Ray Lamontagne Cambridge Concert reviews
Great performance, poor organization, rude audience
First of all I must say that TMF is one of my favorite venues in the Metroplex. I’ve seen a dozen shows here and rarely have had a negative experience. This was my first seated show on the floor-normally in GA standing room or lawn. My party arrived early, when the house lights were still on, and wandered a bit (as were other parties) trying to determine rows and seats with no guidance from staff. Every few seat numbers were marked in what seemed to be chalk and they were sometimes rubbed off completely or people were sitting there so you couldn’t see them at all. We eventually found our seats and waited about an hour for the show to start. Enjoyment of the opening act, the lovely Sierra Ferrell, was disrupted continuously by talking, cell phone lights, and general chaos as people struggled to find their seats (again with no assistance from staff). At one point it was discovered that our entire section’s rows had been mismarked by one row and (finally!) a staff member (yes, during the performance) moved everyone up a row. Throughout Ms. Ferrell’s set, people wandered in, sat in the wrong row, got up, moved, talked, laughed, cell phone lights etc. When she was done and the house lights came up there was more shuffling and some arguing because people hadn’t been there when the changes occurred. I cannot help but feel that ushers (even just one per section) could have helped eliminate so much of the chaos and been more respectful to the opening act. I also believe it is standard etiquette for a seated performance to find your seat before the opening act and to wait to seat people between acts when the house lights are up. This kind of crowd control would have been up to the venue to manage.
My personal experience was somewhat ruined by the inebriated individuals in the seats directly behind me who had purchased “all-in” seats with no idea of who Ray LaMontagne was or the type of performance they would be seeing. They talked the entire time at full volume, laughed, and mock-sang along. Did I have the option to turn around and say something? Yes. Did I? No. Mostly because there had been a loud altercation in the section near us with people shouting and tussling and I really just wanted to sit and listen to one of my favorite artists with my kid. Fortunately, the people behind me stopped being rude after RL shared a story about his wife and then also left before the encore. It was terrible. I like all kinds of music and I’ve been to GA shows where people drink and are rude and you can move away from them. People come in and out of the crowd but it doesn’t affect you because everyone’s standing and the music is loud and it’s a party atmosphere. I don’t know that I’d attend a seated performance at TMF again. Buyer beware