Ray LaMontagne announces new album 'Supernova,' summer tour

The soft-spoken singer-songwriter with a roaring singing voice, Ray Lamontagne is gearing up for the release of his fifth full-length album on May 6 titled Supernova, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. He'll hit the road on a big summer tour that will bring him to the Triangle.

Lamontagne will play the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh on Saturday, July 26. The Belle Brigade will open. Tickets will go on sale at noon on Friday, March 14, via the Duke Energy Center box office and Ticketmaster for $25 to $49.50. Pre-ordering the new album via Amazon will give buyers access to a pre-sale that starts at noon today, March 11.

Check out the poppy, upbeat title track from Supernova below.

Photos: Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs at Koka Booth Amphitheatre

All photos by Kevin Norris

Soulful and shy singer-songwriter Ray Lamontagne and his band The Pariah Dogs rolled into Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre on Monday.

Lamontagne took the stage wearing his stylish top hat and plaid shirt and belted out the somber "Burn," with the help of bassist Jennifer Condos. The rest of the band then joined them, rolling through "For the Summer" and "Beg Steal or Borrow."

Check out photos of the band below.

Ray Lamontagne & the Pariah Dogs extend tour, coming to Cary

The soft-spoken soulful singer-songwriter Ray Lamontagne and his band The Pariah Dogs have extended their summer tour supporting their latest album God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise into the fall, and you guessed it, they're coming to the Triangle.

They'll play the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary on Monday, September 19. Brandi Carlile will open the show. Tickets go on sale on Friday, May 20 at 10 a.m. for $39.50 or $49.50 via the usual places.

Watch the band perform the songs "Beg Steal or Borrow" and "Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)" from their latest album in rural Texas or the show Live at the Artists' Den below.

Ray LaMontagne announces tour to support new album

Soulful softspoken troubadour Ray LaMontagne will release his third album titled Gossip In the Grain on October 14 via RCA Records. LaMontagne will support the album with a North American tour this fall.

Leona Naess will open for LaMontagne on the entire tour. She is also featured on two tracks on Gossip In the Grain.

The tour will include a stop at Meymandi Hall in Raleigh on October 16. Tickets for that show will go on sale to the general public on August 12 at 10AM, but an internet pre-sale begins tomorrow, August 1 at 10AM. Tickets prices will range from $27 to $31 and will be available via the ticket giant.

Listen to the track "Let It Be Me" from Gossip In the Grain here.

Pre-order Gossip In the Grain here.

Ray LaMontagne tour dates with Leona Naess:
Sept 30 - Murat Theatre - Indianapolis, IN
Oct 1 - Chicago Theatre - Chicago, IL
Oct 3 - Union Theatre - Madison, WI
Oct 4 - State Theatre - Minneapolis, MN
Oct 6 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
Oct 7 - Queen Elizabeth Theatre - Toronto, ON
Oct 9 - Opera House - Boston, MA
Oct 10 - Opera House - Boston, MA
Oct 11 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY
Oct 13 - Keswick Theatre - Philadelphia, PA
Oct 14 - The Strathmore Music Center - Washington, DC
Oct 16 - Meymandi Concert Hall - Raleigh, NC
Oct 17 - Bijou Theatre - Knoxville, TN
Oct 18 - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
Oct 19 - Ryman Auditorium - Nashville, TN
Oct 21 - Uptown Theatre - Kansas City, MO
Oct 23 - Verizon Wireless Theatre - Houston, TX
Oct 24 - Majestic Theatre - Dallas, TX
Oct 25 - Paramount Theatre - Austin, TX
Oct 27 - Macky Auditorium - Boulder, CO
Oct 28 - Murray Theatre - Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 30 - Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Nov 1 - Spreckels Theatre - San Diego, CA
Nov 3 - Paramount Theatre - Oakland, CA
Nov 5 - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall - Portland, OR
Nov 6 - McDonald Theatre - Eugene, OR
Nov 8 - Vogue Theatre - Vancouver, BC
Nov 9 - Marion Oliver McCaw Hall - Seattle, WA

Guster gets booed in Cary

Most bands wouldn't play a show to a couple thousand adoring fans and end it by asking to be booed off stage. But that's just what Guster did last night at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary.

"Are you guys feeling nice or sadistic," frontman Adam Miller asked the crowd before the last song of the set.

"Just boo like we really suck," he said. "We'll just turn that negative energy into something awesome."

And with that, the band launched into "Fa Fa."

While it was a great performance of the song, at the end there were no cheers. Only the sound of disapproval.

Miller and bandmates Brian Rosenworcel and Adam Gardner stood on the stage dumbfounded as fans yelled expletives and asked them not-so-nicely to get off the stage.

"That was the weirdest feeling of my life," Miller said. "It feels really dirty or something. ... I feel like I just looked at porn for 45 minutes."

Don't worry Ryan, speaking on behalf of the crowd, we felt a little dirty too.

But Guster's performance was anything but boo-worthy. The band kicked things off with "Barrel of a Gun" before rolling right through a 20-song set that spanned a decade of material.

Highlights of the evening were "Either Way," which Miller said they only perform once per tour, and "Airport Song," complete with vocal effects that made Miller sound like Vincent Price a la Michael Jackson's "Thriller." (Find a complete set list is below.)

All in all, it was definitely something worth cheering for.

It was Guster's first performance in the area (sans a show at Duke a few months back) in about three years. But Miller also noted that it was their biggest headlining show in the Carolinas to date. Guster also played the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in 2002, opening a sold out show for John Mayer.

Co-headliner Ray LaMontagne warmed up the crowd as he drove the ladies (and even some gents) into a screaming frenzy with his soulful, laid-back brand of music.

“This is panty-dropping music,” one crowd member mused out loud.

While there were no signs of explicit activities from the third row, LaMontagne’s music was just the thing to wind down the day — perfect for spreading a blanket on the amphitheater lawn and enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

Guster set list:
Barrel of a Gun
The Captain
Diane
C'mon
Amsterdam
I Spy
Careful
Manifest Destiny
Airport Song
Either Way
Ruby Falls
New Underground
Keep it Together
Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Demons
Fa Fa
***************
One Man Wrecking Machine
Red Oyster Cult
Happier
***************
Hang On

[photo by Carrie Ochal]