Anticipation was high for Saturday night’s Ryan Adams & the Cardinals show at the Chicago Theatre. After the news that Adams had a bit of a hissy fit earlier in the week in Minneapolis, people were wondering if more was to come. In that city, Adams kept complaining about sound problems, eventually leaving after a terse, 70-minute set with no encore (despite fans’ rallying for one). Cardinals guitarist Neil Casal gave one of the best quotes of the year when asked by a reporter about what had happened: “I don’t know what the story was. I just play guitar.”
So would Adams have a similar meltdown in Chi-town? Would Casal, the other Cardinals and the crew have to pick up Adams’ slack due to his petulant, childish behavior yet again? The answer ends up being: Yes and No.
Going on around 8:30 PM with no opening act, everything appeared to be in place for a majestic, magical gig. The light design was deceptively simple and the stage decoration, consisting of little more than a cloth backdrop with twinkling stars, was superb. The band sounded crystal clear and fluid, while Adams was clear of voice and singing with great passion. Song after song went by without a hitch: “Magnolia Mountain”, “Dear Chicago”, “Beautiful Sorta”, “Goodnight Rose”, “Rescue Blues”, “The Sun Also Sets” and “When the Stars Go Blue” were all performed with beauty and mastery.
But somewhere around “Two” off of Adams’ newest album Easy Tiger, cracks began to show. Adams was waving his thumb in the air either up or down depending on how high or low he wanted his monitor to be and this continued throughout most of the show, with Adams eventually coming close to losing it as he performed at the piano. After several cues to change the levels, he began pounding on the top of the piano with his open hand, and in doing so, pulled audience members out of what was a pretty great concert experience up to that point.
Adams also cracked wise at times, though most of his jokes came off like only he understood the punch lines. At one point he half-asked his bandmates to back him up on something he had said and they stood there shrugging their shoulders, unsure of what he was getting at. Other times Adams seemed to be mocking fans when they yelled out things. “I can tell you’re excited, sir,” he said when one overzealous fan yelled out. At another point, as he tuned his guitar, a spotlight was on him and chastised the light coordinator for doing so.
All of this is easily forgivable as the music was so good and Adams is an incredibly talented individual. But should an artist be allowed so much slack without taking any constructive criticism? After all, this is not the first instance where the 34-year old has acted the part of a baby onstage (or off for that matter). He has done this time and time again and, as a fan, it would really be nice to see the guy grow up already.
Everything about the Chicago show was fantastic: the sound, the Cardinals, Ryan’s voice, the mood of the lighting and stage design, the fact that this was the first concert I can remember where everyone in attendance sat through the entirety. Every single thing save for Adams’ immature behavior was perfect. Ryan should be forced to call on someone else to stand in for him for one show and sit in attendance and hopefully realize that everyone is working at the top of their game in his crew and that the audience is enjoying it immensely. Or get on some sort of psychotropic medications. Because, save for his outbursts, that was one of the best shows this writer has seen all year long and, by a long mile, the best Ryan Adams show yet.
