Joined by opening act, The Bell Brigade, folk rocker Ray LaMontagne settled into a comfortable and soothing show at Red Rocks Amphitheater on August 7th. The house was packed but from the mellow tone you wouldn’t know it. Subdued but satisfied, the sold out crowd sat attentively allowing LaMontagne’s voice to lull them.
With nearly half of the set coming from his most recent album, Supernova, the concert was balanced with old and new. LaMontagne’s unmistakable raspy voice washed over the crowd like water combing over sand. The chill vibe was briefly broken when LaMontagne brought in some energy with “Repo Man”. He mixed in some fan favorites such as, “Jolene”. and “Trouble”, during which he broke into the tune, “Stand By Me”, to the crowds delight.
LaMontagne spoke to the Colorado crowd briefly saying, “Twelve years ago people thought I’d be a flash in the pan. That’s bullshit!”. He continued, “Love me or hate me, I ain’t going anywhere.”
Setlist: Lavender, She’s the One, For the Summer, Pick Up a Gun, Supernova, Airwaves, Ojai, Repo Man, Smashing, Burn, Trouble (with Stand By Me), Jolene, Like Rock & Roll and Radio, Meg White, Julia, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise
Encore: Hey Me, Hey Mama, Drive-In Movies
Encore 2: Shelter
The crowd rapped along to favorites like “99 Problems”and “Big Pimpin” while Jay-Z never broke his stride. His calls out to the audience to “Put your diamonds in the air”, were met with enthusiastic hands held high into the sky each time. Even when the pace slowed briefly for an interlude by Timbaland the momentum wasn’t lost. “Jigga My Nigga”, picked the crowd right back up and carried them through with more hits until Jay-Z took his time to thank the audience. Fresh off his 19th Grammy win, Jigga said no matter how many albums or awards he has, the best feeling is being on stage and performing, promising the audience he’d “Never get jaded”. Picking individuals out of the crowd, he spent nearly ten minutes chatting and making his thank you heartfelt and personal before going into the encore. Pointing to one girl in the crowd he said, “You know every lyric to every song, I appreciate you”. Picking another man out he said, “You were rocking with me all night, I appreciate you”. Jay-Z is leaving his mark as one of the great entertainers of his time, and continues to visibly enjoy every second of it.