Play one we know: Ryan Adams @ Kool Haus

Well, it's not often I say this, but wow, I did not enjoy tonight's show.

Ryan Adams's Gold got me through some difficult times, namely the great breakup(s) of 2001. Of couse, that period of my life is way behind me now, but the album and Adams's work still means a lot to me so I was excited to see him and the Cardinals perform at the Kool Haus.

I don't think been to the Kool Haus since Coldplay performed there when Parachutes first came out in 2000. (Or was it when Soul Decision and Prozzak played CMW?) I remember when I was 13 and the building was known as the RPM/Warehouse and my friend Kira would have birthday parties there and we'd get to Rollerblade all around in circles. Things are different from those skating days. The graffiti is gone, now replaced by stainless steel accents and fancy orange lighting. Pop is now $4.

The sound was good at the Haus. Even though we were standing right by the speakers, Adams sounded crystal clear. He even played for two hours, cigarette in hand and a bottle of red wine nearby. Still, despite Adams's rock star cliches and his strong vocals, I was bored out of my mind.

For the love of live music, play something we know. I'm not asking for the singles, I'm a fan who owns all the albums except for Heartbreaker, I would like to hear a few more familiar songs. But instead, he pretty much only played songs from Cold Roses — the album released today — and other unreleased songs.

Soon after the intermission he began playing a mellowed out version of "New York" which brought on the loudest cheers of the night, but before he could finish the first chorus, he motioned for the band to stop and complained that his guitar was out of tune. So what does he do after the guitar situation is resolved? He skips "New York" entirely and goes on to play another one no one knows.

So there it goes, my precious $40 down the drain. Yeah, he encored with "Sylvia Plath" and his cover of "Wonderwall" but it was too little, too late. Ryan Adams and I are breaking up and there ain't no sad song needed.

Comments

[Jennie]

This was my first taste of Ryan Adams and I have to agree with Andrea....while i thought his music was 'good' (he voice was clear and strong, etc), I was bored for most of the night. Last time I went to a show where the artist was new to me, I was blown away (to be fair, it was Feist). Mr. Adams certainly did not blow me away.

[Tim]

Huh? You love Ryan Adams, but you don't have Heartbreaker? His best album by far. And "Come Pick Me Up" is without doubt the best song he's ever done. You should also check out his work with Whiskeytown, notably Faithless Street (brilliant) and Stranger's Almanac (excellent). Of course, if you can't stand alt.country -- like your friend Lisa, despite my best efforts -- forget I mentioned it.

BTW, I'm hearing bad things about the concert last night. Too bad you didn't see him at Lee's a few years ago. He was great and Elton John joined him for two songs, including a rousing version of "Rocket Man" that brought the house down.

[janey]

i am sooo jealous you got to see coldplay live!

[brian]

he slowly lost me by the middle portion of the second half of the night, but i enjoyed it.

then again, i was expecting both bad sound, which wasn't the case, and expecting mostly new material, which turned out to be true.

"come pick me up" would've been nice, though.

[mike]

I'm pretty new to Ryan Adams. I just bought his new album today. I have "Gold" and "Love Is Hell" both which I just haven't gotten around to listening to much of. I also have "Rock N' Roll" which I really liked but also seems to be the album which has most people divided. I'd have been disappointed had I gone to the show yesterday and he hadn't played anything off "Rock n' Roll".

[Andrea]

He didn't play a single song from Rock n' Roll but there was one time, when he sat at the piano and I was 100% sure he was going to sing "Rock n' Roll" — but he didn't.

Well, at least he knew they were "awulf" last night. I would be really depressed if he thought they were awesome...can someone tell me if this was the first date on the tour?

[adsf]

You all shouldn't be listening to music if you can't enjoy live music you don't already know