Reviews
Artists: Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs + The Secret Sisters
Venue: Bournemouth Pavilion
Town: Bournemouth
Date: 2nd March
Website:
http://www.thesecretsisters.com
It was a strange gig at the Bournemouth Pavilion, I'd primarily gone to see the support band, The Secret Sisters, but knowing it was Ray Lamontagne was a really huge bonus. As it was Secret Sisters probably got the best of the audience, but more on that later.
Like many in the audience, I first encountered genuine sisters, Lydia and Laura Rogers on their appearance on Jools Holland's Hootenanny at the very start of the year. Immediately that sent me on the hunt for their album and ultimately to catching them on their first UK support tour.
The Muscle Shoals, Alabama born duo came out to a half full auditorium, something that may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. They started off in duo mode, under what the generous would call atmospheric lighting, but what most would call poor lighting, coming down directly on the girls and with no front or back lighting, it really did them no favours, but if bad lighting is the only criticism you can find for an act, they must be doing a good job and they were.
Secret Sisters are really tight vocally both singing their solo pieces and when engaged in close, blood harmonies that send shivers down the spine, they are little short of sublime.
Whether doing their more country inspired songs, the more fifties fixed doo-whop numbers, originals and covers they soon found great feedback from a really appreciative audience that were obviously falling in love with the girls. They also showed they've got a real feel for song writing, particularly on the spiritual side, the waters definitely run deep.
Ray Lamomtagne's Pariah Dogs came out part way through the set to show what Laura and Lydia can do with a full band around them, they're a duo that seem to be just made to perform with slide guitar. Later they would return the favour, coming on with Ray, but for the time being they seemed content to knock out great sounding song after great sounding song.
They dropped back to duo configuration to conclude what was an all too short set. Those that made the effort were well and truly rewarded with a set that will stick in the head for a long time. "Tennessee Me" is rapidly becoming a signature tune for the Secret Sisters and rightly so, not only was it the jewel of the set, it brought the best reaction.
Secret Sisters delivered and hopefully made themselves a good few fans along the way. If things continue to go well they might even be able to buy a guitar each : (They chopped and changed using the one guitar through the set) Seriously though, this is duo for which the words rising and stars can easily be added. They've got a down to earth feel and you can sense just how much their music means to them.
You can tell how much his music means to Ray Lamontagne as well, unfortunately a reasonable section of the audience forgot what their role is at a gig. i.e. Watch the gig, cheer and shout at the appropriate points and hopefully have a good time.
At a seated gig, get back to your seat at a reasonable time so people don't have to constantly stand up obscuring the views for others. Switch your phone off and leave it in your pocket, not hold it in the air distracting everyone with the backlight and more importantly on the emotional quieter songs please don't fire off your flash. Oh yeah and you might just want to consider that people near you might just have paid to hear the band, not listen to your inane banter during the songs.
Distractions aside you can fully understand why Lamontagne is able to attract such a wide fan base, his vocal dynamics and southern drawl really do have something for a strong cross section of Americana fans, from the country rockers to the more folk inspired.
He's not much of a talker, but engages with the crowd well enough between songs, it's the engagement he has when singing that is where he's got his reputation. He's got a great turn of phrase in his songs and pulls the audience in.
He's also generous bringing the Secret Sisters into his set not once, but twice, both times for a couple of numbers. Lamontagne was all that a headline act should be, he can genuinely move people, ultimately though I felt that those that got to hear the Secret Sisters probably walked away with more contentment in their hearts.
Neil King