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- Ollabelle opened with Ryan (introduced as Lazy Brown) playing lead
guitar.
- Ryan Adams (Vocals / Guitar / Piano / Harmonica); J.P. Bowersock
(Guitar / Mandolin / Background Vocals); Cindy Cashdollar (Lap Steel /
Resonator Guitar / Background Vocals); Brad Pemberton (Drums);
Catherine Popper (Bass / Background Vocals).
- Attendee Review: "This was one of those shows that
hardcore fans drool over and the casual fan or music critic cringes as
Ryan was in his full goofy-but- loveable,
don't-hate-me-because-I'm-stoned, look-at-me-because-I-say-such-
cute-things mode. I can take a certain amount of this, but this show
was long on the yadda yadda. It was like playing a six-hour round of
golf. It was fun while playing the hole, but the wait on each tee was
painful. It was like Ryan was playing in your living room and goofing
off most the time. Some people prefer that kind of concert, others do
not. I'm in the middle on this. His band, the Cardinals, is
great-sounding and Ryan mentioned that he planned to record an album
with them soon and have it out in February or March, along with an
acoustic album. The first highlight of the show was a gorgeous
full-band version of My Winding Wheel with slide guitar accents. After
finishing La Cienega, he felt his performance wasn't up to par because
his monitor was making noise. He grabbed his acoustic guitar and sang
a beautiful vocal, but ruined the song when he tried to add some piano
during the break by playing it with his foot while standing on the
piano bench. This is the stuff that the hardcores love, but people
there to hear the music start looking at each other and
frowning. Ryan's wrist must be fine because he ripped through
some great guitar solos on Stars Go Blue and Harder Now That It's
Over. He sang two new songs, Nightbirds and I Will Learn To Love, the
latter a beautiful and insightful look at love. Before the
encore, he got serious and humble and thanked everyone for coming out
to see him and that he was going to "write what I'm thinking and
play it straight. I really want to do this." His broken wrist
seems to have given him time to reflect on his life and made him
realize how much he likes what he's doing and that it's not something
to take for granted. As he sang the final song, Come Pick me Up,
a girl appeared beside him as he was ready to sing the chorus. Then
someone else jumped on stage. The roadies came out quickly to take
them away, but Ryan said to let them stay. That opened the door for
about 30-40 people to jump on stage to help out on the song. Ryan
managed to finish in the midst of the crowd. He even got the harmonica
solo in there.
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