Ray Lamontagne Live Review @ Apollo (Manchester) - 17 Oct 2007

Photo By:Elly Roberts

Live Review

Shy-guy Ray LaMontagne sold out the second night of his current UK tour, with 2,700 fans at Manchester's Carling Apollo.

Strolling on to subdued lighting, he was greeted with a wall of cheers and whistles. For the night we'd get seven songs from debut album Trouble, six from Till The Sun Turns Black, and four new ones.

For the first three songs, How Come, You Should Belong and Three More Days, he spent most of the time in subdued lighting, speaking only to his three-piece band and count-ins. In fact, on How Come, he sang in virtual frofile, indicating a man ill at ease with live performances. For taking photographs, we were given strict instructions to remain well away from the stage front and side. Ray and his band were quite some distance from the stage front. Each song would be punctuated by , what seemed like very long pauses, and working UV light.Thankfully, for song four Forever My Friend, the lights went up, and the incredible voice kicked in on this soulful song, bringing the biggest cheer so far.A fan shouted,

Good to have you back Ray!

It's good to be back,

he replied.

It's very nice to be here with you tonight,

in his trademark hushed tones. Looking at him closely, rustic Ray looked like a man ready to chop logs than play a gig - heavily bearded, long black hair, check shirt and jeans. After a quick band intro, he delivered a delicate ballad Hold You In My Arms, dripping in pedal steel allowing Ray to add more rasp to that cavernous voice. Ray likes to travel light, not much gear on stage. Everything about him seems minimalist. This also goes for his presentation. Basic. He's a bit like Clapton - he allows the instrument to do the talking. And what an instrument that voice is. Adding harmonica, a cool I Won't Be Around sailed by sweetly to big cheers once again. Going country, he got seriously loved-up on You Can Bring Me Flowers. Atmosheric Burn, once again allowed his voice to be the main feature, as did Shelter, which amazingly brought Ray out of his shell with," Thank you very much, " wiping his brow. A personal favourite Barfly was one on the main highlights, stricking a major vocal high that seemed to swirl around the Apollo. When he hit signature tune Trouble, he raised the roof, as you'd expect. After 1 hour 10 minutes he was off, though he was soon back due to the noisy ovation. Three songs Be Here Now, Till The Sun and Coda ( a new one ) was followed by another ,

Thank you,

and off. As fans began to leave, he returned, to everyones surprise. One more, a stirring Jolene with just Ray and Marybeth, bass player, brought the house down.

Tip. Never leave a Ray Lamontagne gig until he says,