I saw Ray LaMontagne last night in Southampton - an interesting evening for sure. I have 2 of his CD's and love his music, but it was a bit of a souless performance. The music was played impeccably by himself and a very tight band of excellent musicians, but you could almost have been at home! He came on and started to play with no hello or introduction, between each song the lights were dimmed to near darkness on stage, before the next song started. The audience remained quiet after the applause had died down and it was a bit like listening to music in a library!
Apart from a midway point when he introduced the band (name only) he said the below at differing points of the show. No one else spoke and it just seemed a bit clinical
"Thank you, thankyou very much"
"Thanks for coming"
"You are welcome"
After the encores,
"Thank you, thankyou very much"
A brilliant performance musically, but I left feeling a little flat. The guy I went with, who is also a fan of Ray's commented "I'm not quite sure what to make of that?". He also only performed for a total of 1hr 25mins, which seemed a little short for me.
If you like him and are going to see him during this tour, it would be interesting to hear if all his shows are the same?
