I was extremely disappointed in Ray’s comments when leaving the stage. WOW, what an ego and unappreciative ass. Hope we never have to see him again at any Planet Bluegrass events. aDon’t need the rock star attitude. You just ain’t that great, dude. :rolleyes
What did Ray say? We could not hear his set because he was the ONLY artist that would not allow KOTO to broadcast his show! Wow, I guess what’s good enough for Steve Winwood is not for big Ray…
I can’t recall verbatim, but it was something to the effect of: “glad to see everyone dancing (in the distance), behind all of the ‘dead bodies’ in the foreground (poser pit)”.
I thought it was actually kind of funny … although I wouldn’t have put it that way … rather would’ve tried to say it like Rodrigo (of Rodrigo and Gabrielle) did last year a The Ride festival where he posed it in the form of a rhetorical question: “perhaps next year there won’t be a fence which divides us”.
Actually spoke to a friend this weekend who did have a poser ticket and mentioned (after he brought up the subject) that I’ve become less and less “militant” about not liking the poser pit (or any VIP situation) with each passing year. However, truth be told … I think the poser pit does alter the vibe in the way Ray alluded to (regardless how tastefully or not he put it).
Along similar lines, I think with the slow motion expansion of overall capacity over the past few years it seems as if the side areas where people dance seem to have been scrunched down a bit.
Here you go (http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2014/06/23/telluride-bluegrass-festival-2014-day-four-photos-review/90992/#more-90992)
The dinner set headliner was Ray Lamontagne, who seemed a little prickly as he worked through a selection of new and old material. Lamontagne’s breathy vocals sounded strong in the high mountain air on his current single and the title of his new album, “Superanova.” Lamontagne was backed by a drummer, bassist, keyboard player/guitarist, and lead guitarist, and the band’s playing on “She’s the One” added weight to the tune. At one point, Lamontagne addressed the crowd in response to one woman who kept yelling, “I love you Ray!” He responded, “Folk festivals are all about lovey dovey, huggy kissy, best friend bullshit. I never dug it. Ever. But I’m here because I love you. It’s true. This is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in my life. So many nice people too. I met a lot of nice people walking around looking for coffee today. Hung-over, strung-out, but beautiful in their strung-outedness.” Lamontagne and bassist Zachariah Hegman stripped it down to the basics for a few songs, including the ever-popular “Trouble,” but the band came back to the stage for a ripping take on “Meg White,” during which they riffed briefly on “Seven Nation Army.”
Never heard of him. After comments like that, I think I’ll keep it that way. 
What he said was “the hundred or so walking dead in the pit”. A little humility and gratefulness could go along way for this punk. No need for him or his ilk.
Regardless of one’s take on Ray’s attitude, I did find his comment a bit ironic … since his set, while interesting, was probably the most challenging to dance to the entire afternoon/evening.
Ray is a DICK
Never hold the mirror up to affluents, they never like what they see. I don’t know much about Ray L(aside from that he’s an artist for chicks), but it sounds like he was calling it like he saw it. He obviously felt the crowd was not matching his energy/intensity, and took the liberty of challenging/calling you all out. I wasn’t there, so what the heck do I know, but some of you seem awfully defensive regarding his statements. Lighten up :wave
Mandhoe, sorry but you have no frame of reference to be commenting. In addition to him being rude to 10k sweet people, his set sucked. He sold out to big record.
Bad, bad energy for such a great community of music lovers. I have no appetite for the self-righteous, demeaning attitude displayed by Ray Lamontagne prior to and after his set in Telluride. Please, Planet Bluegrass, leave these self-centered assholes OFF future lineups. Goodbye Ray, no room for you or your attitude in my playlists. Peace - jB
The crowd was perfectly fine… Except for maybe the poser pit. But what he needs to realize is that those are his fellow artists, their family/friends, and other people with connections, so by whining to the whole audience instead of the people backstage, he did come across a little petty. The worst part is that he ended his set ten minutes before the allotted cutoff… I’m fine if he wants to insult the poser pit, but don’t punish the thousands of other people there. That’s where he comes across as a major dick.
Ray is famous for his prickly personality. Apparently it’s like pulling teeth to get the guy to tour in the first place, and you get the impression that he hates every minute of being on the stage. His people skills definitely aren’t his strong point.
Probably not the wisest thing to say to the poser pit, but from what I’ve read, the guy comes from a very working class background. To see a bunch of enthusiastic fans (the “regular folks”) beyond the fence dancing and getting into his music, while the poser pit sat there, got up to get a drink, talked to their neighbors, etc… Yeah, I can kind of see his point. But again, probably not what you want to say to the people that will ultimately be in charge of inviting you back or not. Also, I was a little ticked that he didn’t allow KOTO to stream him. There may be something with his recording contracts that doesn’t allow him to do it, but still…
Dylan is hard too but some of the best things come out of raw unfiltered expression. I laughed hard . No BS. To blow smoke up someone’s butt to appease is BS. No wonder this society has low coping skills. This society is ruined by fear of expression. Afraid to offend. Where is Lenny…
Intellect comes from the weighing in and making your own choices and decisions in life and in art. Must we be sheep to be excepted?
The early ending was the best part of his set for me. It let me mosey up front for a front fence stand to hear the House Band tear the canyon down to close out this year’s festival.
I have poser pit access sometimes (but did not for Ray) and I’ll tell you this: When there’s dance tunes, the ones who wanna dance will and do dance. Just like outside the pit.
But in all seriousness, the guy rubbed me wrong. Every single musician who ever gets up there is positive and psyched to be in Telluride and usually rises to the occasion. His music- whether you like it or not, was not dance music for most listeners.
Not only that, many were sitting down because they wanted to listen because most had not heard of him. Personally, I hope they bring him back, and at the same time slot because that’s when our crew will finally get a break to go back to camp and make drinks!
Ironically, if Mr Snooty had allowed us to hear him on KOTO, we’d have STAYED at camp, blended up some drinks and done something more important, like blended up a second batch. We were miffed that we rushed over for THAT!
I didn’t hear that comment at the tarp. I did hear his set though. Didn’t impress me. He’s no Jason Isbell
Maybe he just needs some of that “lovey dovey, huggy kissy, best friend bullshit.” :sorry
In my opinion, Ray was boring wneh I saw him in Boston a couple weeks ago and he was boring in Telluride. A waste of a valuable piece of Sunday evening shelf space.
Ray violated Kamp Duktape’s only rule: “Don’t be a douche.”
The dickhead never even said “hello” or “nice to be here” or “thanks for listening;” nothing. The only thing he had to say was insulting.
I’lll never buy a CD of his again and I’ll never attend a concert of his anywhere.
Ray Lamontagne joins Ryan Adams as one of the biggest jerks to ever play Telluride Bluegrass.
I did NOT travel over 1000 miles to hear that s#$t! He was one of the ONLY performers that I walked out on. I was extremely disappointed with his performance would not care if i ever saw him perform again anywhere. :burn I try not to be a negative person on the forum, but that guy STUNK! I am glad to know I am not alone with having the feeling of utter disappointment and disgust with Ray’s performance.