Ryan Adams, Auckland New Zealand, 2017

Ryan Adams

20th May 2017
The Civic, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Brad Holland.

There is something about The Civic in the heart of Auckland City that just instantly makes you smile when you step inside its wonderful surrounds. The décor, the acoustics, the starry night sky above your head; the venue is the personification of majestic. Tonight sees The Civic at full capacity for the sold out show of American singer/song writer Ryan Adams.

But first with the notable task of beginning this evening’s proceedings is self-confessed Ryan Adams super-fan; New Zealand’s own Nadia Reid, taking the stage in a stripped back set. Dressed in a sleeveless velveteen gown, an acoustic guitar hanging from her shoulder, Nadia Reid cuts a striking figure illuminated by gentle spotlights. She is accompanied by a rather dapper looking Sam Taylor on electric guitar. Reid has a self-assured presence, deftly moving her fingers across the strings with ease as she makes her way through her set; Taylor harmonizing beautifully with both his guitar work and subtle yet powerful backing vocals. “Thank you for coming to see us – I mean thank you for coming early, you didn’t fucking come to see us” Reid addresses the audience “Yes we did!” a man shouts back, Reid looking mildly amused by his answer.

Reid is unquestionably gifted when it comes to her lyrics; they are composed and mature, providing windows into Reid’s life and emotions. Her voice shows no sign of the illness she was plagued with in early April that caused her to cut short her set at The Tuning Fork. Instead it is strong and full bodied – conveying anger and hurt, joy and a forlorn longing all with the greatest of ease. “Did anyone see me face-plant in Herne Bay yesterday?” Reid asks the audience, referring to a rather painful (“I’m covered in bruises!”) and embarrassing fall onto concrete that she had suffered yesterday. It seemed a rather strange anecdote to mention, however Reid did come across as slightly distracted during her songs, leading one to believe that she may have still been suffering the side effects from the fall.

“I Will Reach My Destination” is a poignant song about her hometown of Port Chalmers in Dunedin, “Ryan Adams played in Dunedin once – people still talk about it” Reid tells us, going someway to explain why she is such a super fan of the man she is currently sharing a stage with. She finishes her set with ‘Richard’ off her latest album Preservation released in March this year and ‘Call The Days’ from her debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs. Reid will be travelling to Europe in August for just over six weeks, but not before playing her last Auckland show at The Hollywood Cinema in Avondale on the 16th of June with full band.

Theatre assistants hurriedly begin to transform the area into what one would imagine Ryan Adams’s lounge may actually look like. The back wall is a bank of speakers and amp heads mish-mashed together; seven small 14inch TV’s projecting simultaneous images surround a lion’s heads behind the drum kit. A stained glass lamp illuminates the left hand corner where the keyboards rest and a taxidermy grey cat sits upright atop one of the speakers stacks, eerily looking like at any moment it will jump down and go for a wander. Last but not least pots of smoke are brought out, laced with incense; the delicate scent wafts across the front rows and permeates the audience with its smoky tendrils. A sound tech appears and greets the audience, asking them politely to remove their cell phones and take a picture of the person beside them to ensure that they do not have their flash engaged. Due to Adams suffering from Ménière’s Disease (a condition affecting the inner ear) he cannot be subjected to flash photography.

A few minutes later and Adams appears to rapturous applause from his many and clearly dedicated fans in the audience tonight. He is accompanied by a four piece backing band, who all take up their respective places before turning to Adams and awaiting his cue. He nods and the stage lights up, the background awash with tiny stars mimicking the ceiling above; red and blue spotlights crossing beams illuminating the band. Keyboardist Ben Alleman kicks everything off, the notes sounding ethereal within the walls of The Civic. ‘Do You Still Love Me?’ off Adams latest album Prisoner has an old school 80’s ballad feeling to it with a simple chorus line that will stay with you long after the song has ended.

Adams dressed in what has become his rather trademark look of jeans and denim jacket is situated on the left hand side next to Alleman, his mop of brown hair covering the top half of his face for most of the show. As he powers through the first few songs it is obvious that Adams is on form, his voice impeccably clear and rich, and his guitar playing faultless. He pauses, removing his denim jacket stating “its getting a bit warm up here” a heckler from the audience taking the opportunity to completely embarrass himself by calling out “Summer of 69!”, fans in the audience audibly groaning at his rather sad attempt at humour. Adams (who has been known to halt a show due to hecklers) pauses for a micro-second and then continues with the set, delivering a blistering version of ‘Dirty Rain’ complete with a huge solo that sees him bend almost backwards in half (no easy feat in his skin tight jeans) and completely let loose on the strings, a wave of notes spilling forth.

For the title track off his latest album (Adams is a prolific writer with 16 albums released since the year 2000), the band leaves and he steps forward to a single microphone placed on the centre edge, illuminated with fairy lights. His voice accompanied only by his acoustic guitar is stunning to say the least. Adams continues though the set at a scorching pace. A cover of the Oasis classic ‘Wonderwall’ has many singing along quietly in their seats; a simple blue spotlight and disco ball creating a breath taking effect for the song ‘When the stars go Blue’.

But ultimately there is something missing. A disconnect one might say. Adams – apart from a quick and non-descript “thank you” here and there barely speaks or interacts with the audience or even the other band members it would appear. Even after a cover of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’, which one would assume was a tribute to the recently deceased Chris Cornell, Adams said nothing, and moved rather quickly into the next song ‘Cold Roses’ with barely a second thought. It was at this point that the smoke machines seemed to be taken over by a gang of gremlins as they flooded the stage with smoke, threatening to smother both guitarist Benny Yurco and bassist Charlie Stavish along with at least the first three rows.

Finishing his set with the blistering ‘Shakedown on 9th Street’ the entire audience was infused with a shot of Rock n Roll, Alleman the absolute stand out star of the song as he went completely mad on the keys like the lovechild of Ray Manzarek and Micky Gallagher. “Have a good night” Adams speaks into the microphone, introducing the band in quick-fire time before once again thanking the audience. “Peace!” and with that he was gone. An encore was not only demanded, but expected it would seem as the house lights remained down and the audience chanted, clapped and even stamped their feet in the hopes that Adams would reward them with a few more songs. The waves of chanting and stomping continued, for three minutes, then five. After seven very long minutes the house lights abruptly rose, audience members looking at each other in disbelief and obvious disappointment, a few fans vocalizing their displeasure with loud boos.

A perfectly flawed set it would seem.

Ryan Adams performing live at The Civic, Auckland, NZ, 2017. Image by Brad Holland.

Were you there at The Civic Theatre for this musically perfect performance? Or have you seen Ryan Adams live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!