Ray Lamontagne

The Manchester Apollo was full. All the seats had been taken and some people, having not got their ticket in time, even opted to stand at the back for the whole show. Something they certainly regretted. There are some shows where people would be quite happy to stand for hours on end, forgetting the pain entirely as soon as the music takes them, enduring any hardship (including ever increasing ticket prices) just for the treat of hearing a band play in a live environment. There are some like that. There are also some where it is hard just to sit for a couple of hours.

The show began slowly, not only musically (Ray Lamontagne’s music is painfully slow sometimes) but in terms of atmosphere as well. The four band members stood glued to their positions equally spaced across the stage, which in itself was an uninspiring set up, and refused to move throughout the gig. It would be nice to say the music made up for this but that is not the case. The lack of energy extended into the music as well; in fact it seems Ray puts about the same effort into his live show as he does his grooming. Characteristic bending of the knees and throwing the head back may have been mistaken for enjoyment and feeling from Ray, but being as that is all he did for an hour and a half it became clear it was more of an annoying tick than any display of passion.



That’s not to say the music was bad. It sounded crystal clear and tight as...let’s not go there. In fact, it sounded exactly like the CD’s, and therein lies the problem. No variations, no improvisations, no interaction. No passion. You are guaranteed the exact same experience from listening to Ray’s albums and staring at a photograph of the band for what will feel like a painfully extended period of time. It’s not like he’s even nice to look at. So the slowness and dullness of the gig’s beginning was successfully maintained throughout.

Ray plodded through what I’m sure is almost the entirety of his released music, having only released two albums, finishing with the infamous ‘Trouble’, only to return with an unwelcome (many members of the crowd were getting ready to leave) encore including the title track from the new album ‘Till the Sun Turns Black’.



Ray Lamontagne may have some beautiful, soulful tracks. He may also be able to replicate these songs perfectly live. All of this is admirable, but an audience needs something more as an incentive to not make do with the CD. An audience needs something special that makes the live experience magical and new, regardless of how well they know the music. In this respect Ray Lamontagne’s show was entirely lacking, making it very hard not to be painfully aware of aching legs and numb bums.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.