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.

it's cold in here, and i wish it was hot

This weekend I drove to Austin for my second Ryan Adams concert of the year. (See review of first show here)

The drive was ridiculous - 12 hours each way. Yeah, I know. Next time I will fly. But it was totally worth it. It was a seated acoustic show, and totally different than the HOB show earlier this year.





Set list:

1. Please Do Not Let Me Go
2. Blue Sky Blues
3. Blue Hotel
4. The Sun Also Sets
5. Cold Roses
6. Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.
7. Easy Plateau
8. Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play That Part
9. Starlite Diner
10. Let It Ride
11. I Taught Myself How To Grow Old
12. Goodnight Rose
13. Dear Chicago
14. Goodnight Hollywood Blvd.
15. Nightbirds

**intermission so venue could sell more beer**

16. Dear John
17. Wildflowers
18. Off Broadway
19. Two
20. The End
21. Peaceful Valley
22. What Sin Replaces Love
23. Magnolia Mountain
24. I See Monsters



Ryan stayed seated for the entire show except for when he came to the microphone at the edge of the set to deliver a howling version of "Goodnight Hollywood Blvd."



Will I still go see Ryan every chance I get? Hell yes.

i need to stop objectifying ryan adams. and his ass

sally*sTV vs. Ryan Adams. Alles will er selber machen...



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Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – HOB Chicago 1/18/07

I saw Ryan Adams and the Cardinals play at the HOB Chicago this Thursday. I had seen Ryan play in the past, and his performances were either phenomenal or left people scratching their heads wondering what the hell his problem was. Well, this show was 2 1/2 hours of non-stop (and I literally mean NON -STOP – they did not take a single break once they started playing) ass-kicking, mind-blowing, otherworldly rock and roll.

Setlist:
1. Magnolia Mountain
2. A Kiss Before I Go
3. Please Do Not Let Me Go
4. Tears of Gold
5. Peaceful Valley
6. Easy Plateau
7. New York, New York
8. Let It Ride
9. Bartering Lines
10. To Be Young
11. Cold Roses
12. Shakedown on 9th St >
13. Carribean Queen >
14. I See Monsters
15. You Don't See Me Crying (Neal Casal)
16. Dear John
17. Harder No That It's Over
18. The End
19. Two Hearts
20. Trouble On Wheels
21. September
22. Blue Hotel
23. Freeway To The Canyon (Neal Casal)
24. Arkham Asylum
25. Beautiful Sorta
26. Mockingbird Song
27. Typecast
28. What Sin Replaces Love

Ryan said almost nothing during the show. The band took the stage without a word and just ripped into the songs. There were a few exchanges between the band members themselves, but no interaction with the audience at all. It was like they were putting this show out there, and you were invited to watch, grab the energy and make with it what you will.

This would be the first time I've seen Ryan looking completely happy on stage. Even when something would mess up, he just let it go and went on with his mission. The show ended with a freakish death metal riff that seemed to last forever with all the band members shredding on their instruments while Ryan repeatedly screamed into his microphone. It sounded to me like he was yelling "rockstar" but someone else said he was yelling "what sin". The lights were swirling around and flashing and I'm certain that if I had been on drugs I may have gotten another level out of that whole moment. But I wasn't. So, after about the tenth time he yelled it, I internally hoped they would overload the circuits and the entire place would lose power. I think my ears are still ringing just a little.

My lessons are as such: When you go to a Ryan Adams concert, expect nothing more than a glimpse into the complex universe that he seems to have created around himself. Bring ear plugs if you treasure your auditory organs. Prepare to walk out feeling like someone has hit you with a car so hard that it knocks you out of your shoes. Yeah. It's that good.