Ryan Adams

[MarcO]

well, "Cold Roses" is the finest collection of songs I've heard in a long time, and I can't believe the blast of positive punk spirit he brought to those Phil and Friends shows in July, but it remains that Mr. Adams is a loonie.

Ryan Adams and The Cardinals

By adrian mack

At the Commodore Ballroom on Tuesday, August 9

In spite of his best efforts, Ryan Adams made it out of the Commodore alive on Tuesday. The mercurial and possibly very troubled singer-songwriter has been provoking reams of copy for as long as he’s been making records—in fact, it’s hard to figure out if he’s more prolific as a composer or a loud-mouthed dickhead. He’s a major talent in both respects.

The first two-thirds of his performance was low-key to the point of narcosis. The high drama and spectacle came much, much later and was so exquisitely painful and humiliating that it seemed like a setup. It wasn’t—something just cracked—but an hour of midtempo plod in the Crazy Horse vein established a Mogadon vibe that wasn’t improved by silent longueurs between songs. Adams didn’t say a word during this portion of the set. Most of the interest was provided by his hair and the chance that it might slide off. Hunched over a black SG or a piano, the alt-country veteran displayed the browbeaten mien of a man who spends the day avoiding blows to the head. Not surprising, really, as he habitually fights with band members, critics, and fans. That doesn’t explain the apparent attack of ennui up on-stage, though, especially considering what happened later, but suffice it to say that “To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)â€, the great faux-Dylan rave-up from Adams’s first solo album, Heartbreaker, was reworked into a tepid slice of gothic country that received a disproportionately generous cheer. And so it went on, the same dirges ending in squalls of unhinged guitar. Adams seemed to be channelling Neil Young from his Tonight’s the Night period, giving us uncompromising sludge peppered with beautiful moments of relief (“What Sin Replaces Love?â€, “Mockingbirdâ€), all of it underscored by barely contained psychosis.

And then the container broke.

Adams went visibly and incontestably nuts at the two-thirds mark, first threatening to punch someone in the face, then railing about the Internet, then bargaining with the crowd for a smoke break. He got it, and when he bounded back on-stage the man was reenergized, to say the least. Starting with a cover of “Wonderwallâ€, the manic version of Ryan Adams complained that the Commodore was filled with snakes (like New Mexico) and was apparently swarmed by invisible aphids during “Sylvia Plathâ€. He bitch-slapped his sound guy. “Ryan Adams!†he said, baiting the hapless knob-twiddler. “He’s so fucked up! He’s the end of music! It’s not my fault if they forgot to build a house at the end of the street, Mister Man!†This was one of a number of baffling speeches that he would make for the rest of the performance, though his second skirmish with the sound department was a little less equivocal.

“Dave!†he screamed. “What the fuck? Are you taking the night off?!†In fairness, Dave seemed to be doing a fine job while Adams, struggling to stay upright, was more or less engaged in relearning to play guitar. Later, bassist Catherine Popper would tell him to go fuck himself when he melodramatically called a halt to “Let It Rideâ€. It wasn’t necessary — Adams had already fucked himself quite comprehensively by that point.

http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=12146

Dude has two more albums due by the end of the year, with a fourth one apparently in the can following a studio blitz with his band, The Cardinals. He'll be back with Phil and Friends in October at Vegoose. His remaining summer tour dates are cancelled due to "illness". And Trey Anastasio was "tired". Right.

[secondtube]

cant wait for him to bitch-slap phil, calling him an old man...

just wait...it'll happen.

[Jaimoe]

Ryan is a loose-cannon. He grew-up on the road, but unlike Derek Trucks, the road has been hard on Ryan.

Edited August 12, 2005 by Guest

[Booche]

Wow. Dude seems like he is a mess.

[guigsy]

enjoy it while it lasts boys, cuz we're bound to lose this one sooner or later.. certainly a sad state affairs with that dude, but hell if he doesnt write a damn good tune!

[dave-O]

I love Cold Roses but can't help but think that dude needs an editor almost as much as he needs a psychologist. Between that double CD and the two other albums he has forthcoming this year, surely there could have been a one album masterpiece.

[guigsy]

surely there could have been a one album masterpiece.

it's the 2nd disc on cold roses.

the rest is a nice touch.

[MarcO]

I've always felt his albums needed a little pruning but I don't feel that way about "Cold Roses".

I guess this Summer he took his band into the studio to record a track for a movie soundtrack, and they ended up laying down eighteen tunes in total, so that's the other album that could come down the pike sometime as well.

He is fascinating and unpredictable, I'll give him that. He sure is self-obsessed though.

[Hux]

He was taking hits from a bottle of Whiskey inbetween songs at the Phil and Friends Filmore show in July....nice behaviour considering the guy who invited you to play is a recovering alcholic who nearly died due to liver failure - classy.

[Freeker]

mmmmmmm I love a good meltdown. Probably couldn't handle the BC smack.

[StoneMtn]

Here's a link to a discussion about this, including someone who was there when he had his Vancouver freak out...

[secondtube]

"So I hear they're really close to legalizing marijuana here ... that's cool. See, in the states, it'll take a little more time. The old people are so scared of pot. It's dangerous! Meanwhile, we go out and bomb the shit out of other countries - wham - bam!!! I can't fucking wait until all the fucking old people die, so I can piss on their graves and get high."

Gold. Pure Gold.