Ray LaMontagne, Royal Festival Hall | reviews, news & interviews
Ray LaMontagne, Royal Festival Hall
Ray LaMontagne, Royal Festival Hall
Grammy-winning recluse finds his voice and it is country
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Ray LaMontagne: not just some preppy muso who has grown a beard
Rock-folkies can sure be snobs. Even though New Hampshire-born Ray LaMontagne is still relatively unknown over here, there are still purists who view his records with suspicion. They feel the voice is just too huge, the sound too commercial. The irony is that no-one courts attention less than LaMontagne. Last night he delivered the entire concert from a static spot just to the left of the band. And apparently he’s as withdrawn offstage as he is on. But the RFH saw him focussed. Focussed on finding the right way to channel that part-bluebird, part-bear he has for a voice.
Rock-folkies can sure be snobs. Even though New Hampshire-born Ray LaMontagne is still relatively unknown over here, there are still purists who view his records with suspicion. They feel the voice is just too huge, the sound too commercial. The irony is that no-one courts attention less than LaMontagne. Last night he delivered the entire concert from a static spot just to the left of the band. And apparently he’s as withdrawn offstage as he is on. But the RFH saw him focussed. Focussed on finding the right way to channel that part-bluebird, part-bear he has for a voice.
The Secret Sisters used their Southern Gothic harmonies to transport the Festival Hall to a place far away where God is very real and the air hangs thick with swamp fog and Spanish moss
Buy
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more New music
Bob Vylan, O2 Institute, Birmingham review - self-proclaimed most important band in the UK blow the roof off
Political punk-rappers see the weekend out with a bang
Album: Møster! - Springs
Norwegian supergroup merges jazz with rock’s outer edges
Music Reissues Weekly: Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Singles
Plugging a gap in the story of the soul giant
Album: Chuck Prophet - Wake the Dead
Rock'n'roll master dances past the graveyard with cumbia rhythms and quizzically cocked eyebrow
Album: Willie Nelson - Last Leaf on the Tree
The 91-year-old’s 153rd album is more than a farewell to arms – it’s a late-career classic
Album: The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
Sadness and finality have rarely felt so life-affirming
Album: Peter Perrett - The Cleansing
Depth, humour and bucket loads of cool from the former Only One
Book Extract: Where Songs Come From - The Lyrics and Origin Stories of 150 Solo and Carter USM Songs by Jim Bob
Jim Bob introduces a chapter from his new book, a combined autobiography, lyrical overview and love letter to London
Album: Pixies - The Night The Zombies Came
Quirky indie with a Halloween twist from legends of the genre Pixies
Music Reissues Weekly: Gerry and the Pacemakers - I Like It! Anthology 1963-1966
How the key Merseybeat hitmakers were left behind as pop moved on
Album: Halsey - The Great Impersonator
The US star muses on mortality via channelling her musical heroines
Album: Underworld - Strawberry Hotel
Contagiously joyous rollercoaster from Smith and Hyde
Comments
...
...
...