W♥M

Flashback: Leerone at Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis (04 Sep 2008)

Setlist To Fill the Void Shoes Care For Some Whiskey 1492 Listen to Here On Earth / The Opening Untitled (Acapella) Tour Dates 09/10/08 Boston Music Festival Boston, MA 09/20/08 Atlantis Music Festival Atlanta, Georgia 10/02/08 Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York 10/05/08 Rockwood Music Hall NYC Read More Leerone Leerone's latest album is called Heart Shaped Bullets and is said to showcase her brand of soul revivalism. If you don't believe it, check out her Soundcloud, where you can stream the entire album for free. Here's "Use My Lips" …

Leerone at Station 4 photo by Brody

As a special bonus, after playing a free show at Station 4 in St Paul, Leerone stopped by the Acadia Café in Minneapolis to close out her day in the Twin Cities on September 4, 2008. The show was sponsored by Diverse Emerging Music Organization, aka D.E.M.O.

>>>
The Acadia sits across the 400 Bar, but you wouldn't know it was called the Acadia as the signage reads "RIVERSIDE". I've seen this place from the outside through its numerous large windows and looking in at the band on stage.

I don't know how often these "Diverse Emerging Music Organization" (DEMO) shows goes on, but they seem to operate on donations and benefits local artists. I caught the last few songs of Backstories, a full band and all nicely dressed. I don't really know the band's back stories (haha), I'll bet they get that a lot. They have some songs available for download on their myspace.

Eli Ratner photo by Brody

Eli Ratner said it was his first time playing (I thought he meant his first gig ever), but I guess he meant at the Acadia. He seems really comfortable on stage with his acoustic guitar. It would seem, according to his myspace, that he's normally a duo with Peter VonDeLinde.

It's clear that the real star is Leerone, who earlier in the day appeared in St Paul's Station 4. The report I got was that her keyboard "got messed up" and she ended up renting a full Yamaha keyboard.

Setlist

Her set was understandably short, lasting no more than 45 minutes, and included a "made up" a cappella song that's not written on the set list.

Highlight of the show seems to be the announcer calling her "Leeroni" and "Leerona".

Leerone at Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis (04 Sep 2008) Photo by Brody

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Salt & Pepper

Read More Summer Salt Summer Salt is headlining the Amsterdam Bar & Hall in St Paul on August 1st. Show up early to check out Dante Elephante and New Orlean’s Motel Radio (touring in support …

SUMMER SALT
summersalt.band

Austin’s Summer Salt is currently touring across two countries. Their next tour date is at Paper Tiger in San Antonio, after that they'll be at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans. Looking forward to their New Orleans show this Saturday. I’ve been listening to these guys for the past couple years now and love the beachy sound.

The debut EP back in 2014 Driving to Hawaii was my go-to for a while. The latest EP Honeyweed, from last year, is also phenomenal.

Summer Salt’s was Favorite Holiday Vol. 1, released on Christmas eve.

Tour dates:

02/15/2020 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, LA
02/16/2020 Saturn Birmingham, AL
02/18/2020 Exit / In Nashville, TN
02/20/2020 Elevation 27 Virginia Beach, VA
02/23/2020 Music Hall Of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
02/25/2020 House Of Independents Asbury Park, NJ
02/26/2020 Space Ballroom Hamden, CT
03/01/2020 L'Astral Montreal, QC
03/08/2020 High Noon Saloon Madison, WI
03/09/2020 Gabe's Iowa City, IA
03/12/2020 Fox Theatre Boulder, CO
03/13/2020 Black Sheep Colorado Springs, CO
03/17/2020 Harlow's Nightclub Sacramento, CA
03/19/2020 The New Parish Oakland, CA
03/20/2020 Strummer's Fresno, CA

GREGORY PEPPER
camppepper.com

Similar to Jonathan Coulton, Ontario’s Gregory Pepper (aka Gregory Pepper & His Problems) wrote a song every week for a full year in 2017…. This might explain that Pepper is already on his sixth studio album, I Know Now Why You Cry, set for release this V-Day (2/14/20) on Fake Four Inc.

Gregory Pepper Tour Dates

2.15 Richmond, VA Wonderland
2.16 Greenville, NC Hot Change
2.17 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
2.18 Charlotte, NC Milestone
2.19 Atlanta, GA 529
2.20 Orlando, FL Wills Pub
2.21 Gainsville, FL The Atlantic
2.23 Houston, TX Notsuoh
2.25 Denton, TX JJ's Basement
2.26 Austin, TX Mohawk
2.27 San Antonio, TX Limelight
2.28 Las Cruces, NM Main St. Vintage Mercado
2.29 Mesa, AZ The Grid
3.2 Co Springs, CO The Six Two
3.3 Denver, CO 7th Circle Music Collective

w/ Ceschi & David Ramos

balt + vepper (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Your Smith at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (21 Jan 2020)

Your Smith at Fine LIne Read More Your Smith Caroline Smith has decided to be now billed as Your Smith. I personally like the name change, because I have said this before, I think the name Caroline Smith is just too common and doesn't jump out at you. ...

Caroline Smith, billed as Your Smith, returned to the Fine Line Music Café on Tuesday, January 21st, as part of her “In Between Plans” tour.

Chelsea Jade opened the show. She was recently in the news for collaborating with Luna Shadows for her single, “Millennia”.

As you can see from the photo below, the Your Smith show was sold out, so fans were packed full of fans on the dance floor. It’s not hard to believe, as she started her career in Minneapolis as Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps, before going solo in 2013, and eventually using her new stage name Your Smith in 2016. Her philosophy on the change, “If something isn’t working for you just burn it down. Do you and change people around you.”

Smith thanked all the Minnesota fans for coming out, and praised Minneapolis music community.

The second to the last song on her set was a cover of Martha Wainwright’s “Bloody Mother F***ing A**hole.” The song is special to Smith, as she previously mentioned in 2019, “I have been covering it in my set and night after night I watch how powerful this song is; How deeply people need it and relate to it. It has been an absolute privilege. Thank you, Martha, for giving me my anthem for when I’m feeling powerless and lending your words when I am lost for my own. A truly magical song makes you feel like it was written just for you. I am a survivor of sexual abuse and reclaiming my power is something I actively fight to do every morning I wake up. I will always fight self-doubt and feeling present in my own body. This song makes that fight a little easier for me. If you’re in need of a song that makes you grit your teeth and clench your fists, I hope this song reaches you like it did me.”

Your Smith’s sophomore EP Wild Wild Woman is available now on Neon Gold Records. Her new song, “In Between Plans” is available to stream and buy on all digital platform. The song was inspired by an acid trip on a catamaran in Nicaragua.

Remaining tour dates:

1.22 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
1.24 - Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
1.25 - Toronto, ON @ Drake Underground
1.28 - Boston, MA @ Great Scott
1.29 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
1.30 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
1.31 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

Your Smith at Fine Line Music Cafe, Minneapolis (21 Jan 2020)

brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Night Moves at Turf Club, St Paul (28 Dec 2019)

Night Moves at Turf Club Night Moves Setlist Can You Really Find Me Headlights Mexico Colored Emotions Recollections Horses Border on Border Waiting for the Symphony Strands Align Leave Your Light On Carl Sagan Classical Hearts -- Encore -- Denise, Dont Wanna See You Cry Ribboned Skies Read More Night Moves The locally based band, promoting their debut, Colored Emotions (Domino) impressed us enough opening for Poliça (in Minneapolis and Colorado) and Django Django last year…

A day of hazy rain, black ice and sleet, nothing was getting in the way of sold out Night Moves show at Turf Club in St. Paul. It’s the final show of 2019 for these Minnesota legends and they did not disappoint. Starting off a brilliant 14 song set with “Can You Really Find Me”, the title track of their release from June 28th on Domino Records. Sota's finest blends an easy listening 70/80s style of Little River Band and Christopher Cross.

Night Moves performed a well-balanced set after their 3rd release (Can You Really Find Me) playing around five tracks from every album. The crowd was involved the whole night raising their glasses, singing along, and dancing the night away. Lead singer John Pelant voice has transformed remarkably over the years. With a shoegazy UK influence, the vocals blew me away on “Waiting for the Symphony” and “Border on Border”. John's got the classic lead vocalist look with crazy range. He'll go from high pitch harmonies to belting out lengthy Verve/Oasis-esque choruses. Switching off from guitar and keys he impressed the crowd every minute with fellow high school friend/bassist Micky Alfano. The crowded roared near the end of the set screaming, “one more song” and were rewarded with two.

Full Track List from the set Can You Really Find Me”, “Headlights”, “Mexico”, “Colored Emotions”, “Recollections”, “Horses”, “Border on Border”, “Waiting for the Symphony”, “Strands Align”, “Leave Your Light On”, “Carl Sagan”, “Denise, Dont Wanna See You Cry”, and “Ribboned Skies” (Photo Below).

Was blessed to see these guys back in 2012, a few times at SXSW over the years, and they get better every time!!! This is easily a top 5 Minnesota band at the moment. For fans of Portugal the Man, The Music, any bad-ass Rock N Roll band!

Night Moves at Turf Club, St. Paul (28 Dec 2019)

brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M272: SXSW 2018

W♥M272: SXSW 2018 (42 mins) Read More SXSW SXSW 2015 is taking place March 17–22, 2015. We love this time of the year, as many bands heading down to Austin will likely stop in Minneapolis before or after the event. Keep up with more SXSW coverage at sxsw.weheartmusic.com. ....

Lio from Kanine Records, Michael & Orly from Music for Listeners, and Vu & Brody from W♥M discuss SXSW 2018.

Topics:

Not many “big acts” at SXSW 2018

More focused on smaller local and international bands

Mumford & Sons booked at the very first Music for Listeners show

Downtown Sixth Street has moved to East Sixth Street

Lyft & Uber were kicked out of Austin in 2016, but they are now back

Music for Listeners’ SXSW shows moved to Lazarus Brewing

Brody’s top five: Durand Jones & The Indications, Girl Ray, Shopping, Lucy Dacus, and Kraus

Lio: Pearl Charles, Hatchie, Girl Ray, Our Girl, and Starcrawler

Orly: The Melenas, Girl Ray, Pearl Charles

Colossus, a Pre-SXSW Showcase at Pianos in New York

Differences between SXSW and CMJ (College Music Journal)

Bands who moved on from Kanine Records to bigger labels

Band on everyone’s list: Girl Ray

Song of the show: Pearl Charles’ “Night Tides”. The song is taken from her debut Sleepless Dreamer (Kanine Records). Her songs are often compared to Lana Del Rey.

Bonus:

How Hockey Dad was discovered in Australia

--
W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

Subscription Options
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe via RSS
Add to Google
Add to Yahoo
____
Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com. Recording of this podcast was made possible by Skype, MP3 Skype Recorder, and Audacity.

W♥M271: Super Bowl (22 February 2018) Vu, John W♥M270: MN Fan Fest 2017 (28 August 2017) Vu, John W♥M269: Minnesota Fan Fest (19-20 Aug 2017) (13 August 2017) Vu, John W♥M268: Wonder Woman/George Perez (bonus audio) (13 August 2017) Vu, John W♥M267: Sleeper (30 July 2017) Vu, Jon Stewart W♥M266: Wizard World Minneapolis 2017 (14 May 2017) Vu, John

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Destination: Lollapalooza 2015

Read More Catfish and the Bottlemen Buzz band Catfish and the Bottlemen just sold out their entire UK Tour (which isn't until October 2015!) In some of these cases, I've met some UK fans that will fly into the US to see …

CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN
catfishandthebottlemen.com

Catfish and the Bottlemen and Circa Waves team up for an official Lollapalooza after show at the Subterranean Saturday August 1st. These fellow UK bands will also be playing Lollapalooza at Grant Park in Chicago. The after show and all single day and 3 day passes to Lollapalooza are sold out. Only VIP tickets, StubHub/Ebay, and of course scalping if you want to go that route.

Catfish and the Bottlemen is a mix between Jet and King of Leon but with a little more kick and flare. They already have that arena sound and it amazes me they haven't exploded yet even in the states. Circa Waves has that jangling pop sound with a little less garage sound as Catfish and brings loads of energy. I got a chance to see both these bands in Austin at this year's SXSW and they blew me away.

If you want to see a band that's going to swing guitars and jump off walls i recommend seeing both these bands at Lollapalooza or in a city near you.

Both bands are playing festivals all over Europe this summer!

Catfish and the Bottlemen tour dates:

07/12/15 T In The Park
07/17/15 Longitude
07/18/15 Latitude Festival
07/19/15 Melt! Festival
07/22/15 Richmond, Australia Corner Hotel
07/23/15 Sydney, Oxford Art Factory
07/24/15 Splendour In The Grass
07/26/15 Fuji Rock Festival
07/31/15 Osheaga Festival
08/01/15 Chicago, IL Subterranean
08/01/15 Lollapalooza

Read More Halsey The show started with a technical difficulty that pushed Halsey (an anagram of singer Ashley) to start six minutes late. ...

HALSEY
iamhalsey.com

We were lucky enough to have caught Halsey with the Kooks in 2014 and with Imagine Dragons in June 2015.

Hot on the heels of her acclaimed Room 93 EP, Halsey will release her full-length debut album called Badlands (Astralwerks), on August 28, 2015.

Based on digital pre-orders alone, the record landed Halsey at #1 on the alternative iTunes chart and #2 on iTunes Overall Albums Chart - and the album is not even out yet! Pre-ordering now will grant you three tracks - “New Americana,” “Ghost” and “Hold Me Down”.

Tour dates:

Jul 13 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum
Jul 14 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Jul 16 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Jul 17 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Jul 20 Anaheim , CA Honda Center
Jul 21 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
Jul 24 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Jul 25 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
Jul 27 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Jul 28 Salt Lake City, UT Energy Solutions Arena
Jul 30 Vancouver, British Columbia Rogers Arena
Jul 31 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Aug 01 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena
Aug 02 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
Aug 15 Sacramento, CA City of Tress Festival
Sept 05 Philadelphia Made in America Festival
Sept 06 Philadelphia Made in America Festival
Oct 02-04 Austin, TX Austin City Limits
Oct 09-11 Austin, TX Austin City Limits

LIGHT.EM.UP
lightemup.co

Chicago based DJ duo Light.Em.Up (featuring DJs Zebo and PHNM) recently announced that they will be playing at Lollapalooza on Saturday, August 1st from 8:00 - 8:45 P.M. at the Palladia stage, opening for headliner Sam Smith.

What set Light.Em.Up apart is that they have their own app on iPhone or Android and fans can help participate with them on their set. How it work is you pick a color (representing a music genre) and you hold up your phone. The DJs will see the dominate color and play accordingly, making for a very unique experience.

Tour dates:

July 17th - Underground, Chicago, IL
July 18th - Cube at Rivers Casino, Rosemont, IL
July 31st - The Mid, Chicago
Aug 1st - Lollapalooza, Chicago
Sept 12th - Segredo, Madison, Wisconsin
Sept 24th - Blu, Indianapolis, IN

brody + vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

SXSW 2015: Only Real

Read More Childhood Brody caught up with London's Childhood, who is currently in Brighton to play some shows at the Great Escape. The new group started off as a duo (Leo Dobsen and Ben Romans-Hopcraft) ....

Brody caught up with Only Real at British Music Embassy, Austin (20 Mar 2015) for SXSW 2015.

Niles almost didn't make it to SXSW, having lost (but eventually found) his passport.

Brody: "They sound like the Beastie Boys, Jamie T. Believe the hype."

Only Real: "Sound like the House that Jack Built. Y'know, if you like it, you love it. If you love it... then I like you."

Originally debut "Days In The City" on LuvLuvLuv Records, Only Real's major label LP Jerk At The End of The Line will be available on March 30th, 2015, via Harvest Records... however, the US will have to wait until late Summer 2015. The record was produced by Ben H Allen in Atlanta and Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand, Childhood) in London.

Only Real's tour dates:

16 Apr 2015 I.BOAT Bordeaux, France
18 Apr 2015 Unknown venue Rezé, France
20 Apr 2015 Hospice D'havré Tourcoing, France
21 Apr 2015 Badaboum Paris, France
22 Apr 2015 La Lune Des Pirates, France
26 Apr 2015 Broadcast Glasgow, UK
29 Apr 2015 The Jericho Oxford, UK
30 Apr 2015 100 Club London, UK
03 May 2015 The Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK
06 May 2015 The Hope & Ruin Brighton, UK
07 May 2015 The Louisiana Bristol, UK
08 May 2015 Southampton - Joiners
09 May 2015 Birmingham - The Rainbow

Only Real at British Music Embassy, Austin (20 Mar 2015)

vu + brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M237: Road to SXSW 2015

W♥M237: Road to SXSW 2015 (48 mins) Read More SXSW The SXSW Recap episode for W♥M Radio, with Jonathan, Christopher, Brody, and Vu. …

Jonathan, Christopher, and Brody, are guests on the new SXSW 2015 Preview Edition of W♥M Radio.

Here are the bands the brothers and Brody are interested in checking out (warning: mostly British bands).

Palma Violets

The Cribs

Made Violent

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Cruisers

Delicate Steve

GRMLN

Public Access TV

Twin Peaks

Cold Front

Circa Wave

Carl Barât & The Jackals

The Ting Tings

Of Montreal

Gang of Four

Swervedriver

London Grammar

Until the Ribbon Breaks

San Cisco

Gengahr

Soak

Song of the Show: Made Violent's "Wasted Days"

BONUS: Musicless "Dancing in the Street" and Ed Sheeran.

--
W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

Subscription Options
Subscribe on iTunes
Subscribe via RSS
Add to Google
Add to Yahoo
____
Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com. Recording of this podcast was made possible by Skype, CallGraph, and Audacity.

W♥M236: Fuzzy Machete #1 Fan (21 Feb 2015) Vu, Fuzzy Machete W♥M235: Bud Petal (15 Feb 2015) Sally, Bud W♥M234: London Grammar and Until the Ribbon Breaks (04 Feb 2015) Vu, John W♥M233: S*M*A*S*H (3 January 2015) Vu, Edward Borrie W♥M232: Morrissey v Bowie (28 December 2014) Vu, Emily, Cristina W♥M231: Santa in the Ghetto (21 December 2014) Vu + Cristina

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Zola in Nola: Zola Jesus at Republic, New Orleans (01 Feb 2015)

Setlist Taiga Dangerous Days Dust In Your Nature Hunger Go (Blank Sea) Sea Talk Lawless Nail Long Way Down Hollow Night -- Encore -- Skin Vessel Tour Dates 02/04/15 Trees Dallas, TX 02/06/15 Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ 02/07/15 Bunkhouse Las Vegas, NV 02/08/15 Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA 02/20/15 Sala Cuauhtémoc, Mexico 03/10/15 SchwuZ Berlin, Germany 03/11/15 Vega Copenhagen, Denmark 03/12/15 Mejeriet Lund, Sweden 03/13/15 Kagelbanan Stockholm, Sweden 03/14/15 Pustervik Göteborg, Sweden 03/16/15 Meet Factory Prague, Czech Republic 03/17/15 WUK Vienna, Austria 03/18/15 A38 Budapest, Hungary 03/19/15 Kino Šiška Ljubljana, Slovenia 03/20/15 Factory Culture Zagreb, Croatia 03/23/15 MAME Padova, Italy 03/24/15 Teatro Quirinetta Rome, Italy 03/25/15 Tunnel Cub Milan, Italy 03/26/15 Bronson Ravenna, Italy 03/27/15 M4 Music Zurich, Switzerland Read More Zola Jesus Russian/American Nika Roza Danilova, or otherwise known as Zola Jesus, stopped by the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, as part of her Taiga tour. … Deradoorian Ex-Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian opened up the show. We previously saw Deradoorian with another Russian/American artist Olga Bell and noted that she had more modern …

After watching the Superbowl with some friends at Manning's, I strolled over to the Republic New Orleans to catch Zola Jesus with openers Deradoorian.

Deradoorian

One of the opening members, Angel Deradoorian was the former bassist and co-vocalist of Dirty Projectors. Only caught a few tracks, but what I heard, it was solid. Two female dueling vocals playing keys and xylophone/drums. Favorite track was "Carry the Deed". Everybody needs to check this video out, it's very unique and Angel is absolutely gorgeous!

A darker version of Florence and the Machine is the typical quick to judge label on Zola Jesus. There is so much variety and dynamic to her songs no one should be quick to make comparisons because she is so unique. Her voice carries strong to an almost London Grammar-type level but has this obscure electronic trance that hits out of nowhere along with and incredible brass sound from the trombone. The strongest comparison to Zola is Karen Marie Ørsted (otherwise know as MØ) out of Denmark. Similar to Florence Welch, both singers are constantly flying around the stage waving their arms and giving an eye-grabbing stage performance.

Setlist

Nika Roza Danilova (aka Zola Jesus) started the night with three songs from her 2014 release entitled Taiga. Three of my favorite tracks, I might add, "Taiga", "Dangerous Days", and "Dust". After those songs, the crowd was quickly drawn in a trance. I was simply in awe and couldn't stop dancing after my favorite track "Dangerous Days", that song has been on repeat for a week now as I'm clearly a hardcore fan.

Half of her set was from the new record, and one of the best moments of the show was when she came out into the crowd gave me a double high five then continued to the bar counter and showed us her moves. Her two-song encore were both tracks from her 2011 release, song titles ("Vessel" and "Skin").

I've been of fan of Zola the past four years and have missed two of her shows because I was out of town or sick. Her fourth release Conatus came out in 2011 was when I first started listing to her and instantly became a fan. That material was extremely dark with the drum and bass build up. She seems to have really grown the last three years into a more well-rounded artist, mixing more melodic sounds, horns, even just a true dance type vibe to her music.

This artist clearly deserves more attention and should be just as big as soon to be rival Florence and the Machine.

Fun fact: Zola Jesus has the one of the best-looking concert T-Shirts you can buy. My other favorites include Bombay Bicycle Club and The Maccabees.

Zola Jesus at Republic, New Orleans (01 Feb 2015)

brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Ray LaMontagne w/ Belle Brigade at Saenger Theatre (27 Oct 2014)

Tour Dates 10/30/14 Macon, GA Macon City Auditorium 10/31/14 Chattanooga, TN Tivoli Theatre 11/01/14 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium 11/02/14 Richmond, VA Altria Theater 11/04/14 Greenville, SC Peace Center 11/05/14 Virginia Beach, VA Sandler Center 11/07/14 Hershey, PA Hershey Theatre 11/08/14 Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre 11/09/14 Albany, NY Palace Theatre 11/12/14-11/14/14 New York, NY Beacon Theatre Read More Ray LaMontagne Singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne has always had the look of someone panning for gold. His stoic face, full beard, large brown hat, and somewhat frumpy … The Belle Brigade The Belle Brigade is currently supporting Ray LaMontagne on a full US tour. Their latest release Just Because (ATO Records) has been a huge success …

On a beautiful Monday evening in New Orleans, I made my way to the newly renovated Saenger Theatre to see Mr. Ray LaMontagne with The Belle Brigade.

The Saenger Theatre was built all the way back in 1927. The Saenger had been closed since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and reopened in 2013. Recently, the Saenger has hosted some major musician acts such as Dave Matthews and David Gray and still screens films and hosts Broadway Theater shows.

Opening the night was a band called The Belle Brigade. Dueling female vocals on the drums and male vocals on lead guitar from siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska, compliment this awesome four piece folk rock band. I loved the drummer's final track, "When Everything Was What It Was" from their new album Just Because (ATO Records), watching her bang the drums with her hair flying all over the a classic rock band like it was from the 80s.

Headliner Ray LaMontagne performed an elegant two hour set. Ray has a distinct look with his top gay and mountain man beard. His confidence on stage was mesmerizing along with the psychedelic animation video in the backdrop during the set.

His recently released album Supernova (RCA) got plenty of playback, as expected. "Julia", "Supernova", "Airwaves", "She's the One" were all highlights of the night, and are some of the many hits off the new record. Ray of course also played monster hits "Jolene" and "You are the Best Thing". I was having too much fun!

LaMontagne is a true talent and I put him in the elite group of the likes of Dave Mathews, Jack Johnson, John legend, you name it it, the man can do it all. He's got soul, country, blues, and one if the best voices in the world. Ray is complimented by a phenomenal band with two other guitarists and a cello/bassist that was rocking out hard! Seeing him with the full band was quite the treat and I would also love to see him perform an acoustic set.

Be sure to catch this man on tour if you have the opportunity.

brody ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic