Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

I usually find out about shows days after tickets have gone on sale. This saddens me to no end since I always want to be real close to the stage when I see my favorite musicians. The Ryan Adams show was no different and I learned of the ticket sales two days after the internet pre-sale. I ended up obsessing over the idea of somehow attending the show and paid WAY over the price of the ticket on Stubhub.com. Oh well, I can splurge sometimes, right? Besides I'd missed the last two times he came to Atlanta and spent most of this summer madly crushing on him.

Well, my pal Drew and I started making our way to Atlanta around 6 p.m. The weather was dreary and rainy the entire drive. We tried to keep a positive outlook and repeated, "We're totally going to make it on time. We're totally going to make it on time." Thanks to the GPS Navigator on my phone we avoided traffic in downtown Atlanta and pulled into the parking lot a little after 8 p.m.

Our seats were well worth the price I paid for them in my opinion. Fifth row center:


I was so excited to get through the gate with my camera! I'm always scared venue workers will confiscate my camera or make me go back to my car. I took many pictures (mostly blurry) and two videos during the show. The videos have already been viewed hundreds of times!

I recognized "Wonderwall" about two notes into the song. Goodness, I love that song! It was over 6 minutes long and my arm was getting so tired from holding up the camera.

Sadly, Ryan called it off after playing for a little over an hour. He said his voice was awful and [sounded like the guy from the Goo Goo Dolls]. The band apologized, said goodbye and next thing we know the lights are on and the stage crew starts breaking down the set. We walk back to the car in a daze, unsure of what happened. People around us are pissed and cussing the band out. We're bummed that we only had an hour of music. Hell, I was just getting warmed up.

Sunday morning I start reading through Facebook and MySpace and find out that many people are leaving mean messages to the band and wanting refunds. Last week the band postponed shows due to illness affecting the entire crew. I'm really bummed that the tour had to end on this note. But I'm sure I'll go to another show if I get the chance. My obsession with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals has not waned. Jacksonville City Nights is still one of my favorite cds. Ryan and the Cardinals sounded sincere when they apologized about cutting the show short. I just hope they put Atlanta on the top of the tour list next time.

Hey! It could've be worse. I once tried to go see Brian Jonestown Massacre in Atlanta. We stood through two opening bands that played for at least and hour and a half each & when Anton came out (30+ minutes after the opening bands) he was unhappy with how his guitars were tuned and refused to play until they were right. All of this on top of me somehow getting food poisoning! I left the venue and sat in the car hoping my husband could enjoy the music of one of his favorite bands. Daniel came to the car an hour later and said Anton only played 3 songs and kept whining about his guitars and fired a band member. At least The Cardinals gave Atlanta a great hour of music!