Venue: Jamski dvorec / Postojna
Concert date: 18.02.2009
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €14
Postojna Blues Festival is traditionally a haven for all lovers of that optimistic style of music we call the blues. This time, Mr. Larry Ray showed up in all his glory, a mighty blues and soul vocalist who supposedly sang with groups like the Drifters and the Temptations, though there isn’t exactly a lot of official info to back that up.
On stage, the band went with a pretty standard repertoire, the kind that’s guaranteed to pull the crowd in. Larry does have some songs of his own, but he mostly leans on the big hits of blues, soul, jazz and funk. The show kicked off with an instrumental section, and I even started thinking Larry wasn’t going to make it onto the stage at all, but after a long intro to the second song he finally showed up. They pulled the same trick in the second half of the set. Even though the man doesn’t play original material, it’s great to hear classics like My Girl, Mustang Sally, Dock of the Bay, Stand by Me and Long Train Running. The crowd was of course thrilled. Mr. Ray earned that reaction, too, with an outstanding vocal performance that showed off all his mastery – he hit both very high and very low notes.
Once again the American singer appeared with an Italian band, which is pretty much a given in Europe by now. The backing band is tight as a drum, and I think Larry would struggle to find better collaborators. He often handed the lead over to the guitarist and the rest of the band while he stepped off to the side (he even said himself that the guitarist is the band leader).
I liked how the band mixed up its influences – there’s plenty of blues, but also a good dose of jazz, funk and soul. You could especially see Ray’s love for Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. Larry also handled trouble well when he got himself into a pinch. Just when it looked like he was about to “mess up,” he saved himself with some solid improvisation, which only proves he’s a great vocalist (190 cm). The band didn’t run into trouble even once. They seem incredibly well-rehearsed, but without Larry Ray they’d still have come across as just one more blues band. Larry adds the soul, jazz, funk and charisma, and without him the band would offer about as much as a car without an engine.
So, another lovely day at the festival in Postojna, which I hope keeps going for many years to come. I don’t go to this Mecca of Slovenian blues all that often, but whenever I do, I always enjoy escaping my weird musical tastes for an hour or two and surrendering to the rhythms of this primal, honest music. Larry Ray does take this kind of music up a notch and adds a bit of his own, but at its core it’s blues. And not just any blues – good blues.
Photos: Rok Podgrajšek
Setlist
1. Hold on, I’m Coming
2. Let the Good Times Roll
3. Mustang Sally
4. My Girl
5. Kansas City
6. The Thrill Is Gone
7. Midnight Hour
8. Stormy Monday
9. Sweet HomeChicago
10. Georgia
11. Dock of the Bay
12. Mr. Pitiful
13. I Been Lovin’ You
14. Fa Fa Fa
15. Walking the Dog
16. 6345-789
17. Stand by Me
18. Shake
19. Long Train Running
20. Watermelon
21. Woke up this Morning
22. Caldonia
Photo Gallery
