We went last Friday to see Ray LaMontagne with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore. Spectacular performance. Ray sounds better live than recorded. The music was great from beginning to end. There was some bad though, which is probably because I’m demanding. Primarily, the people. Every time I go out to an event, it seems to be the issue. Last night was someone chewing on their fingernails, people recording [and getting caught doing it] the show. In a darkened event, you really don’t want someone turning on their small star of a cell phone. And the seats are bit uncomfortable as well. The seats we had were dead center of the theater. The arm rest between us was broken so I had to use my jacket as a cushion. There are vents or plates of some kind right under your feet that run the length of the row, and when someones shuffles their feet, it moves the entire vent. A bit distracting during a performance. It is also a tight fit, similar to airplane seating.. no wait.. steerage seating. I’m familiar with the design though. The ceiling is very mechanical looking. I’m more appreciative of the smooth look where you don’t see the ropes and pulleys and whatnot above. I think it makes for better acoustics as well.
Anyway, I loved it. Glad I got to see him play. Ray is the most humble person when on stage. I recently saw an interview with him. He’s very quiet on stage. Cheers for him and his music were met with slight waves, and very quiet thank yous. Since we didn’t leave, he came back to play a couple more songs, but we knew he was going to leave after that.