Ryan Adams is a rock God.

I know I've used this post title before in reference to another rocker, Mr. Jeff Tweedy. However, I have decided that Mr. Adams can join this pantheon of alternative-country, experimental rock Gods therefore creating a polytheistic faith that I invite all of my dear readers to join. Alas, I was unable to post the day after this awesome show, so some of the memories of exact tunes and words of wisdom from Ryan have faded, but let me offer this synopsis of the best twenty bucks I ever spent*. The Ryan Adams rocking style is that his band of ugly over-the-hillers and a hot bass chick takes center stage. Ryan stands far to the side in a sort of stage no man's land. The reason for this becomes clear quickly. He proceeds to thrash his sloppy self anywhere in a ten foot radius from his starting position. During the first 90 minutes of the show there was approximately 89 minutes of music and perhaps 1 minute of the band changing instruments or discussing the next tune. Some idiot in the crowd yelled for the shy singer/songwriter to speak, but I immediately realized that Ryan was intent on giving the crowd what it paid to hear: him rock out with some amazing musicians at his side. Finally, nearly 2 hours into the program when I imagined the band would disappear before an encore performance, Ryan's gentle voice spoke from under a mop of coal black hair, "Thanks for listening to our first set, we'll be back in 10 minutes." Indeed, this was merely the first half of the rockfest that the two thousand hippies, yuppies, emo kids, and frat boys had paid to enjoy. The second set was far more sonic than the first with the band playing three new tunes they had written on what Ryan joked was a new subject for him: failed relationships. "Super Well Adjusted Ex-Girlfriend #6" was a humorous standout track from the stock of new tunes. Luckily for me in my weakened position the show ended around 1 a.m. but had been well worth the pain and trouble of making it our to the NorVa. For all of those concerned, you may have figured out by now that the recovery from my recent operation is going well and hopefully this will be my last time under the knife for years to come.




*The best twenty bucks I ever spent undoubtedly actually occurred when I spent twenty dollars on booze, but this concert is a tight second to those innumerable ties at number one.