Ryan Adams – Auckland Town Hall (Concert Review)

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One thing about a Ryan Adams show…you never know quite what you’re in for. Before tonight, I’d seen him three times and he had been very good, very bad and somewhere in-between.

The evening began with Tiny Ruins. This time around it was just Hollie Fullbrook performing solo and she has been consistently good recently, so there were no surprises there.

The Town Hall was still filling up as Hollie played. The main floor area was general admission…all standing, no seats, which I was mildly disappointed about…that hard floor can take its toll on the feet and back after standing still for a three hours.

Ryan Adams and his band, The Shining, took the stage precisely at 9:00pm. Adams muttered a “good to see you” into his mic and they launched into a spirited version of Gimme Something Good, the lead-off track from Adams’ latest, self-titled studio album.

For the record, the band consisted of guitarist Mike Viola, Charlie Stavish on bass, drummer Freddie Bokkenheuser and Daniel Clarke on keyboards.  And they were tight.

One thing was clear from the start; Adams enjoys playing with this group on musicians. Often times they would break off into extended jams, sounding at times like The Grateful Dead (on Magnolia Mountain), Neil Young & Crazy Horse (on Peaceful Valley) or Led Zeppelin (on I See Monsters).

During these jams, Adams would raise his electric guitar over his head, striking classic rock God poses. He was clearly enjoying himself and that feeling eventually gravitated into the crowd.

But I’m guessing that a majority of the audience were there to hear him play quieter, acoustic numbers drawn from his solo debut Heartbreaker.

And Adams didn’t disappoint.

He played five tunes from Heartbreaker and a further three from Goldincluding the beautiful Oh My Sweet Carolina and set-closer Come Pick Me Up.

It’s a fine line that Adams walks…balancing his own need to satisfy himself and the needs of the audience, and I reckon he got it right.

That tension came into sharp relief in the latter part of the show when audience members could be heard shouting out song titles. This is where things can go wrong at a Ryan Adams show.

Earlier he had responded to one unwanted comment, which I couldn’t hear, by saying, “I’m sorry, I’m bust playing music right now”.

After the flurry of requests he noted, “Those are all beautiful songs”, then added, “but tonight we are going to exercise our free will”, and play what they want to.

The potentially testy interaction seemed to loosen up Adams, who, up until that point, had been fairly mute most of the night.

He then joked about playing Stairway To Heaven for the encore and gave a lengthy, entertaining introduction to his band mates.

As it turned out, the encore was a cover…a beautifully-realized solo version of Oasis’ Wonderwall.  At the end both Ryan Adams and the audience came away happy and content.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn

Ryan Adams set list:

  1. Gimme Something Good
  2. Let It Ride
  3. Stay With Me
  4. Dirty Rain
  5. This House Is Not For Sale
  6. Dear Chicago
  7. My Winding Wheel
  8. Magnolia Mountain
  9. To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
  10. Peaceful Valley
  11. Kim
  12. Oh My Sweet Carolina
  13. When The Stars Go Blue
  14. Shakedown On 9th Street
  15. Nobody Girl
  16. New York, New York
  17. Trouble
  18. La Cienega Just Smiled
  19. I See Monsters
  20. Come Pick Me Up
  21. Wonderwall