February 22, 2001

Ryan Adams: Hollywood Troubadour

Alanis Morissette joins ex-Whiskeytown troubadour Ryan Adams onstage...

"Play a sad song," came the cry from the middle of the crowd at the Troubadour in Hollywood. The laughter that rippled through the club and reached the performer on stage, came simply because asking Ryan Adams to sing a sad song is the same as asking a tree to put its roots in the ground or rain to fall down. On this night even the raucous 'To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)' gets a slowed-down and sombre read.

The last night of a solo acoustic tour in support of his debut solo album 'Heartbreaker' and the first night of what Adams calls the "Now Ryan can get some fucking sleep tour", the performance he gives a capacity crowd leans heavily on unheard new material from his second solo album he's about to record.

Seated in a black chair, with his guitar alongside a table with several chilled cocktails and the Marlboro Light cigarettes he chain smokes throughout the night, Adams riffs on metal bands such as Metallica and Dio ("the only metal band that uses a Farfisa organ") and jam-masters Lynyrd Skynyrd
between songs and frequently promises that Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett will be joining him later. Looking rumpled, Adams frequently digs through his notebook full of lyrics and beats a steady path between his guitar and the piano, depending on what the song requires.

Prolific to a fault, Adams declines to play any of his former band Whiskeytown's songs, quietly saying "No" or shaking his head at calls for staples such as '16 Days' and 'Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight'. Included in what he does play of the known and named material is the wavering 'Oh My Sweet Carolina', the defiant 'Come Pick Me Up' and the wistful 'My Winding Wheel'.

Opening up the encores, Adams brings out his friend Richard to play piano for one tune and pal Jesse Malin (formerly of D Generation) to sing for another. But it's the final guest he brings on stage that fans will buzz about at work the next day. Striding across the stage with a small grin at the current of shock coursing through the crowd, Alanis Morissette sidles over to the piano bench and sits alongside Adams and puts two hands on the piano for the capper. The unlikely combo team up on a beautiful song, trading verses and singing harmony. Not that anyone would know what it was.

Colin Devenish

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