…No, this was not the outcry of a female fashion victim in the Goethestrasse in Frankfurt, trying to fit into a brand new ‘Marc Jacobs’. Surprisingly, I heard this comment at the Ryan Adams concert a few days ago.
I’ve never seen or heard him before; The only thing I knew, was that he is a so-called ‘one of the most talented and affected singer/songwriter’. But to be honest, at first sight, he didn’t seemed to be involved at all. Instead, he looked like someone who had just got up 5 minutes ago, helped himself to a cup of coffee and a doughnut. (Yeah, 9.45 p.m. is the right time to have breakfast!) He started bantering with his band ‘The Cardinals’, ignored his audience or simply had forgotten that we were there, and mumbled something about how much he hated his shirt and that he felt fat in his jeans. These remarks only completed several other laments about his health, the disturbing woman first row, the bright light on stage…and just backed up my theory of a sensitive folk singer caught in insecurity, self-pity and depression. Even though I know suicide is never a solution, I could easily imagine him ending his life in a (new) spectacular way – posthumous stardom guaranteed!
At a second glance, while other parts of his stage presence shimmered through, I almost instantly thought of Ron Sexsmith’s ‘These Days’. ‘Promises are made to be broken, haven’t you heard? She said she’d never break your heart, now haven’t you learned?’ So, hopefully he was just melancholic that night. But I’m getting sidetracked…
Back at the unemotionally community-centre-like venue ‘Das Haus’ in Ludwigshafen, I tried to remember what I’d read about him before and could hardly believe that this 32-year-old man sitting on a bar stool trying to hide behind his dark hair was not only famous among musicians and beloved by music critics both world-reknowned and worshipped by a huge, but still manageable, fan community. A musician’s musician.
In my opinion, it all finally clicked as soon as he started singing. Suddenly, I was caught in the magic of his songs. It didn’t matter that I knew none of his songs or that his voice wasn’t that remarkable. I just stood there in the crowd, listening to a fabulous storyteller, fascinated by his catchy melodies and touched by divine lyrics. Two hours later, I had the feeling that I had caught a glimpse of a disenchanted, heartbroken, but incorrigible, romantic. Love affairs, unfortunately, mostly unhappy, seem to have been a vital part of his creativity. What a pity! I think, I’ll ask my ‘wishing well’ to help him find another source of inspiration 
In the meantime, I have found out that the gig starting with ‘Magnolia Mountain’ and ending with ‘What Sin Replaces Love?’ (thanks to www.ryanadamsarchive.com) represents quite well his work so far. I’m still exploring the output of his workaholic-like creativity (covering at least 10 LPs), discovering countless (fan)websites while listening to the ‘Gold’ LP and watching his ‘Live in Jamaica’ DVD.
I’m still surprised that with such a poor start to his performance he blew me away in the end. To me it’s very rare to be totally overwhelmed by a “new” musician (I guess it only happened once with ‘The Divine Comedy’) but Ryan Adams did a great job. Even if he’s quite often compared to Bob Dylan, due to his undoubtedly outstanding talent, remaining image as an underdog with a strange attitude, he reminds me more of a young Ron Sexsmith.
Well, even if he doesn’t fit into his jeans like one of Marc Jacobs’s fashion victims – Ryan Adams convinces with his authentic, touching and sometimes heartrending music.
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