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Elly Roberts reviews
Till The Sun Turns Black: 
Shy-guy Ray LaMontagne sold out the second night of his current UK tour, with 2,700 fans at Manchesters Carling Apollo.
Strolling on to subdued lighting, he was greeted with a wall of cheers andwhistles. For the night wed 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 ThreeMore Days, he spent most of the time in subdued lighting, speaking only tohis three-piece band and count-ins. In fact, on How Come, he sang in virtualprofile, indicating a man ill at ease with live performances.
For taking photographs, we were given strict instructions to remain well awayfrom the stage front and side. Ray and his band were quite some distance fromthe stage front. Each song would be punctuated by, what seemed like very longpauses, and working UV light.
Thankfully, for song four, Forever My Friend, the lights went up, andthe incredible voice kicked in on this soulful song, bringing the biggest cheerso far. A fan shouted, “Good to have you back Ray!” – “Its good tobe back”, he replied. “Its 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 thanplay a gig heavily bearded, long black hair, check shirt and jeans. After aquick 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 seemsminimalist. This also goes for his presentation. Basic. Hes a bit like Clapton he allows the instrument to do the talking. And what an instrument that voiceis.
Adding harmonica, a cool I Wont Be Around sailed by sweetly to bigcheers once again. Going country, he got seriously loved-up on You Can BringMe Flowers. Atmosheric Burn, once again allowed his voice to be themain feature, as did Shelter, which amazingly brought Ray out of hisshell with, “Thank you very much”, wiping his brow. A personalfavourite Barfly was one on the main highlights, stricking a majorvocal high that seemed to swirl around the Apollo.
When he hit signature tune Trouble, he raised the roof, as youd expect.After 1 hour 10 minutes he was off, though he was soon back due to the noisyovation. Three songs: Be Here Now, Till The Sun and Coda (a newone) was followed by another, “Thank you”, and off.
As fans began to leave, he returned, to everyones surprise. One more, astirring Jolene with just Ray and Marybeth, bass player, brought thehouse down.
Tip: Never leave a Ray Lamontagne gig until he says, “Thank you.” And“Goodnight”.
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.