Dang you guys are really upset at this. I thought it was pretty comical how he said those things. I know I resembled something from the walking dead by Sunday evening and I appreciate the “beautifully strung out” comment as I hope I pull it off pretty well.
Now the guy is talented, but his songs were quite slow and not really of the stand up and jam variety so he really has no ground to be upset for the lack of dancing. Still neat to see him and hear that voice live. Different strokes for different folks ya know?
Wow! glad I missed it! :pirate
I was standing just behind the poser pit to the left (if facing stage). To me, it wasn’t just what he said, but also how he said it (and in the case of the poser pit comment there was also a gesture towards the pit people). It came across as mean spirited. Or just plain rude. I don’t know if that is what he intended or not, but it certainly left me disappointed.
However, I differ from many of the posters above in that I thought his performance was pretty good. But I’m certainly not going to rush out to see a show of his given the way he treats his audience.
By the time a musician becomes a “headliner”, he justifiably expects his biggest fans up front. Festivals don’t work like that.
Someone on my tarp who didn’t quite hear the comment asked, “do you think he’s coming back for an encore?” I told them “no, he’s not coming back EVER!”
Hear, hear! :cheers
I think its called shock jock. I knew a guy named Chuck and he would say things to grab attention and debate…any attention is good… :flower
I just have to remain open minded and not sweep someone under the rug just because he made an abrasive remark…eccentrics run deep in the Arts and I think this alone is a fascinating subject.
Well said…
I really like Ray and his music. A lot. I thought his set was great and wanted more. Than i heard the comment. I wasnt sure if i heard it right and asked others around me. They had tuned him out long before and were not paying attention. Then a Telluride local explained to me Ray was referring to the poser pit. It made me feel slightly better…since i thought he disparaged the whole crowd.
I still like his music…but will never forget that sting of negativity at the end of his set as he barged off the stage.
Well in his defense I must say I did hear some negativness towards him during his set and I always feel compelled to sush folks when they do that. This may have been aN action from a reaction 
Some folks don’t realize that while we listen to them, they listen to us for feed back. I was raised to be quiet and attentive when someone is laying all out in front of you and it is polite to just not say anything if you are not pleased. It takes courage no matter who you are to step on stage.
After 30 plus years of live shows, I can
name numerous performances where the artist
either walked off stage, gave a crappy performance(Dead-numerous times),
made rude remarks, etc., etc. While I would appreciate artists
kiss my ass and play their very best at all times, that ain’t
reality. Ray is on the stage because many people
believe he has talent. He has sales/fans to back this up.
Ray didn’t give the TBF crowd the warm fuzzy they expect but it
doesn’t mean he is not incredibly talented. I bet his career
continues with or without the TBF forum. I found the comments funny
I found his show to be great. Thanks TBF.
Similarly, Neil Young came to my mind first … can’t help but wonder if there’d be a different reaction if it were him instead of Ray?
Agreed IMNBTR. It really was a great set, albeit different from the foot-stomping awesomeness or acoustic sweetness that we all expect. 4 days in, the penultimate set, and our ears and expectations are pretty set. There’s a lot of darkness in his music and in his words, so maybe not terribly surprising to find some cynicism in his live persona. I do think that it’s bad form, but I too have seen some cranky shows that musically were amazing. I saw a Van Morrison show years back that made Ray L look like a warm fuzzy hugger. If we want these guys to bring their all, we probably need to expect the whole spectrum; bad form or not.
Neil and Van are GREAT examples. Don’t look at those guys wrong. You will pay. :lol
At least Ray was on time. I can’t tell you how many shows I’ve been to where the artist is
late and I mean “want to strangle” late.
Last time I saw Van Morrison he demanded that all cell phones be off and all cameras put away. If you were caught taking a picture, the security people would confiscate your phone or camera.
Well there you have it. Crazy Love. But I’d still wait all night to see him.
My 2 cents on RL. He certainly is free to say what he wants. I look at the performance. Almost every artist there either had some stage presence, great vocalists, exceptional instrumentalists or a unique sound, one thing that made them stand out, something memorable. RLs set had none of these qualities. Kept asking the folks with me and on the tarp next to us why is he here. His comments just reinforced that sentiment. Also, having sat in the poser pit on a few occasions, most of the people sitting there are the other artists and families, friends of PB, etc… They ask people not to stand there during the day so as not to obstruct the folks behind. You can dance off to the side if you want. And for Salmon, PB takes out most of the chairs and lets all the volunteers in to dance and do whatever.
When I learned that RL refused to have his show streamed, well that was apropos. At least KOTO listeners did not have to hear his rather mediocre set, IMHO.
I still think Ray is talented and want to see him again!!
I think it was bad timing for Ray, many people hung over, inattentive, talkative, sad the weekend was over etc.
Come back Ray!!
(And Alison acted like she was just a back up singer for the last set of the Festival…that was a little disappointing for those of us who stayed till the very end, seems to me that musicians are just humans too, with moods and proclivities).
So I’ve been a big fan since Trouble came out. No doubt he’s a gifted artist with a beautifully haunting voice. That said, this whole SuperBS album thing he’s up to is confusing at best. My FB feed was overwhelmed with his plugs for network television and of all things Starbucks. As such, when he vetoes the KOTO feed and blatantly insults the audience, he moves out of the realm of eccentricity to that of hypocrisy. You can’t sell out to the man then proclaim your disdain for said man.
PS, Aloha, Allison has had major vocal cord issues. She flew to t-ride after a show across the country the night before just to sing 3 or 4 songs. Mad props to her for her commitment!
Same here. I was happy she was there. I would love to hear someone like Tony Rice come back and sing just one number, even with his voice issues, or play just a couple of solos.