Ray Lamontagne + David Gray = SUCCESS!

The husband and I went to the Ray Lamontagne and David Gray show last night with my cousin and her husband. The venue we went to is such a great place to see a show. It's much smaller than a lot of other venues, so the shows are always more personal and intimate, plus it's outdoors. Last night the weather was perfect - cool, but not cold, and a clear sky. David Gray actually mentioned how awesome it was to be able to see the moon rising up over the back of the hill (it's one of those venues that has the stage, then pavillion seating and then a hill where you can purchase lawn seats).

The performances were outstanding! I'd never seen Ray live before, but have always enjoyed his music. Man, he is an amazing performer!!! He is painfully shy and barely speaks or makes contact with his audience while on stage, but he sings from his GUT!! He is super talented and both The Husband and I are interested in getting more of his music.

I have been a huge fan of David Gray's for many, many years. The first time I ever heard him sing was late one night (around 3am) around 12 years ago after coming home from the bar. I was still living with my parents at the time. I came home, went into my room and turned the TV on. I flipped through the channels and came across a public television show hosted by one of the DJs from a local radio station. Some guy I'd never heard of was singing a song I'd never heard of, but I was instantly hooked. I waited to find out his name (David Gray...duh), the name of the song ("Please Forgive Me") and album (White Ladder) and woke up promptly (at 12pm) the next day to head to my local Borders to purchase a copy of his fourth (!!!) album. At the time, it was the only David Gray CD they had. For those of you who know David Gray's music, you'll understand how surprised I was to hear the studio version of "Please Forgive Me" on the album and how different it was from the acoustic version I'd heard the night before, but I LOVED it!!! So much so that I listened to nothing but that CD for weeks. I went on to purchase all of his previous albums from Amazon UK since I couldn't find them anywhere in the U.S. And it's been true love ever since. I gobble up his albums as they come out and I've seen him about 10 times, probably more. I've met him twice and I've seen smaller, private shows where it's just him, his guitar and 20 or so lucky audience members. Now I've got The Husband hooked, too. David Gray is phenomenal.

Anyway, here some pictures from tailgating before, one of Ray Lamontagne and one of David Gray on stage. Sorry the David Gray one is small and dark, but it was taken with my mobile and it was dark out. My mobile takes CRAPPY pics!