ryan adams at red rocks 8.4.07

This past Friday, I hit the road yet again, this time with my husband in tow. (Thanks again to Chris and Mary for hangin' with the kiddos) It's about a 6 hour drive to Denver from Albuquerque, but you know me - when it comes to Ryan Adams or Glen Phillips I'm basically a sucker and willing to travel great distances.

I didn't find out until the morning of the show that the start time had been changed to 5:30 from 7 pm. DOH! We also hit sick traffic around Colorado Springs, so we didn't wind up getting to Red Rocks until around 7 pm. Luckily, it wasn't raining. Unluckily, you are expected to climb approximately 500 steps at the mile high elevation to get into the venue. *GASP WHEEZE* I actually saw some people stop to take smoke breaks on their way up the stairs. Seriously? Like that's gonna help with your oxygen intake?

We got into the venue and the Old 97's were on stage. Well, sorta. It was the Old 97's minus the beautiful and sweaty Rhett Miller. I sat on the corner of one of the steps near the stage, and out bounded Rhett. Apparently all the crap weather had caused his plane to be delayed coming into the airport. Plus, did I mention traffic sucked? Well, he played a few songs with the band, then their time was up. I have no idea why they didn't have Devotchka go on and let Old 97's later. Oh well.

Devotchka followed, and while they seem to be great musicians, their music was not my thing. The first 50 rows or so were packed, so we just went up to the very top of the amphitheatre where it was empty and enjoyed the music and the breeze. Well, until it stopped being a breeze and became a haughty wind. Lucinda Williams followed Devotchka. She's... alright. Her voice is very whiny, and all her songs sound so much alike. Not to mention how juvenile some of her lyrics are. She played a song called Honeybee - and I swear the lyrics were "You're my honeybee, I'm so glad you're mine" repeated ad nauseum. She also played, according to the venue worker I spoke to, 20 minutes longer than she was supposed to. You could see streams of people leaving to use the restroom. Snore.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals took the stage at 11:05, and the crowd went batshit crazy.

Setlist:
Magnolia Mountain
Peaceful Valley
Easy Plateau
Goodnight Rose
Mockingbird
Let It Ride
Cold Roses -> What Sin -> Cold Roses
Beautiful Sorta
When The Stars Go Blue
I Taught Myself How To Grow Old
A Kiss Before I Go
--------------------
Dear John
Two
Please Do Not Let Me Go
Dear Chicago
Wild Flowers
I See Monsters

Ryan was, brace yourself, in an incredibly good mood. He actually said "It's really impossible to have a bad time in Colorado." His voice and the band both sounded incredible. I actually think his guitar playing has improved tremendously since the infamous wrist-breaking incident. He joked with the crowd, giving us a little TMI regarding his underwear situation, and even poked fun at himself, "If this wind picks up any more, you're gonna really see me storm off the stage, if you know what I mean..."

But really the star of the night was the venue. The stage is carved into a hollowed out stone face, and the seats rise up from the front, flanked on either side by tilting monoliths of red streaked stone. From our vantage point at the top of the venue, we could see the lights of Denver, and were even able to watch the moon rise over the stage, starting out as a red smudge on the edge of the horizon and growing to an eerie white glow behind the clouds.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: seeing Ryan Adams is a hit-or-miss proposition. But so far for me this year, he's batting a thousand. I will see him every chance I get, because when he is on, he will find the cracks in your soul and crawl inside.