. The band was tight and the music was great! After about a dozen songs, the band left the stage and it was just Ray and his guitar. He sung a track off his new CD and the crowd was totally mesmerized. Had he stopped singing for just a moment, you could have heard a pin drop. This bearded man who never addressed the audience had 2000 people hypnotized with his voice. It was like we were all just waiting for him to whisper his incredible secret to us and we didn’t want to miss a word. It was a memorable moment.

Although he’s a man who is obviously very comfortable in front of a microphone, he doesn’t seem very comfortable in front of an audience. I think that he’d better get over that issue real quick. I’m glad that I got to see Ray in such an intimate theatre because I suspect that it will be the last time that he plays such a small venue here.

Who???

Glad you liked the show. At least he acknowledged the audience unlike Robert Fripp.
I only have heard 1 song by Ray but can't comment other than Singer Songwriters are not my bag baby.

[bobsticks]

Great stuff Autumn. Thanks for taking the time to post such a solid review.I was sorley disappointed to have missed him on the 30th.

[jonnyhambone]

thanks for the nice review...and arrrgh! I skipped the show here this past weekend and really knew I'd regret it. Just didn't want to commit and have been seeing a lot of other shows...this one probably should not have been missed. I'm still excited to see Wire and Wovenhand in the next week or so but, Ray....