Ryan Adam at the Academy of Music (Philly). Review.

[Swish]

Eight of us went to the show, but we sat in pairs in different parts of the building since they didn't allow you to buy more than 2 tickets when they went on sale. The Academy of Music is old and really beautiful, but it's also compact with 6 balcony levels. Even though we bought during the 'pre-sale', we were on the 5th level.

I'm not going to mention the opening act because she was pretty boring, strumming songs on an acoustic with each one sounding too similar to the others. Ryan came out to a seemingly packed house giving him a rousing welcome. He was all alone on stage with his 2 acoustic guitars, a piano and a few harmonicas.

The sound quality was pristine, which was quite welcome because Ryan played very softly, using very different arrangements for some of the songs that were up-tempo on his records. He was also pretty amusing, bantering with the audience about all sorts of things. I can't begin to tell you half of them, but we chuckled quite a lot.

Overall it was a great performance, the audience dead quiet except for an occasional outburst by random drunks, and when he ended each song of course. I wish he had played more than 3 from Heartbreaker, but I realize he's recorded quite a lot more since those days.

Here's the set-list from the show, and he told us he would have played longer if the union rules hadn't been so strict, requiring him to finish by 11 PM. He went a couple minutes past with his one-song encore, his acoustic version of Round and Round by RATT, making everyone laugh once they realized what he was playing since the arrangement certainly wasn't giving it away.

1. Oh My Sweet Carolina
2. Ashes & Fire
3. If I am a Stranger (Cardinals song)
4. Dirty Rain
5. My Winding Wheel
6. Sylvia Plath
7. Invisible Riverside
8. Everybody Knows
9. Firecracker
10. Let it Ride (Cardinals song)
11. Dear Chicago
12. Chains of Love
13. Please Do Not Let Me Go
14. Lucky Now
15. Two
16. Crossed Out Name (Cardinals)
17. New York, New York
18. English Girls Approximately
19. Natural Ghost (Cardinals)
20. 16 Days (Whiskeytown)
21. Come Pick Me Up
22. Round and Rounds (Encore - RATT cover)

[audiobill]

Sounds like a great show, Swish. The set list looks varied, enough - must be difficult for an artist as prolific as Adams to select exactly what songs to play. I bet if you saw him again in 5 months' time, there would be a completely different group of songs. Did he play solo for the entire show or did a band join in?

Thanks for taking the time to write the review - living through the second person - those of us who were unable to attend - but when that second person is Swishy, it's as if we were there - the venue must have been good too.

[ForeverAutumn]

So. Damn. Jealous.

I'm glad you enjoyed the show Swish. You've had some bad luck missing shows this year and it sounds like this may have made up for that somewhat. Nice review. Thanks for sharing.

[Swish]

Sounds like a great show, Swish. The set list looks varied, enough - must be difficult for an artist as prolific as Adams to select exactly what songs to play. I bet if you saw him again in 5 months' time, there would be a completely different group of songs. Did he play solo for the entire show or did a band join in?

Thanks for taking the time to write the review - living through the second person - those of us who were unable to attend - but when that second person is Swishy, it's as if we were there - the venue must have been good too.

I think he used the piano for 3 or 4 tunes, most notably New York, New York, and the arrangement was far-removed from his original version. The only show I've seen that rivaled this one as far as it's dead-quiet, edge-of-your-seat anticipation was Gillian Welsh in Solana Beach, CA.

[Swish]

So. Damn. Jealous.

I'm glad you enjoyed the show Swish. You've had some bad luck missing shows this year and it sounds like this may have made up for that somewhat. Nice review. Thanks for sharing.

...I've seen Lucinda twice before and The National once before, so it wasn't as though I was going to a 'bucket list' show. I was bummed to miss Yo La Tengo, the opener for The National. That would have been fun.