It's ok Ryan Adams, all is forgiven now.
Many months ago I had tickets to see Ryan Adams and the Cardinals in Louisville. It was one of those radio appreciation shows so he shared the bill with a bunch of other folks, but we were there for Ryan. So much so that we gave up tickets to another show featuring Bright Eyes and Gillian Welch that was happening on the same night.
As any fan will tell you a Ryan Adams show is always a crapshoot. Sometimes he shows up, sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he's there, but abuses the audience, the venue and burns out hardly before he even starts. Sometimes though, the man simply nails it and makes all the previous abuse worth it.
This night he showed up wearing a shower cap and a toting a broken arm. I knew it was going to be a bad night, and it was. The same night brought to fruition what wound up being some really bad personal ju-ju that would kick my arse, and nearly ruin my life a few weeks later. Yeah, I blame Ryan for that too.
We made it through that mess though, and thanks be to the grace of music, my wife let me buy tickets to another Ryan Adams show this past fall. The day came and once again the boy crapped out. This time they say a band member got sick and promises were made for reschedulement. Impressed I was not and my love for all things Ryan Adams was nearly lost.
But low and behold the rescheduled day came, and Ryan showed up. And he rocked. The rest, as I said, must be forgiven. The show started with a rollicking "Let it Ride" which set the perfect mood for the rest of the show. The band was spot on and Neal Casal's harmonies were simply magic, as they were for the rest of the show.
Ryan wasn't very talkative during the show (I don't think he said a word until the end of the first set and that was to only say that they'd be back in a few minutes) but what he lacked in fun banter he more than added to in the song selection, the killer jams and his vocals.
The show was billed as the Cardinals, not Ryan Adams & — and it is easy to see why. These guys are a band in the truest sense of the word. They listen to each other, are so completely sonically together that you could forgive someone for not knowing that Ryan is the star. The vocals on songs like "Cold Roses" and its almost a Capella chorus shined like the stars above.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
I thought Ryan Adams said he was retiring....
-Glen
2 - Mat Brewster
He's finishing this tour, then retiring.
Then in 2010 he'll release 12 albums and play 300 gigs.
3 - MarkSaleski
i heard he's going to be doing some small club dates with joaquin phoenix.
4 - Mat Brewster
As a rap group no doubt.
5 - Glen Boyd
Ryan's definitely a crapshoot live. I saw him ome year where he was so screwed up he played songs twice after forgetting he'd already done them. Then he finally just gave up. Six months later I saw him with the Cardinals and he pretty much floored me...
-Glen
6 - Mat Brewster
I mentioned songs that didn't get played and I don't think I made it very clear as to how I knew they didn't get played. Someone saw the setlist and both "Carolina" and "Elizabeth" were on it. I had a picture of the setlist, but either Flickr or MT was giving me trouble and I couldn't make it appear in this post.
7 - Josh Hathaway
Not a bad set list although he missed a lot of what I'd call my personal favorites. I do love what he did with "Wonderwall." I wouldn't have minded hearing that one at all. That would have been a highlight. He's playing three or four shows in the area. I really need to try and hit one before he 'retires.'
8 - joe
whatup
9 - joe
San Antonio, March 4, 2009, 'Cryin' Ryan Adams. One of the worst shows I have ever seen by any artist - and Ive seen a whole lot of shows. Let me say I have been a huge Ryan Adams fan since Whiskeytown - hes in my top 5 fav artists. Ive seen him 5 times now. Yes, its aaalways a crapshoot, because hes such a self-centered, overly sensitive artist. There were technical problems after the 4th song. The show stopped for 20 minutes. They came back and sat on stools the rest of the show! Uninspired versions of almost every song. They sang about 15-17 songs, left the stage and NO ENCORE. What a little wuss. They played BORN INTO THE LIGHT twice!!! He gets soooo upset over just a very, very few people in the crowd who say stupid stuff. Hey Ryan, what about the 99% of the fans there who love and support you - you little crybaby. Approx an 1 1/2 hr. show. Good riddance to your touring. I will stick to my cd's and never pay to see him again. His shows pale in comparison to Jeff Tweedy's/Wilco shows.
10 - joe
Oh, forgot. A fan yelled "Magick" like 3-4 times and Ryan yells back "how bout I play what I want!". Love his recordings, but have lost all respect for him as did everyone I went with. Was gonna buy his book, but have totally lost interest in the dysfunctional little boy.
11 - Tyler
I saw the same show in San Antonio on March 4th and thought it was a great show. Ryan Adams does have an inner ear problem and that could have been the technical problem. I did enjoy the pre-technical problem songs better than the post-techical problem songs, but my wife said the opposite. I was bummed about the no encore, but he played for almost 2.5 hours. With regards to the people shouting out in the audience, I thought he had fun with it. I never thought he was mad. I personally was getting tired of all the shouting though. I was surronded by people who couldn't put away their cell phones and had were talking way too loud due to having too much to drink. All in all, I thought it was a great show.
12 - joe
Tyler - I agree that the 'fans' there were disrespectful. Glad you enjoyed the show. San Antonio is not known as a great music town for sure (sorry if youre from there..:). And, yes, people all around me on the 4th row were talking, texting, yelling. At least noone yelled "Summer of 69!". Thank God. I love Ryan, but he is so fragile. In the last several months I have seen modest mouse, lucinda williams, wilco, tv on the radio...and those shows kicked a$$. I had high expectations from seeing the last several setlists. In many of the January/February shows thay were playing like 25 songs and a few times TWO ENCORES. Anyway, will always love his music.