Put on your Ryan Adams-endorsed Heavy Metal Shop t-shirt and head to The Eccles Sunday night for a good old-fashioned rock n’ roll show, featuring the alt-country pioneer turned rocker in the flesh.
I have been a fan of Adams’ music since I first heard Whiskeytown’s Strangers Almanac—one of the best alt-country albums ever made. Adams started Whiskeytown with the angelic-voiced Caitlyn Cary, and though the band didn’t last long, their three albums are still on heavy-rotation at my house.
After Whiskeytown, Adams launched a solo career starting with the phenomenal Heartbreaker, but quickly became prolific and released albums at a manic pace—to the detriment of quality. But, he’s slowed down. He’s got a new band and a new outlook—maybe divorce made him grow up a little, that happens to the best of us.
At his shows, Adams engages the audience in various ways—voting on songs, singalongs of songs made up on the spot and long, sometimes rambling stories.
He’s currently touring in support of his new album Prisoner, since Adams prefers theater venues, this time he’s skipping Red Butte, where he has played the last two consecutive years, in favor of the new Eccles Theater on Sunday night. I’ll be watching to see how a rock show plays in that venue, and how Adams and his band transfers the laid-back feel of an outdoor concert venue to a far more formal seated venue.
Ryan Adams plays The Eccles on Sunday June 18 at 8 p.m., some tickets are still available here.
