The voice that is described as an "amplified whisper"; Ray LaMontagne.
After speaking with his bassist of the past few years Jennifer Condos, she commented "that the trick to working with Ray is to not get in his way".
On this tour Jennifer's boyfriend Ethan Johns is drumming. Jenn and I talked about the past US Guster tour as well as Ray's European fan base and she mentioned that the next leg of the tour in Europe may be a threesome.
LaMontagne refers to himself as a "very private person", and rarely gives interviews. He also usually does not interact much with the audience between songs. LaMontagne has been known to perform live shows in the dark in order to separate himself from the audience. Source: Wikipedia
Ray's music is the spotlight and his humility shows in his performance. This is one reason I believe he receives more appreciation in Europe and my guess, an audience that is discerning and refined, something I would think Ray appreciates.
For this Philly show he omitted the final song Wild Horses and during Empty a fight had broken out towards the rear of the theatre causing the audience to be distracted.
Two unreleased songs were performed: Allie a ballad of love and Achin All the Time a country sounding song.
About 2/3's of the way through the show the few hecklers gave up shouting out "I love you's" and song requests given Ray's total ignorance of their voices. Ray is an artist that when performing is showing his heart. This is where his communication comes in and for audience members who seem to want the spotlight or to connect with Ray this can be difficult. I say let him sing and play whatever/whenever/however he wants to.
It is hard to come away from his shows and not feel "moved" and I think this man's talent is amazing and his shows are pure art.
The click between audience and artist did not take place at this show. The music performed sounded as good as the albums and Ray's voice can give you goosebumps. The missing element of connection and Ray's ommission of the last song showed that he did not feel the electricity as well.
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