| Page 2 of 4 < > |
PERFORMING ARTS
Stephen Stills and Graham Nash in New York earlier this month. Along with David Crosby, they put on a spirited show at Wolf Trap on Saturday.
(By Paul Hawthorne -- Getty Images)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
-- Mark Jenkins
Ray LaMontagne at the 9:30 Club
From what celestial sphere comes Ray LaMontagne, this mumbling, beardy fellow who looked like he'd stepped out of the New Testament and stopped by Urban Outfitters on his way to a sold-out 9:30 club on Friday night?
LaMontagne is downright spectacular, and it's hard to dissect why. His biggest hit, "Trouble," was received with enthusiastic singalongs, but it's probably his most ordinary number. He wailed soulfully through it, and through such other impassioned songs as "Hold You In My Arms," as a crowd that nearly drowned out opening act Sarah Blasko with its chatter went library-quiet, complete with people going "shhh."
But the opening series of solo songs, before LaMontagne was joined by a bassist and drummer, was especially mesmerizing. His keening voice -- what you'd get if Sam Cooke blessed Neil Young -- isn't that unusual. His guitar is mainly something he strums to fill in the gaps. His style isn't original -- the opening hook of "Hannah" is straight from the Band's "The Weight," and even the song titles look like stuff we've heard before.
His lyrics are as full of commonplaces as blues and folk ballads are full of whiskey rivers and roses on lovers' graves: It's as if he's soaked up the finest pop sounds of the1960s -- before some Edenic '70s fall -- and synthesized them into something so vital it doesn't need to be new. In his remarkably unoriginal vision, he proves that sometimes cliches are cliches because they're true.
-- Pamela Murray Winters
