Review | Ryan Adams | Portland
By Team JamBase Oct 10, 2014 • 9:40 am PDT
Words by: Donovan Farley
Ryan Adams :: 10.05.14 :: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall :: Portland, OR
When Ryan Adams hit the stage at the gorgeous Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on October 5th, surrounded by two vintage pinball machines (yes, on stage), but lacking the pedal steel accompaniment that has become ubiquitous at his shows, it was clear things are different these days for the (formerly?) oft-troubled songwriter.
By now, everyone knows the stories of Adams’ unpredictable, and often down right obnoxious, shows of the past. Whether it was his very real and difficult vertigo-related health problems or the amount of whiskey/cocaine/heroin flowing (or not flowing) through his system: to say Adams was volatile is a massive understatement. Many of my friends hold his music very near and dear to their hearts, but almost all of them have a Ryan Adams horror story: canceled shows, 30 minute performances, arguing with the soundguy/band members/the audience, all of it seemed to happen every ten shows or so during the first decade of the new century.
That Ryan Adams doesn’t work here anymore. Adams is clearly both happy and healthy, and was so chatty and enjoying himself so much that he at times he seemed more like a absurdly talented pal we were all watching practice than a super-serious songwriter playing a show. Adams joked about weed, Judas Priest, Twitter, Danzig and Eddie and The Cruisers, and honestly talked so much that at times it distracted from what was otherwise an epic performance. For instance, he “ran out of time” and had to hurriedly plow through two of his recently released punk songs, “Rats In The Wall” and “When The Summer Ends,” during what up to that point had been an amazing encore. The reason he had to hurry was the five-minute speech he’d just given about how silly encores are. Hey, maybe don’t take one then?
But man, when Adams and Co. did play, they were absolutely note-for-note perfect on nearly every song, and the audience responded in kind. The electricity in the room was palpable as Adams opened with great versions of “Gimme Something Good” and “Let It Ride.” The goosebump-inducing “Oh My Sweet Carolina” sounded just as heartbreakingly gorgeous as it’s always been, and the staggering, Dead-indebted “Cold Roses” was handled with as much thrilling passion as it ever was with The Cardinals. “New York, New York,” “Kiss Before I Go” and “Fix It” were also as sharp as I’ve ever heard them.
For someone such as myself who has always liked his Ryan Adams either wallowing in existential heartbreak or channeling a Gram Parsons-fronted Grateful Dead, his two solo albums have been a bit underwhelming. It’s not that I’m not down with ’80s heartland rock revivalism, The War On Drugs masterful Lost In The Dream is probably the record of the year for me, it’s just that Adams’ straight up “rock” sound has always seemed to me to come through a very polished filter. I miss The Cardinals. I miss the pedal steel. I miss Neal Casal and Ryan trading licks. But such is life.
Change is inevitable, and I’m not saying that Ryan Adams doesn’t have its moments; songs like “Gimme Something Good” and “Shadows” are cool and were great live, and “Wrecking Ball” sounds like it could have been an outtake from the Heartbreaker sessions. It’s just that when Adams played the opening notes of songs like “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” “Dear Chicago” or “Peaceful Valley,” a chill went up my spine, and from the gasps (literally, people were grasping) in the audience when these songs began, it’s obvious I wasn’t alone.
But it’s selfish and unrealistic for an audience to be disappointed with change from artists they love, especially one like Adams, who has a collection of B-sides entitled The Suicide Handbook and song titles like “Note To Self: Don’t Die,” and who seemingly did his best to forget that note much of his adult life. Because of how beloved records like Heartbreaker, Cold Roses, Easy Tiger and Gold are (I also would highly recommend the aforementioned The Suicide Handbook), it can be hard for some to accept this new, cleaner direction. But with the death of bassist Chris “Spacewolf” Feinstein in 2009, The Cardinals are probably done forever, and one can only hope that Adams stays on his current health regiment of good weed, vintage pinball and Mandy Moore, as it suits him quite well (and wouldn’t it suit everyone quite well?).
So let’s all sit back and enjoy this marvelous tour, hope for at least a few more and be happy we still have Adams here, because I can testify that the guy’s still got “it” in spades. Note to self: buy more Ryan Adams tickets.
