--- In audities@yahoogroups.com, Not Lame <popmusic@n...> wrote:
> > "This is one of my worst shows ever, but I like it," he said
> > defiantly near the end.
> > 
> > By then, half of the sellout crowd had left. Of the ones who 
stayed,
> > some were no doubt hoping Westerberg would show up and meet Adams'
> > needs.
> 
> 
> I say GOD BLESS, THE BOY for being a wonderfully, publically and 
honest
> fucked up mess!   So  he went off and was actin a bit 'spoiled', or 
whatever
> the reviewer wants to call it, he still put up two hours and was 
himself,
> for better or worse.  At least, he has SONGS to back up any of his 
behavoir,
> which is a lot more than, surely, more than the 90% of the bands 
that have
> visited the venue this year.


@@@@Hey Bruce, I gotta disagree with you.  Mainly, I don't think he 
is abour "rocking on" when he's bad.  His having the "songs" but 
being a mess during a performance doesn't mean I'm going to like the 
show.  It sounds like he first was sulking, then walked off stage 
sulking twice, which is, well, lame. ;)  Then, he seemed to 
get "chatty" over what a lousy show he was putting on. Sounds a bit 
self indulgent to me. (again, I was not there but that's how I read 
this review).
    I personally don't pay money to see a car wreck. I don't mind 
loose shows, drunken shows, but I do ask the performer to give a sh*t 
when they play. My sense is that for whatever reason; there are many 
shows where he just doesn't care to invest himself in the 
performance.  I've seen many, many shows in my life (as most of us 
have on this list ), and many that have not been that great.  Only a 
few times have I seen a show where the performer overtly seemed 
uninvested, uninterested  or almost "above" caring about the 
performance. For me, Ryan Adam's show last year was one such show. It 
sounds like he had yet another in a series of such shows..   If 
that's anyone's thing, that's fine.  . It's not for me. In fact, such 
performances for whatever reason, tend to linger for me and it takes 
me a while to even hear the songs on a disc the same way as I had 
prior to the show.  The old, does the character of the singer matter 
in relationship to the songs discussion. 
     The Mats are an obvious comparison.  However, the Mats, at their 
worst  live were dunked idiots (which, was fun sometimes and annoying 
other times).  However, for me the sense was it all related to their 
discomfort with their image.. Like the Who's crashing guitars, they 
kind of gut stuck in this stupid image of their own doing and had a 
hard time letting go of it. Conversely, (IMO), Adams seems to be 
dealing with demons of how dam talented he is and believes the hype.  
This can be a joyless experience as an audience member. 
    Maybe the media has created this image of Adams but I only know 
what I saw a year ago and have to trust that more then anything (it's 
all I have after all).
        Like Josh, I too have a CDr of a show in which he simply 
shined.  He clearly is capable of putting on great shows.   I'm  just 
not willing to gamble on it.

Steve D