Ray LaMontagne, Brandi Carlile, and the Secret Sisters rocked a sold-out crowd Monday night at Meadowbrook Music Festival in Rochester, MI, with each bringing a unique blend of genres that kept the crowd thoroughly engaged, regardless of who was playing.
The Secret Sisters, a duo consisting of sisters Lydia and Laura Rogers, hit the stage first. With their infectious blend of country, folk, and bluegrass, the sisters are, as Brandi Carlile aptly noted later during her own set, something that country music has been missing in recent years. Armed with only their voices and a guitar, they played a several of their own songs, including their catchy single “Tennessee Me”, as well as a couple covers, such as George Jones’ “Why Baby Why”. Not only are they both fantastic vocalists that bring to mind Loretta Lynn and Pasty Cline, but their charisma was almost tangible on stage as well. Simply put, the Secret Sisters are an act not to be missed, and they’ll certainly be a force in the country music scene in the years, if not the months, to come.
Brandi Carlile took the stage next, joined by a pianist, a drummer, a cellist, and her longtime twin band mates, guitarist Tim Hanseroth and bassist Phil Hanseroth. Carlile has an unbelievable amount of passion as a live performer, as was made evident in literally every one of her songs that consistently crisscrossed genres. She kept the crowd absorbed during the entirety of her forty-five minute set, during which she played her single “Dreams”, the ever-popular “The Story”, and a phenomenal version of Johnny Cash’s “Jackson” followed quickly by a rock and roll version of Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” that had all 10,000 clapping and on their feet. She ended her set with a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World”, which, although it ended awkwardly with looped piano and cello, revealed the fact that she can take any song and make it distinctly her own.
Half an hour later, LaMontagne took the stage alone as he played an utterly perfect and heartbreaking version of “Like Rock & Roll and Radio”. The next song, his enormously talented band, the Pariah Dogs, joined him in a semi circle with LaMontagne on the far right of the stage. LaMontagne played several tracks off of his most recent album, “God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise”, all of which sounded utterly gorgeous live. The Pariah Dogs, who are composed of Eric Heywood and Greg Leisz on guitars and lap steel, Jennifer Condos on bass, and Jay Bellerose on drums, play as a collective unit; they pick up on slight changes and work off of them as if they were planned, almost always with smiles on their faces. Whether it was Ray’s subtle laugh or Condos’ ever-present grin, it was more than evident that the band was a tight-knit group, possibly one of the closest that I’ve ever witnessed. LaMontagne shined on the upbeat numbers, such as the bluesy “Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s a Shame)” or “Repo Man”, as well as on the quieter ones, such as “New York City’s Killing Me” and “Old Before Your Time”, which highlighted not only Ray’s gravelly voice, but also his excellent guitar skills and knack for melody.
LaMontagne also played several fan favorites, including “Trouble”, “Jolene”, and “Beg Steal or Borrow”, each of which received a standing ovation. For the rest of his set, though, the crowd was utterly silent except for their roaring applause at the end of each song. For most musicians, it’s a challenge to keep a thousand people quiet, let alone ten thousand, but LaMontagne did so with ease. His cover of The Byrds’ “Blue Canadian Rockies” was brilliantly simple, revealing the fact that he can quite literally sing anything and make it sound stunningly pretty. Although he spoke rarely except to thank the crowd, he did admit that singers with “imperfect voices”, such as Rick Danko of The Band and Bob Dylan inspired the soulful song “Are We Really Through”, and that, when he was writing it, he had imagined Danko singing it. His three-track encore was brilliant, demonstrating easily that he’s far more than the cliché blue-eyed soul singer, as he easily combined elements of folk, country, bluegrass, and rock in a way that left the listener remarkably moved. He finished the show a solo version of “All the Wild Horses” that was tender and beautiful, once again by himself. He thanked the crowd once, turned away, and came back to thank them again because the standing ovation refused to cease.
Even if one only spent thirty seconds at the show, two things would be clear: the first is that LaMontagne isn’t like the boisterous, cocky rock stars that permeate the airwaves, but, instead, he’s quietly confident and immeasurably humble; the second is that LaMontagne is a musician’s musician who pays no mind to the idea commercial success, choosing in its place to focus only on the music itself. He has a voice that not even the best studio could give justice to; it’s raw and full of character and emotion, and he makes certain to hold nothing back, which was more than made clear Monday evening. Brandi Carlile put it perfectly: LaMontagne is truly the voice of the current generation.
