D.R. Adams has always said (read: sung) he wanted to be a firecracker, "burning out hard and bright," but we didn’t think he was singing literally. We mean, we’ve only had him (of course, we mean his music) for, what, 13 years or so, if we add-up the Whiskeytown and Ryan-solo time with our pocket calculators? He’s said many times in interviews that he’s grateful he’s been so prolific, and so are we, speaking of his Midas touch many times before (in fan letters and such). But we cannot help to think, that like too many before him, he is leaving our rock world before his time.
Because he’s, arguably, the best superstar to come out of the alt-country movement, we’re doing the unthinkable (you must keep in mind that we’re, at this time, struggling graduate students), spending $1000+ to see his self-proclaimed, very last show in Atlanta, Georgia on March 20. We have our tickets and stand ready…to be fourth row at the famed Fox Theatre, only to then, go home the very next day. Why? Because we have Ryan love and will travel…to Georgia. We’ll have much more to report after the fact, while we’re on a much-needed Spring break (we've been so paper-overloaded of late that we've been reflexively control-S-ing our MySpace pages, which PC users know is a shortcut save). But, for now, we just want to say a farewell of sorts to our favorite musician of the last decade.
Now, we’re calling it a farewell of sorts, because this time we’re filling a wishing well with hope that Ryan’s hiatus will be like a Black Crowes’ hiatus (coincidentally, a band that stems from Georgia), like a KISS Farewell Tour (coincidentally, we saw the 2000 Farewell Tour here in California, and know KISS also stopped in Georgia), or like a Aerosmith hiatus, one that seems to have never happened. Our hope is that Ryan gets himself right-well and enjoys his love-life in peace for a time before hopping right on a musical train back to his budding career (coincidentally, much has been said about riding a midnight train to Georgia, and un-coincidentally, crossing that Macon County line).
Article comments
1 - joe
Good luck - you'll need it! My friend changed their name to NARCISSIST AND THE CARDINALS. Might have better luck in Vegas. Just saw him in San Antonio on March 4th. The single worst show I have ever seen from any artist - and Ive seen hundreds. Played about 15 songs, left the stage and NO ENCORE! The songs were uninspired and passionless. He got soooo upset with the crowd over the smallest of comments. He seems to have totally lost his passion for playing live. We felt totally ripped off and lost all respect for the little boy. He focused on the 3-4 people who were being loud AND NOT the other several thousand who came for a show.
I have loved Ryan's music since the very 1st Whiskeytown album. Getting a good show from the dysfunctional selfish little boy is less than a 50% chance. Ive seen him 5 times. 2 were good, 2 were very average AND March 4th 2009 was a complete waste of time. Do yourself a favor - wait for a WILCO show or Lucinda Williams.
2 - joe
I want to clarify. I have bought every album Ryan has been a part of - every single one. I can only say that for: Wilco, Modest Mouse and Radiohead. Ryan's music is amazing, but the San Antonio show left a really bad taste in my mouth. I had such high hopes for a great 'farewell' show and he greatly disappointed several thousand fans. Good luck to you guys and rock on!
3 - anon
He played 21 songs in San Antonio.
He doesn't always play encores.
Everyone I talked to said the band was super tight and played a great show. How was the actual music? You seem to be focusing on the # of songs played and the annoying people in the crowd, and not how the songs actually sounded.
4 - joe
Ive had time to review. I think my expectations were too high for the show. I compare almost everyone to how amazing Wilco shows are. Not really a fair comparison on my part I guess. I will always love Ryans music. Rock on!