pop culture, reviewed

On Friday, I took the train to New York to go to a late-night show at the Bowery Ballroom.  What would inspire me to make a last-minute trip to New York to go to a concert?  You guessed it — though the late show was billed as a band called “Cold Roses, Inc.,” everyone knew it was Ryan Adams and the Cardinals.  I bought my ticket about two minutes after I figured out the show was happening.  (Tickets were $20 but were soon being listed on Craig’s List for four times that.) 

I had to go for several reasons:  (1) I hadn’t seen Ryan play in over a year, (2) it was on a Friday and was within reasonable traveling distance, (3) Molly and Caroline were in New York Friday night anyway, and (4) I knew the show was going to be something special.  Who but the most rabid Ryan fans were even going to know about the show, or be willing to go to a show where doors didn’t even open until 12:30 a.m.?  And why would Ryan even play his second set of the evening (first was at the Arthur Lee benefit concert at the Beacon) if he wasn’t planning on rocking out? 

I was not disappointed.  The concert was worth every dollar it cost, it was worth the train trip to New York, it was worth standing in the rain waiting to get into the Bowery Ballroom for 45 minutes, it was worth another 45 minutes waiting in the Bowery Ballroom bar before getting into the mainstage, it was worth staying out until 4 a.m. … it was all worth it.

Highlights: 

• The like-minded crowd, all of whom seemed pumped to be there.  Those of us waiting to get in started murmuring as members of the band walked in and out of the door in front of us; these were people who were just as excited as I was to see that the Cardinals’ former guitarist, J.P. Bowersock, was in attendance, as was Ryan’s BFF Jesse Malin.  I wasn’t the only one who noticed Ryan’s rumored paramour, Jessica Joffe, as she darted in and out several times (she is adorable).  Then, when we finally got into the main room, the guy waiting in front of me turned around and said, “Who else would we do this for?  Who else would we wait in the rain for, in the middle of the night, and be happy about it?”  The answer for me is clear:  No one.  People were tossing around unreleased song titles like “Born Yesterday” and “Dear Anne,” which was very exciting for me considering that lots of people that I talk to don’t even know who Ryan Adams is. (“What kind of music do you like?”  “Well, I love Ryan Adams…”  “Bryan Adams? ‘Cuts Like a Knife’?”  “Um, no.”) To be surrounded by people who love him as much as I do was pretty exciting.  
• Opening with “Love is Hell,” which I had been hoping to hear.  It wasn’t a surprise that they played it but it was a surprise to hear it first.  An even bigger surprise was hearing “This is It” next.  Everyone was looking around at each other like, “Are you kidding me?  He’s playing Rock’n’Roll?”  And that wasn’t all — he played “Note to Self: Don’t Die” and “Wish You Were Here,” too!  People!  (Incidentally, during “Wish You Were Here,” he changed the line “…And if I had my way, we’d take some drugs…” to “…we’d eat some Cheezits,” lending some credence to the theory that he’s cleaned up his act a little.  Other evidence:  he drank Diet Coke throughout the show instead of red wine, and only smoked one cigarette, during the encore.)  (Also, I’m convinced the R’n’R stuff was for Caroline, who likes the loud stuff as opposed to the “hillbilly” music.)
• “Cherry Lane.”  The crowd went wild, as most of us hadn’t heard it live before.  Don’t worry — it was just as good live as you would expect it to be.  I also heard “Hard Way to Fall” for the first time and it was heartbreaking.  I can’t ever decide whether I prefer Cold Roses or Jacksonville City Nights, but I think that “Hard Way to Fall” is so brilliant that right now I’m leaning toward favoring JCN.  (In addition to “Cherry Lane,” from Cold Roses he played “Let it Ride,” “Magnolia Mountain,” “Cold Roses,” and “Easy Plateau”…. and I might be forgetting something else.  All were excellent.  If the R’n’R songs were for Caroline, the Cold Roses selections were for Molly.)
• “Call Me On Your Way Back Home.”  The only song Ryan played solo, to a totally silent crowd.   Can I just tell you how much it kills me to hear him sing, “Honey, I was just a kid, bubblegum on my shoe, but you loved me, and I loved you”?  It does.  It totally kills me.  I can’t stop listening to this song now — I’ve always liked it fine, but it has never been one of my favorites.  Now, though, I can’t get enough.  That leads me to consider, again, people who criticize Ryan for being too prolific and not editing himself enough —  who’s to say that you have to fall in love with everything at first listen?  On each of his albums there are songs that I loved immediately and some that I don’t connect with until months (or even years) after hearing them for the first time (“I See Monsters,” “Please Do Not Let Me Go,” “Friends,” etc.).  I’m all for quality over quantity, but it’s a real gift to have both, and to continually be able to find treasures in his catalog even when you’ve heard each album a thousand times.
• Everything else — the usual crowdpleasers  (“To Be Young” and “Shakedown”), the much-loved but often omitted “Dear Chicago” (again played to a nearly silent crowd), and of course the classic “Come Pick Me Up.”   (I love “Come Pick Me Up,” but I have heard it so many times and there are so many deep cuts that I love just as much that sometimes I forget just how good it really is.  It’s genius.)
• Having friends good enough that they waited in line with me (in the rain!) and then stayed awake practically all night long (until 4 a.m.!), just to go with me to a show of some temperamental musician that I love.   They didn’t even make fun or complain once.  Thanks, y’all. 

The inevitable letdown after seeing a Ryan concert was eased somewhat with the knowledge that in the next month, I’ll get to see him three more times — in Baltimore, Norfolk, and Atlanta.  (And until my next report, you can check out the official setlist and some pictures of the man himself in his Batman t-shirt over at Stereogum.) 

Please, I want to know — tell me who is making music right now that’s better than Ryan, because I want to check them out.  I still listen to plenty of other stuff, but everything pales.  I promise you, I’m trying to find other things but nothing even comes close.  No one is doing what Ryan does.   (My husband in particular would thank you kindly if someone could turn my head to something else.)