Venue:
Leeds Academy
Date: 25/02/2015
This is the first review I’ve posted on here, or the old site, as I never feel I can eloquently express how the gig was. However I wanted to post a review of last nights Ryan Adams gig for anyone who like me may have given up on him a few years ago.
RA is without doubt one of my favourite artists who, although inconsistent, has created some fantastic music over the years. However the run of albums from 29 through to III/IV hadn’t really appealed to me and while Ashes & Fire had hinted at a “return to form” it was still not comparable with his earlier records.
So when a couple of old friends got in touch to say they were getting tickets I went along more to catch up with them than for the gig. My growing apathy for his records coupled with the uncertainty of which RA you were going to get left me with low expectations.
However from the opening chords of Gimme Something Good I got the feeling it was going to be a special night. For someone who in the past has incoherently rambled on and on between songs, it was a blistering six songs in before he took breath to address the crowd.
The set list took tracks from throughout his back catalogue, particularly Heartbreaker and Gold which at previous gigs he seemed to be trying to move away from. He moved effortlessly from the heavier sounds of his new album to the aching beauty of “Oh My Sweet Carolina” (sung with support artist Natalie Prass).
There was no encore to finish just a breathtaking rendition of “Come Pick Me Up” which left me walking out feeling like I had finally seen the Ryan Adams gig I had been hoping to see for the last 14 years!
The audience:
As you’d expect. Mainly middle aged. Good mix of blokes and gals. For such a big venue was surprisingly respectful of the quieter songs. Mind, this could have been induced by fear following one of RA’s mid set rants. Apparently he is suffering from an illness which means flash photography affects his vision and gives him headaches. I’m not sure if this is true or just a way of stopping people using their phones to take pictures. However having earlier respectfully asked people not to take photos obviously some continued which led to a foul mouthed aggressive rant from RA where he threatened to “smash the guys face in”. He magnificently went from this rant straight into a beautiful acoustic version of “Winding Wheel”. That 30 seconds seemed a good metaphor for the whole of his career.
It made me think..
There is definitely life in the old dog yet and when the day comes that someone puts together a greatest hits collection it is going to stand on its own merits alongside any of the greats.
If you were thinking of getting a ticket for one of his shows but were undecided do it. RA is back on form and sounding better than ever.
It was good to catch up with two old friends I hadn’t seen for ages. But it also felt like I was catching up with another old friend, the one who sound tracked many happy memories in the early 00’s.
Not a bad review to open the batting with . Well done !
Whatever happened about the I’ve got rooted hearing and can’t play the old rock n roll no more?
Cheers!
Obviously his problems have moved on from his ears to his eyes now! Certainly didn’t seem to struggle with the volume last night
I’m going tomorrow night to Hammy O. Like you I’ve stuck with Ryan through all his phases and currently this one seems to be his best.
Saw him last year at Shepherds Bush Empire and despite being in a central position 15 feet from the stage and also being 6 feet tall myself, didn’t see a bloody thing apart from a few heads bobbing above. Expecting the raked floor of HO to be an improvement.
Ryan has been responsible for one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen – Bristol Academy on the R&R tour (the night before he threw himself off the stage in Liverpool, bust his wrist and curtailed the whole thing) where he alternated between wired rock and sublime sensitivity. A year later he came back and played Colston Hall solo and was awful – rambling, self indulgent, argumentative and obscure. The place was half empty by the end.
Ashes and Fire for me is better than Gold and equal to Heartbreaker. The eponymous new one continues in the same vein and he’s comfortable enough now in his own judgement that he even jettisoned an album’s worth of stuff with Glyn Johns to put out the album he wanted.
He suffers from Meunieres which is a disease of the ear where the symptoms are periodic balance issues and tinnitus so I would imagine having lights flashed in his face would cause him problems.
Nice review thanks
I also saw the Shepherd’s Bush gig and greatly enjoyed – even without Johnny Depp stumbling on for the encores. Really like the punky tracks that he dropped in from 1984.
On his albums, am I on my own by liking Rock n’ Roll?
He played “I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say” off Ashes and Fire. It was backed by some fine Hammond Organ and it sounded stunning. It wasn’t a song that particularly struck me when I listened to the album at the time it came out. But had it on repeat this morning. Not sure how I missed it. One of his best songs I think. Love it when hearing a song played live makes you re-visit it,
He mentioned the Meunieres last night so obviously the lights must effect it. Staggers me that he can make the request for people not to take photos yet some still continue.
Yes it’s that Hammond that gets me too. Dirty Rain played at a slightly slower pace with a dose of soul at SBE was the highlight for me.
I’ll even forgive him for ripping off (or maybe paying homage to) Ooh La La on Rescue Blues.
Great review. Mirrors my thoughts. Having seen some great and also poor performances I must say this was one of the best
In Wolverhampton, last night, he was superb. My first time seeing him and he seemed pretty amiable. He did threaten to ram a guys phone into his face pretty late on, but clarified that he did, however, love him…..
He also thanked us for the lack of fighting, as there had apparently been a couple of major rucks in the audience over the previous couple of nights.
I bumped into a friend afterwards who has seen him many times and he reckoned he’d not seen him this friendly and calm before. Maybe mellowing with age?
Great review. Much like the OP I have grown increasingly apathetic towards Ryan. After two stunning albums (Heartbreaker and Gold) he seemed to lose both focus and quality control. Despite various trumpeted “returns to form” nothing has grabbed me like those early songs. It may be that he is better experienced in a live setting.