Slayer, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Mudhoney were all name checked during Ryan Adams’ Sunday night solo set at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore. A prolific musician, Adams’ versatility still never veers into head-thrashing territory, but it’s clear that as a fan of these cult-favorite bands, he has learned how to captivate a fan base with showmanship.
Bathed in static orange light for the duration of the two-hour set, Adams kept up banter with audience members seated as far as the rafters. Adams can fill larger venues than the Lyric, but it appeared almost too cavernous for his intimate purposes. The stage was set for a band — piano, two guitar-and-mic set-ups — but only Adams utilized those spaces.
It’s hard to imagine that Adams could perform a version of “Oh My Sweet Carolina” that could rival his iconic duet with Emmylou Harris from his 2000 solo debut, Heartbreaker, but in a set all about celebrating solitude and simplicity, he did just that. Adams followed this crowd-pleasing opener with the title track from his long-awaited Ashes & Fire. (After releasing at least an album a year alone or with his band The Cardinals for the last decade, Adams announced in 2009 that he was taking an indefinite break from music.) The new material threaded throughout fit seamlessly with material going back ten years, a testament to Adams’ ability to write solid new-Americana without being formulaic.
The most pleasant surprise of the evening was not Adams’ selection of arguably the best song from his new album (“Dirty Rain”) or his foray into Cardinals material, but a three-song arc near the end of the set consisting entirely of Whiskeytown songs (“Houses on the Hill,” “Avenues,” and “Jacksonville Skyline”). His Americana-revival group disbanded in 2000, but the albums they released in the 90’s have aged well, and it was exciting to hear them live in a setting this beautiful. The set was crafted to please longtime fans, with the inclusion of “My Winding Wheel,” a stunning version of “Dear Chicago,” and a beautifully re-worked version of “New York, New York.” With a music video that filmed Adams in front of a Manhattan skyline just days before 9-11, that fast-paced, jangly guitar-driven single was how many fans were first introduced to his music. How fitting then, that Adams huddled over his piano to belt out a long and wistful version of the same song. If it weren’t for the lyrics (“Love don’t play any games with me / Anymore like she did before”), this version would have been unrecognizable.
Though an encore came later, this marked a shift in mood. Adams went back to teasing audience members and entertaining requests, leafing through a songbook to play Bob Mould’s “Black Sheets of Rain” an improvisational cover of “Footloose,” Whiskeytown’s “16 Days” and his own “La Cienega Just Smiled” and “Come Pick Me Up.” After ten years of relentless recording and touring, it’s understandable why Adams wanted to take a break, but here’s hoping he never leaves us for so long again.
