Ryan Adams: Follow The Lights

jesus he does not stop! I am starting to be amazed at how fast he is turning out records, will we ever get any reprieve? hehe. I have to give him respect for this!! He deserves it. peace..

No kidding, I can't keep up with this guy.

seems like he is getting frazzled, heard he bombed out a show recently.

Yeah he has a great record output but his shows are suffering. I saw him in utah in july and it was the shortest, most half assed concert ive ever seen. Everyone in attendance was waiting for the encore at the hour mark when rock the cassbah came on the house speakers. Its one thing to put out records non stop but its another to be able to take them on the road affectively which he seems to have a hard time with.

honestly the fact that he puts out like 20 records a year doesn't impress me. He should put more effort into writing a good record as opposed to releasing everything he writes. I think he takes the cake for biggest flake in the scene right now.

I like Cold Roses & Jacksonville City Nights. Are any of his other albums along the same lines? Was Easy Tiger any good?

I wasn't going to comment until I saw that he is covering some Alice in Chains. All I can say is please don't ruin an amazing song by an amazing band. I'm all for covers, but it seems to me that Ryan's version of grunge comes served with polo shirts and a stylist. With that having been said, Alice in Chains put on a sinister show the other night, and William Duvall is missing link that will keep this band going strong. Go check out the rock show or some of the acoustic performances if they come to your area.

NFENNE...

Make sure you grab his solo debut, Heartbreaker, if you don't have it already. It's an absolute classic. JCN and Cold Roses are both damn near flawless, but he'll always be best known for Heartbraker. Everything else he has put out is a little more spotty, but there are gems on just about all of them.

He didn't really bomb out a show. He was having issues with the monitors, and either his tech couldn't figure it out, or he was working with a POS venue owned system. Eventually after an hour or so of not hearing things right he left the stage. I really don't blame him. If he can't hear then how is he supposed to put on a good show? I herd a recent show, and am loving the way he has got his band to sound. All ancient equipment and killer musicians. If he is still going for Early 70's Dead he is there.

nfenne, yes Easy Tiger is great, but it. Why is there always negativity on every post with Ryan. I saw him twice on his last tour, once acoustic once electric. Both shows were great. The acoustic show was one of the finest performances I have ever seen. I been to about 100 dead shows, and have seen many great bands acoustic including Pear Jam, The Allmans and many many other shows. Ryans acoustic show was of the highest quality with 3,4 and even a few 5 part harmonies. Read the review Dennis Cook posted a few months ago on jambase, I agree with every word. Please stop the constant negativity associated with Ryan Adams. He does have some mental health/addiction issues which at times affect his performance, thats true.

Stephen King in a recent piece stated that he feels Ryan is one of the best songwriters to emerge in decades, I agree. I wish more people had more positive things to say about him. He is a true songriting genius and deserves better than some of you jambase readers are givign him, in my humble opinion.

"What fools these mortals be."

I recently saw Ryan and the Cards in Montreal and Toronto and they were 2 of theeee BEST concerts I have ever seen. You all must download the shows at archive.org and check for yourself. This band sounds highly influenced by 70's Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Nirvana(or something).

Forget Ryan's behaviour and listen to the songs.

Most of those songs are diamonds. Go Cards.

I think I have to agree with assajaffe bra. Ryan Adams is a fantastic songwriter as well as a great guitarist. Just because he is talented and able to produce fantastic material very often might blow some of yawls jamband headie heads minds doesnt mean you should come on here and bash him. Go post on Yonders, Frantis, or Cheeses pages and debate how moronic you have to be to listen to that nonsense. Word /\ SisTas?.... jackiesoup ill have to check those out thanx bra

Saw Ryan Adams here in Boise back in August and he was amazingly good. Best show of the year and tight in every way.

The guys is bonkers for sure but an incredible musician and performer ( when on ). He can bitch slap me anytime. Ryan is the real deal.

Fuck off you haters! This guy is great. Great songwriter, good voice, and a deadhead. What more could you ask for?

YEAH! GO CARDS!

It doesnt get any better than JCN or Cold Roses

ryan is the real deal. you has a real classic rock sound to him. the lead guitarist of the cardinals make these great songs jam out even better. i've never seen RA and the cards, but i think i will the first chance i get. i see he made a couple cheese mtv videos though.

Does this cat sleep? I've been trying to get into him and like a lot of his work, but keeping up with him is like trying to keep up with Zappa!

Anyone interested should check out June 18/07 in Minneapolis.

In my opinion, this is as classic as reckoning. If you have not heard this band yet, start with this show. (archive.org) It's an acoustic show that really highlights the potential of the cards and the songs. Check it. curtbraski..tanks for the lafs bro

the thing with Ryan Adams is you can tell there is a a _Pet Sounds_ or _Yankee Hotel Foxtrot_ in him somewhere but it just does not quite ever show up. His quality control is stunningly bad. How about one great album instead of 10 mediocre ones, albeit each with two or three good tracks? Is he being paid by the pound?

the Berkeley show on July 23 was awesome...

according to the star tribune in minneapolis when he played here about 2 weeks ago, his show consisted of 70 minutes of songs, and one rambling meltdown. glad i didnt waste my money to see that.

I have lost a lot of respect for Ryan, as he just cancelled his upcoming sold-out show at the Cain's Ballroom on October 21st... This is the 2nd time he has cancelled a show at the Cain's Ballroom...

And no make-up date.

Ridiculous!

nice! i've seen Ryan play 5 times and all the shows were amazing. yes, some of them had 'meltdowns' but I never cared..he still sang all the songs perfect. Its almost like the people that get mad and boo are just waiting for that to happen anyways...similar to Cat Power shows. Usually his 'meltdowns' are blown up by the press anyways. I'm a fan.

cool, i'd like to hear the new stuff...

but i bought easy tiger already, and i have to consider the fact that the first time i went to see him this year (5/16/07) in Kingston, NY - the whole thing was about 75 minutes... and the fact that i went to Moe.Down to see him, and he cancelled 2 weeks before it.

then i saw him in Northampton, Mass on 9/16/07 - and it was fantastic.

what i'd like now is a DVD of the cardinals stuff, not another record. Everything of his you could ever want to hear is on ARCHIVE!!!! Except the song "psalms/treat me right" - that i got on a ebay boot.

so i doubt i'll buy the new EP

Why all the hate? Go find a band you like, and post good things about them. Lets focus on what's GOOD in the world. I am so hooked on Ryan, have been for the last 2 years. Its like every song is written about a part of *my* life. Sure, there's a couple songs I skip over when I play an album, but it has more to do with the mood I'm in than the quality of the song. And his mental craziness, well I think it only adds to the creativity and genius he puts into his songwriting. It makes him more relateable - like he's been to the dark corners of the mind and back again.

-"Yeah he has a great record output but his shows are suffering."

-"honestly the fact that he puts out like 20 records a year doesn't impress me. He should put more effort into writing a good record as opposed to releasing everything he writes. I think he takes the cake for biggest flake in the scene right now."

??????

1. I attended both of the Louisville concerts Ryan performed early in the summer (May 19th, July 11th), the first of which was part of a listener appreciation concert with various other performances (thus, short time slots). Despite the facts that he: did not communicate whatsoever with the audience; shrouded himself in darkness, hoodie, showercap, and sunglasses; and played less than the time allotted; the performance was absolutely amazing. Why is it that there is such criticism over the length of time he plays? I saw Wilco last week and they played for less than half the amount of time Ryan and the Cards played in their full set...no problem? I think that there needs to be a considerate re-evaluation of the way these concert reviews are being conveyed...perhaps you should express your disappointment with the fact that you didn't get to hear more amazing performance as opposed to suggesting that the whole concert was shit because he didn't play you an encore. No artist owes you an encore, and it shouldn't be expected of every show. What the fuck is the significance to an encore if an artist comes back out after every single show? That's part of what makes an encore exciting. Get the fuck over yourselves...I don't see you touring endlessly or putting out records each year.

2. He should put more time into writing a good record that trying to release everything he writes? somebody is misinformed...according to Lost Highway, the label possesses over 170 tracks of Ryan Adams which have yet to be released; part of which are supposedly being released early next year. Beyond that, there are countless songs outside of the Lost Highway catalogue available for download through various sources. Point being, Ryan Adams doesn't release HALF of the things he writes.

You make good points Thomas.

The Cardinals shows are free to download on many sites within days of the shows and they are soundboard recordings. Thank you Ryan & Cardinals for that FREE incredible music.

Here's what PHIL LESH has to say about Ryan Adams:

I love playing with Ryan because he’s fearless; because he doesn’t have to do anything the same way twice; because every idea he throws out in a jam is a little gem that cries out “polish me”; because he has about nine hundred voices that he can use like a Bene Gesserit; because of his huge heart and enormous talent. I like it that we deconstruct the songs so that verses are transposed, or the bridge comes in early, or the jam leads back to a verse instead of a chorus. I like it that we have to be on our tippy-tippy toes to make the acute left turns and abrupt changes that Ryan likes to spring on us. I like to spring those kind of changes too- what do you think I’m doing when I talk into my mike and you can’t hear me? I love playing with Ryan because he takes me back to when the Grateful Dead were young, fearless, crazy and didn’t give a shit about what other people thought we should do. If what you desire is the perfect rendition, there are many excellent bands that perform Grateful Dead songs- but I have never been about perfection and never will be. I do promise that I will always do my best to follow my weird. I hope you will join me, but I do understand if your path takes you elsewhere. I will also say with no hesitation that Jerry would have loved Ryan and his fearless interpretations of his songs. It’s funny, but I feel Jerry close to me whenever I am around Ryan. — Phil Lesh (January 2006)

You make good points Thomas.

The Cardinals shows are free to download on many sites within days of the shows and they are soundboard recordings. Thank you Ryan & Cardinals for that FREE incredible music.

Here's what PHIL LESH has to say about Ryan Adams:

I love playing with Ryan because he’s fearless; because he doesn’t have to do anything the same way twice; because every idea he throws out in a jam is a little gem that cries out “polish me”; because he has about nine hundred voices that he can use like a Bene Gesserit; because of his huge heart and enormous talent. I like it that we deconstruct the songs so that verses are transposed, or the bridge comes in early, or the jam leads back to a verse instead of a chorus. I like it that we have to be on our tippy-tippy toes to make the acute left turns and abrupt changes that Ryan likes to spring on us. I like to spring those kind of changes too- what do you think I’m doing when I talk into my mike and you can’t hear me? I love playing with Ryan because he takes me back to when the Grateful Dead were young, fearless, crazy and didn’t give a shit about what other people thought we should do. If what you desire is the perfect rendition, there are many excellent bands that perform Grateful Dead songs- but I have never been about perfection and never will be. I do promise that I will always do my best to follow my weird. I hope you will join me, but I do understand if your path takes you elsewhere. I will also say with no hesitation that Jerry would have loved Ryan and his fearless interpretations of his songs. It’s funny, but I feel Jerry close to me whenever I am around Ryan. — Phil Lesh (January 2006)

He definatley cut his Kalamazoo show short too.. only playing for like 58 minutes, or something silly like that. Anyways, shit got nuts after the show at the bar next door to the venue, some angry fans were screaming and yelling at him and his band when they walked in the door at the bar.

Not really a fan, but not really "not a fan", I am just relayin what I heard.

I just saw these guys at the Alabama Theater in Birmingham, Al. The first set was pretty good, not the life changing experience some of his fans would have you believe his live shows are. Though it was a good show, some old, lots of new material which is good. But no encore, and alot of arguing with people in the crowd. This guys is way too sensitive. We were having a great time and he kept trying to make it uncomfortable. Finally he ran off the stage. That was it, house lights came on and no encore. I paid $100 for two tickets to see this guy and he could care less. His music is good. But he is not as amazing as he must think he is to be treating his "fans" like that. I know he probably won't read this, and wouldn't care if he did, but a word of advice, grow up and show some respect to the people that work so hard to pay for your albums and tickets. My two cents, thanks for listening. PEACE!