Mr. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, 9/7/08 Boston, Mass

The third part of my most amazing musical weekend ended on Sunday night with a concert by everybody’s favorite basket-case, David Ryan Adams. And while it’s true that I’m a huge fan, the events that took place under the Bank of America Pavilion’s space-tent the other night were just other-worldly.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals 9/7/2008

[Really easy to download in 3 parts, and it works BITCHIN with DownThemAll]

1. http://drop.io/q7yi5ho

2. http://drop.io/vgo3esz

3. http://drop.io/i0wmcew

Or Click to play along….

setlist

The Back Story

My fiance, Jess, and I left Philly around noon. We had spent a quick weekend visiting my sister and, with her, we saw My Morning Jacket on Friday night, and were surprised into seeing Ben Folds with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night. After sleeping in on Sunday morning, grabbing a few cups of sister’s excellently strong chocolaty coffee, and saying our goodbyes, we were on the road.

Sorry Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts: we left you in the dust.

We rolled into Beantown after picking up a couple of friends, Anna and Jeff, and proceeded to drive around in circles while the GPS not-so-politely informed us that it’s a piece-o-fucking-shit. We found our venue the old fashioned way (thank you very much…), paid 35 bucks for someone to put a little ticket on our dashboard, and hit the venue. As with MMJ on Friday, when we walked into the venue, the band took the stage.

The Show

The BoA Pavilion is a completely laid back venue! I’d see a show there anytime! Good seats everywhere, cafe style table in the back if you just want to chill, nice restrooms, smallish capacity of 5,000 people, huge white circus-style tent, big beers, nice staff, video screens, room to spread out if you just wanna dance.

Ryan and company took the stage and quietly went straight to business, starting the set with “Off Broadway”, but not the track from Easy Tiger, no. And not much like it’s predecessor on the hodgepodge bootleg Suicide Handbook, either. This had flavor. It had aggression. It had purpose. It was epic. And it was going to be a sign of things to come.

The first set had Ryan and Neal Casal in business mode. Bartering Lines, the classic off of heartbreaker, was nothing short of haunting and powerful. Goodnight Rose, Everybody Knows, and Two from Easy Tiger. Three new songs, and a handful of perfect songs from the back catalog. The highlight had to be, for me, Come Pick Me Up, which Ryan had to regress back into the comfort of his therapist’s chair before he could belt it out.

“Some of this stuff is a little emotional and trying for me today…..(it’s ok)…..this one especially….let’s just get through this one…(ok, ok )…Ryan, you’re not crazy, you’re just spoiled, and…(sigh) ok……”

and then he nailed it.

The second set picked up where the first let off. Except the band took off from the stratosphere, puncturing the roof-canopy and joining the skyline of the city lights above. The set trancended time, and left the ground quickly with Let It Ride, Games, Cold Roses, and A Kiss Before I Go, before a powerful 1,2,3 punch of Peaceful Valley, Dear John, and a spine-shivering Shakedown on 9th Street.

We’re in the fourth dimension….

And after the debut performance of Sinking Ships and The Color of Pain, the band returned with a solid Beuatiful Sorta, and, one of the finest show closers I’ve seen in a long time, a loud, chilling version of I See Monsters.

Two and a half hours. It could have gone another 2 1/2. Tight, concise, on point. This was Ryan in control. I can’t wait to see where he’s going to take this show. I’m hoping, no praying, for another trip back to Boston this winter. We’d love to have him….I know I would.

ryan adams 2008-09-07 Come Pick Me Up.mp3

ryan adams 2008-09-07 Shakedown on 9th Street.mp3

ryan adams 2008-09-07 I See Monsters.mp3

Powered by ScribeFire.