Tunes from Tuesday

On Tuesday of this week, I went with my sister to see two amazing artists - Leona Naess and Ray Lamontagne. I was really excited for Whitney to come with me PLUS I have been so excited for this concert since August!!! It was INCREDIBLE! The show was in Bethesda at a place (that I have never heard of) called The Music Center at Strathmore. I recommend going to this place whenever you get the chance. This was one of the most amazing venues I have been to for a concert. It was GORGEOUS inside. Whitney and I were in awe. Not only that, but because it is a music center, it was made for the purpose of sound. The acoustics just blew me away and it was by far the best sounding concert I have ever been to. The simplicity of the music and the way it reverberated in that room made it feel like Ray and Leona were singing right in your ear.






Anyway, let me tell you about the show. Like I mentioned in a previous post about Leona and her new album, I was really excited to see her live. She is one of those artists that was just made to sing live. You know how sometimes there are bands that don't sound as good live as they do on their album? That is not the case with Leona. I love her CDs, but I think her live sound is even better than that. The purity and quiet power of her voice captivates you. I was so happy to hear her sing songs I have fallen in love with from her latest album "Thirteens." However, the coolest part of her set was her singing the song that made me fight to find who she was, her song "Ballerina" from her self-titled album. When I first hear the song, I NEEDED to find out who sang it, and it led me to her. Hearing her sing that song on Tuesday was magical for me and did not disappoint! I recorded a video of it, and because of the sound of the room, you can hear it pretty well even though the video quality is sucky. lol Enjoy some Leona (the video was too big for blogger, so this is linked from my youtube page):







So after Leona surprised me by her incredible set, Whitney and I were dying for Ray to come out. This particular Tuesday was the release date for his new album "Gossip in the Grain" (which is GREAT!!!) Wow, he was fantastic! His voice is rich and soulful. What he can do with it, just makes my jaw drop. He played a good mix of his new songs, plus songs we all know and love. He played TWO encores... that's right... TWO! There is always a game that artists and fans play at concerts. Matt Nathanson made fun of this fact when I saw him a few weeks ago. The band/singer says "Ok, this is our last song, thanks for coming, see ya next time, etc..." They play, they leave, fans cheer/clap/yell. Eventually they come back for a few more songs. This is expected. Ray did that, he came back and played "Shelter" (yes!!!!) and another song (can't remember which one it was). Then he left and everyone cheered/clapped/yelled... but never stopped! (He was THAT good) and he came out AGAIN and played one more song from his new album! :) Yes!

Again, the video quality is crap, but the sound is good, so if I make you too sea sick with my shaking hands or the grainy-ness of the video is too much, just close your eyes and listen... you, too, might just fall in love with Mr. Lamontagne ;)

One of my favorites "Empty":


And "Burn":


So far October has been an incredible month for music! More on that later :)