Beautiful night, beautiful people, beautiful music….at least that’s how it should have been.  I give it two out of three….the night and the music was dreamy.  The people, well, not so much.  Oh, yes, they were there in their finery – lots of flowing dresses and skirts.  Lots of short shorts and…egad….stilettos.  I even saw a ‘prom dress’ or two, and tights and boots.  What were THEY thinking?  It was 90 degrees for goodness sakes!  But my beef was not with the mode of dress Sunday night at Stir, my beef was with the lackluster appreciation for some incredibly wonderful talent and brilliant songwriting skills.

Here we were – a sold out crowd for Ray LaMontagne and David Gray, it should have been loud, fluid and fun.  Instead there were so many complaints about people standing and dancing that I mistook the night for a high school assembly gone awry.  But alas, I digress, I need to give you more insight into the wondrous sounds that emanated from the stage.

I have loved Ray LaMontagne from the moment I randomly heard him on my XM radio.  He had me at “You Are the Best Thing”, and has kept me in his clutches ever since.  The former shoe factory worker from Maine is said to have been inspired by the great Stephen Stills, and thank God for that.  Ray’s raspy delivery is so full of meaning and deeply felt soul. In my opinion it still somewhat underappreciated, despite selling over 400,000 copies of his single “Trouble”.  He appears to be a somewhat shy performer and not one who romps the stage and works the crowd for applause.  Instead, he prefers a low key simple performance that showcases his skills as well as the skills of his talented band of musicians.  Don’t you just love the steel guitar!  The only thing that kinda threw me off Sunday night was the fact that Ray kept himself hidden off on stage left, preventing the south side of the amphitheater from observing him, but it didn’t rob anyone of a great set and I for one cherished every note.  It’s too bad we couldn’t get anyone on their feet to let him know how fantastic it was.

After a very brief interlude, the inimitable David Gray graced the stage and put on yet another set of soulful, deeply meaningful moments.  Sometimes acoustic, sometimes with full blown accompaniment, but nevertheless pretty darn amazing.  I’m certain we’ve all heard “Babylon” somewhere along the way, but Gray’s repertoire is much more than that.  Much of his talent has been offered up in movies and television, but there is nothing quite as splendid as spending the evening with the live version of Mr. Gray.  As with every great musician, it wasn’t just another gig for David, it was a chance to share a piece of his soul and his heart with his fans.  Standing and dancing (oh no – not STANDING) next to me last night were two of David Gray’s biggest fans.  Ann and John were attending their 8th David Gray concert.  Their very first concert was in Nashville, TN (which coincidentally was also their first date) and they see him at every chance they get.  These two had smiles on their faces that would have lit up Las Vegas, and nothing gives me greater pleasure when I attend these events than finding those special people to whom the music and the words have such special resonance.  Ann and John knew every word, every twist, every turn.  It was as if David were performing solely for them, they enjoyed themselves that much.  While this was my first exposure to a live version of Gray, I got the impression that every one of his concerts finds someone like Ann and John in the audience.   It certainly made me want to do it all over again.

So, to sum it up, let me opine just a bit more.  Music breeds fluidity – and with that fluidity comes the need for some to express that by moving their feet, clapping their hands, shouting out a ‘yeah, baby’ here and there.  Not everyone is content to ‘rock out’ in their chairs or just suck up suds and visit with their buddies.  Give ‘em a break folks, everyone has their own way to appreciate the performers.  Be nice, be neighborly, but understand that sometimes the musical spirit rises in you and you just gotta dance.