After all my hyperactive longing, I got to see Ryan Adams for the third time in a year. And this time, I was accompanied by Haley, who was sporting her pink CBGBs shirt for the occasion.
A longtime, fairly obsessed fan of Ryan Adams, I am always both excited scared to see him in concert, or meet him in person. I have heard amazing live performances over the years, thanks to the bootlegs available over the internet, but each time I have seen him personally, I have always been frustrated by the inconsistency of his performances (and the inconsistency of whether he will even appear, for that matter). His performances are often brilliant and tragic at the same time. The other night, we had brilliance. He never sang more beautifully, the band never sounded better. But unlike the Adams-esque brilliance Kerouac spoke of in terms of roman candles ("the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!"), we got the brilliance of a flashlight: consistent but from a can.
I'm sure he'll find his way. And now, he'll probably be alive to show us.
Here and here are what some of the more professional reviewers thought....
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