RYAN ADAMS // USHER HALL, EDINBURGH
Adams stripped back and laid bare - an acoustic evening with Ryan Adams
★★★★☆ (4/5)
Ryan Adams has had his issues. This tour continues the rehabilitation of his reputation with a stripped back set that comprised of Adams, a variety of acoustic guitars, a piano and an occasional harmonica. Ryan came onto a dimly lit, minimal stage set which had a hat stand, dining room chairs with occasional lamps and announced that he would be playing for over three hours, splitting the set into two with an intermission. As it turns out there was a strict curfew at the venue so he releluctantly conceded to playing for slightly under the three hours.
For those three hours Adams played acoustic re-arrangements from his back catalogue along with a smattering of cover versions. He started the show with “Sweet Carolina” from his 2000 debut solo album Heartbreaker, followed by “Ashes and Fire” which he dedicated to his miserable marriage.
Highlights from the first half of the set were "New York, New York" which Adams played on the piano and "La Ceinega Just Smiled" to which Adams painted the picture of where and why it was written without mentioning by name which ex-girlfriend had abandoned him that Christmas in LA.
It was the telling of these stories and explanations of the songs which were the most telling parts of the evening. These gave a glimpse into Adam's character and where he is now. He was open when he was talking about the issues with drugs he has had and got a round of applause when he told the crowd that he is three years sober this week. A lot of the songs seemed to be around his worry about dying alone and he gave a nod to the fact that he didn't see any romantic interest coming his way which could be in part due to the recent allegations made against him and his behaviour towards female artists. Some of this could be seen as Adams feeling sorry for himself however, he interspersed this with some genuinely funny stories about Kiss frontman Paul Stanley's lasagne and a tongue-in-cheek rant against John Steinbeck.
Adams has released a plethora of albums over recent years (five in 2024!) however these strangely didn’t really get covered during the night.
Adams it seems is attempting to show he has changed however there were glimpses into a different side. In the second half of the set he stopped half way through a song to take umbridge with a member of the audience using flash photography on their phone (Adams suffers from Meniere's disease and flashing lights can make this worse). He was justified in his complaint, however it was a moment which was uncomfortable to watch and which he seemed to lose part of the audience. After this Adams seemed more anxious and the hard deadline of a 11pm curfew seemed to be upsetting him. He mentioned on more than a few occasions that he would usually play for a lot longer.
There was still time for requests from the audience - a call for "Alice in Chains" was misheard as the "Theme from Cheers" which he duly attempted. Over the evening he did covers of "There is a light" from the Smiths, "Heroin" from the velvet underground, “Love sick” from Bob Dylan, “Tracks of my Tears” from Smokey Robinson and "The Changeling" from the doors.
It was the songs from the older catalogue which mostly resonated with the audience, and it was appropriate that the final song was back to the Heartbreaker album with "Come Pick Me Up". Adams would have played on if he had the chance however length isn't everything and at over 2hrs 40 mins there are only so many "joyless anthems" (his description) an audience can take. The lights came on and Adams asked for them to go down again as there was still a minute left, he filled it with an impromptu track he called "One Minute Song" to draw an end to the evening.
Adams showed emotion and vulnerability in his set, some of it felt self-indulgent however there is no denying he has a great voice and a presence that is captivating. Adams said he felt he belonged in Scotland as this is where his ancestors were from, and based on this open and intimate performance Scotland is likely to welcome him back.