writeup by kathy
December 19, 2006, Noho, MA

Chris and I got to see Ray Lamontagne in concert at the Calvin this weekend (can’t believe we got tickets cuz it sold out so fast!). Tristan Prettyman opened for him, she was a cute California surfer girl who sang un-poppy music–kind of sounded like Suzanne Vega mixed with Edie BRickell. Nice

Ray Lamontagne absolutely rocked the house. He is super shy and has no stage presence at all–said hardly a single word in between songs. He was like an idiot savant, but the awesome acoustics at the Calvin just carried his smoky voice.

He sang mostly songs from his new album “Till the Sun Turns Black”, the most rousing of which was an over the top “3 More Days” which caused a speaker to blow out! That was the only time we heard him speak–to say, in his SUPER soft voice, “Well I guess we still have to go on because we’re professionals”.

He sang “Trouble”, “Shelter”, “Hold you in My ARms” and “Forever my FRiend” from his old album.

Because of the lack of interaction the concert went by fast. He didn’t come back for an encore but it was well worth it.

Our only complaint was that the seats we were in were distracting because they were by the middle of the aisle and the back hallway where lots of people were talking. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers for last minute seats.