Venue: Paramount Theater - Seattle, WA
Date: November 15, 2006
When Ray LaMontagne hits the stage at Seattle’s Paramount Theater, the crowd absolutely erupts in fits and vocal fireworks of “I love you,” “Say something,” and “Sing it, Ray!”
Indeed, LaMontagne’s stage presence is something of a fascination. Tall and thin, he hardly looks at the audience, at least not clearly. He spends the first minute or more of his set conversing with his band mates as if the set list just took a sudden change of direction before the show could even start. This, of course, encourages the crowd into even more requests and catcalls.
After a few moments, he and his band launch into their first incredible melodic turn of the evening: “Be Here Now.” After stunning his impatient crowd to silence, Ray takes another few moments to converse with his bass player, and the audience bubbles up again.
Thankfully, Ray and the band don’t kill too much time before slipping into “Barfly” and other great tunes from his latest record, Till the Sun Turns Black, including sweet, smooth renditions of “Truly Madly Deeply,” “You Can Bring Me Flowers,” and “Gone Away From Me.”
Despite his audience’s continuous request to “Say something!” LaMontagne seems adamant and pleased to ignore their pleas. The longer he goes without talking between songs, the hungrier the crowd becomes.
Meanwhile, as they’re busy shouting out their approvals and demands, LaMontagne manages to stealthily put on an incredible show. Although he sticks mostly to material from Till the Sun Turns Black, he manages to take some time aside for some numbers from his debut Live at Bonnaroo record.
It was “Trouble” that drove LaMontagne’s earlier career, and this song proves a major highlight of the evening, along with "Til the Sun Turns Black" and the biggest eager crowd pleaser, “Jolene.”
When he sings, LaMontagne alternates between standing steady in a meditative trance and bounding from the knees, head back and roaring. The meditative trance is what initially grabs his audience, but by the time the roar climbs from his throat, the audience is on their feet dancing before they realize they’ve even stood up.
Then, with little fanfare, LaMontagne removes his guitar and says, “Thanks guys, see ya,” before leaving the stage.
Ususally, an encore is a given with live shows. The artist will leave the stage, the audience will applaud with all their might. Before a minute has gone by, the performer’s back on the stage for a final hurrah. For Ray LaMontagne, though, apparently “hard to get” is the name of the game. He leaves his audience for more than two minutes, and they just can’t stand it. If someone had just entered the room, they may think they’ve wandered into a Dave Matthews show, the crowd is just so crazy for Ray.
When he returns, LaMontagne indulges his audience’s desire to boogy by rocking through an outstanding rendition of “How Come.” And just like that, over the course of a three-song encore and a drawn out expression of thanks, LaMontagne has sated every one of the evening’s catcall requests.
