Concert review: Ryan Adams redeems himself in Atlanta
March 13th, 2009 by Web Editor in Music newsby Michael Gerber
Ryan Adams at the Tabernacle, March 8
Unlike Ryan Adams two previous Atlanta concerts, there were no boos last Sunday night. Although there were times when a repeat of his October walk-off seemed inevitable. Again, Adams complained that he wasn’t feeling well and was having trouble with his voice. There also seemed to be problems with the microphone.
To the listener, the struggle put an extra layer of sorrow to painful lines like, “Oh, Jacksonville! How you burn in my soul! How you hold all my dreams captive!” He could barely get the words out, and the exclamation points weren’t screamed, but could be felt by the missing notes and unheard lyrics. There was a sense of desperateness that enhanced the first few songs. Last October, after a handful of songs in a similar vein, he made an affectless apology and called it a night. Four and a half months later, it felt like it was happening again.
Adams warned he might have to go backstage and hurl. Then he began a “my voice sounds like” tangent. But instead the dismissive Goo Goo Dolls comment from last time, he said he sounded more like the lead singer of Napalm, and was enjoying this new take on old songs. Then he walked off stage, saying it was time for the slide guitarist to tell a joke.
A joke was told, followed by a moment of awkward silence, which the band recognized and had fun with in between glances backstage to see if their leader was coming back. Eventually Adams came back out and the playful banter continued. Still, no song for over 10 minutes. Adams got up, and I thought that was it. But instead of taking another leave, he headed straight to the piano for a version of “Rescue Blues” from Gold. That, and the opener, “Come Pick Me Up,” from Heartbreaker, where the only hints that his catalogue went further back than 2005.
The set was heavy with the lonely twang/Grateful Dead-inspired albums, Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights as well as the more Dave-FM friendly vibe of his last two releases, Easy Tiger and Cardinology. Within those four records lies an incredible collection of songs, which were enhanced by the ethos of the night: mostly acoustic and nothing going beyond mid-tempo. The concert was billed as an acoustic evening with the Cardinals. Some of the songs were extended with folksy noodling that took beautiful ballads into a spacey trajectory where pain eased into joy. Adam’s expression reflected the transformation.
On “Let It Ride,” the Cardinals hit their stride. Adams sang, “Twenty-seven years of nothing but failure and promises I couldn’t keep,” as if it were a message of inspiration, a stark contrast to the mood of similar downtrodden lyrics earlier in the show. And then came “Peaceful Valley” with a tagged-on jam that turned into “Beautiful Sorta.” This is how country and rock can get together and sound naturally American with no BS.
The more intimate setting (more intimate than the Fox or Verizon Amphitheatre at least) led to some special moments, like every time the band stopped playing instruments mid-song and let their vocal harmonies take over. They first broke it out in the middle of “Cold Roses.” They went back to this trick on a few occasions, each time whipping the crowd into an appropriately mid-tempo frenzy. By the end of the set, Adams was smiling, joking with the rest of the Cardinals, and admitted that he was having a great time. The band had found a perfect balance of finding a quiet reverence for gorgeous songs with enough of a free spirit to have fun with them.
What changed? It could have been the natural course of gutting out the tough moments with the music naturally carrying Adams into another dimension. Or, and this is all ignorant speculation, he could be off the wagon and may have taken whatever was necessary to get up for the show. His newfound sobriety was well documented in the press leading up to Easy Tiger.
That recovery mindset could explain the inspiration behind two safe-sounding albums, followed up by an ornery stage presence. In AA terms, he was a “dry drunk.” Now that he’s back to entertaining us with an engaging stage show that lasts as long as he wants — and he wants it to last long — I can’t help but speculate about what caused the dramatic change in mood. The audience is better off for it, but is it at the performer’s expense?
Set List, courtesy GrimFish on the Ryan Adams Archive message board:
Come Pick Me Up
Everybody Knows
Fix It
Please Do Not Let Me Go
Cold Roses
The End
Evergreen
Sink Ships
(Evening Joke)
Rescue Blues
Two
Goodnight Rose
Natural Ghost
Ripoff
Oh, My God, Whatever, Etc.
Let it Ride
Peaceful Valley >
Beautiful Sorta
Games
Lost Satellite
Mockingbird
Down in a Hole (Alice In Chains Cover)
Magick
March 14th, 2009 at 1:00 am
i was at the show and man was it boring. i saw about 3/4’s of the show and had to leave cause i was bored to tears. the drummer didn’t even have a real drumkit! i was expecting to have my face rocked off and they play an acoustic show… just great. ryan is such a diva. the stage lights were low so you couldn’t see anything, just like at cat powers tabernacle show. i’m tired of the musicians that reject fame. why are you on stage in the first place? and he had a pedal steel player, not a “slide guitarist”. come on, you write a music editorial. in a sort of related note, i saw the pogues the next night and shane mcgowan would retire into a “tent” every other song. ryan should invest in a tent to do his drugs.
March 14th, 2009 at 4:41 am
To the above person, the show was advertised as an acoustic show, so um, big surprise that it was one.
To the speculation on RA’s sobriety, I’m thinking maybe the fact that these are the last shows he’s doing for a while coupled with the fact that he just got married, may have something to do with his mood, rather than drugs or booze. Besides, I’ve seen him
when booze and drugs were involved and the last several shows he doesn’t seem like he was then at all. I’m not a big fan of music reviews that involve unfounded gossip.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:33 am
the show was NOT advertised as an acoustic show on the livenation ticket site. and for some reason, the show wasn’t even advertised on the ticketmaster website at all. i only found out about it from the livenation weekly emailer. anyway, my friend in jersey saw ryan adams a few days before he played the tabernacle and he saw an electric show. i would have never purchased tickets if i had known that the show was all acoustic. oh well. there’s always the boss in april for a proper rock show.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
I’m confused. Wasn’t he scheduled to play with the Cardinals at the Fox on March 20? Did I miss something? Is that show still on? The Fox website has it advertised. Seems weird to have two shows so close together.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
yeah, it’s his mea culpa show. hopefully it’s electric. if you went to that show and held on to your ticket, you can get in for free.
March 15th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I am shocked at the plethora of ignorance abounding in this article/review. Fair enough if some of you commenters did not enjoy the show. But rest assure the only reason Ryan went back stage is because he is suffering with Meniere’s Disease, which causes hearing problems, dizziness, and nausea/vomiting. He is trying to deal with this disease and at the same time honor his commitments.
Your inference about the “falling off the wagon” is really uncalled for, Mr. Gerber. And all the talk about “dry drunk” or whatever you are going on about. Are you an interventionist in your spare time? Sheesh.
They put a March 8th show in there because there was the cancellation of the Langerado Festival in Miami and some dates to fill…It is a shame that the fact it was acoustic was not properly advertised. It certainly was billed as such on the fan based web site Ryan Adams and The Cardinals endorse: RAA. In any case, yes, the tour wraps for good in Atlanta March 20th at the Fox. It will be electric. And newly married Mr. Adams will, indeed, be totally sober.
March 16th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Hi there, this is Mr. Gerber. Just to clarify, I did not infer, I ignorantly speculated. This is how a prefaced those closing thoughts. I’m surprised you were shocked by the ignorance of something that was introduced as being ignorant.
Moving on, thanks for the info about Meniere’s disease. It sounds like a performing musician’s worst nightmare.
March 17th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Ryan Adams makes boring crappy music for pseudo music fans. It is for sorority girls that want to listen to indie rock and feel connected to a scene. There is no reason to debate whether the show sucked because it was acoustic. It would have sucked probably even more if it was electric.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Dear edgewood adam-did you acutally go to the show? You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I am not a sorority girl and am not connected to any scene, yet am a huge fan of the music of Ryan Adams, and am entitled to my opinion as well. I am sorry you are so angry.
dear Mr. Gerber-do you normally throw ignorant speculations into your writing? Do you go by the pen name Perez Hilton sometimes? I suggest you do your background research on a musician before writing a piece, whereas your writing might be taken seriously and viewed as intelligent, not ignorant. Unless you prefer to be known as an ignorant writer. your choice.
dear Billy Shears-it was indeed advertised ahead of time as “blue cave”, which refers to an acoustic show.
dear Elizabeth-thank you for your comments. Ryan Adams ROCKS!
March 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Thinking someone’s music sucks does not make me an angry person. I am a snobby asshole but not an angry one. But Ryan Adams still sucks. See ya at the Connor Oberst show.
March 17th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Katie,
I consider writing about music to be part of a conversation. For me, it’s all about continuing the conversation that the music started. When I love the music, sometimes it’s just not enough for me to simply listen. I don’t play (very well), and I prefer to read, write, or just talk about it. So yes, I want my writing to be taken seriously, but as seriously as you would take a passionate and well informed friend. Sometimes it’s all facts mixed with opinion, and sometimes the passion and curiosity lead the way.
When I’m making an unfounded, but not that out the question accusation, I make my judgment as to whether to include it in a published piece. In this case I decided to include it with a disclaimer. I knew I wanted to say something about my thoughts on his sobriety because it was part of the conversation I was having with friends after the show. His behavior at his two most recent shows was something worth noting. So, I noted. I can’t say if I normally do this, but I will say that when I do, I’ll be responsible about it. And while I don’t know what Mr. Adams did backstage, I do know he’s a recovering addict (see link in above post). It’s part of the pain that makes me get so much out of his music.
Thanks for the suggestion about doing research. This is actually how I came to make the speculative comments at the end of the review. It’s also how I double checked all the dates and album references. When I take the leap toward speculation, I’ll make sure the reader knows. I don’t think it was out of the line or irresponsible. I try and stay above tabloid level gossip, but let’s be honest about it, it’s part of the conversation. I do think there’s a way to approach “gossip” in a responsible manner. If done right, it can capture the honest reaction of the listener and lead to enlightening conversation. In this case, I was reminded of his other medical condition and I also found myself defending my writing.
Just trying to get the conversation beyond: “So and So Rocks!” Because to me, that is enjoyable.