Ryan Adams Show Worse Than Food Poisoning

Ryan Adams came through the Moore this weekend, finally, after cancelling a few different times in the past, and we've gotten some reports that the show was definitely not worth waiting for. It sucked, to paraphrase the emails we've gotten.

It was truly abysmal. My girlfriend and I had tickets to the show that he suddenly canceled last fall, and we jumped on ticketmaster the minute we heard about the new date. Last night my girl ended up getting food poisoning and staying home, but she insisted that I go. She was the lucky one. The show started off well (that guy has a voice), but it quickly devolved into him talking to his frequently refilled glasses of wine as he smoked easily 30 cigarettes, stumbled around, dropped his lyrics and setlists all over the stage, blew snot rockets onto that same stage, and basically ruined most of my favorites songs (HIS songs). Some people were strangely tolerant of him, but overall, I think the audience ran out of patience for him well before he left. No one was calling for an encore. I'm gonna have to shake that experience out of my head so I can still enjoy his albums.

and a follow-up:

Also, curious if people really think he was getting cortisone shots backstage at the midway point, or if he might have been medicating in other ways.

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By Dan in Arts & Events on April 24, 2006 4:01 PM

Comments [rss]

Roewe

What's worse is that the promoter and/or the Moore sold tickets in the "Second Balcony," a section I've never heard of in fifteen years of attending shows at that venue. Imagine a 45-degree slope with a few concrete risers and crappy folding chairs. There are no speakers at that level, so we missed Ryan's pithy comments and most of his vocals.

The show was horrible, of that there is no doubt. But what's more more frustrating to me is the number of people who continued to applaud for him as he fumbled through the night. Have some integrity as a fan, for god's sake.

ROXIE

I saw him with a couple others (Kim Ritchie being one of them) at the Tractor a few years back. Same thing. He was so fucked up he ruined the whole performance. I don't care what they do off stage, but when I'm paying to hear them play - please don't be a dumbass.

Emmakat

I was worried about him, especially when he kept screaming for his manager (?) "Robbie!" Glad to hear it when he said he had an analyst. He needs one. I was more impressed with his voice than I have been just listening to his albums, but he needs to pull it together.

karina

Though Ryan may have been completely drunk, I still think his voice prevailed. Amazing musical talents always seem to have issues that are not in any way hidden. It was my first time seeing him and I would definatly see him again.

linuxgirl

I thought the show was great! I don't care what an artist does on stage or backstage for that matter; all i care about is the music and ryan sounded GREAT! His songwriting is so good and his voice is soo sweet that I found myself on the verge of tears just for the beauty of it. I had a kick ass time an I thought ryan was lovely.