Last night was date night for me and my husband, and we got to see Ray LaMontagne in concert. It was our second time seeing him. The first time we went mostly because Brandi Carlile was opening for him, and she’s one of my all-time favorite artists. At that time, I’d heard a few Ray songs and liked them, but that was it. After that concert, though, I bought all his albums and listened to them often, so this concert was even better than the first. His performances focus solely on the music: he doesn’t talk between songs besides a soft “thank you” here and there. There’s no banter or chatter, just music. The lights aren’t overpowering, and often the spotlight goes off him completely and highlights someone in his band. There’s a lot of emotion and honesty in his music to begin with, but the live performances are infused with extra energy. I felt sorry for all the people who left early, because they missed a rousing encore performance of “Hey Me, Hey Mama”. Anyway, long story short, I’m tired after our late night and this is the only blog topic I can come up with right now. If you haven’t heard Ray before, please check him out. Watch him perform one of his new songs here, or one of his older classics here.