Ryan Adams road trip, day 2

last night was another rush to get to the venue because of incompetant restaurant workers. my friend Andy heard about this place called Sam’s Boat in Houston, so we went there. it took 45 minutes to get our food. i have no idea how fast they normally can cook up a chicken sandwich, but last night seemed awfully slow. anyway, i got down to the Houston theatre district about 8 or 8:05. i found a parking spot, and then went on an odyssey to find the verizon theatre. after asking the first person i saw (who had no idea what the VT was) i ended up just having to have faith that going up the stairs would help. i got out to ground level and found a couple of other RA fans, and found my way to the VT.

3rd row directly in front of Ryan’s mic….it seemed great at first, until a tall guy sat down right in front of me. i had a GREAT view of the rest of the Cardinals, not so much Ryan without having to lean over or something, at least when he was right at the mic. they lead off again with Peaceful Valley, and it was cool to hear the reaction of the crowd during that song. i’m telling you, it is beautiful. his voice sounds so great. the setlist was pretty much the same from the Mobile show, with some additions of Why Do They Leave? and a slowed down version of Let It Ride. RA seemed to be in a great mood, even when people would yell requests. he’d play them off and then that’d be it. he even talked in the Cookie Monster voice a few times. i don’t know what has happened between Birmingham and Houston, but something changed and he was in a really great state of mind. no rants or tirades, although right after Rescue Blues, someone yelled for Jacksonville Skyline….bad idea. he immediately got up from the piano and left the stage. the rest of the Cardinals stayed on though, and Ryan came back a couple of minutes later and they went right into When The Stars Go Blue. at one point someone yelled for Freebird, and Ryan said “oh, we’re playing that.” and they actually did play some of it. then Ryan went off about how impossible it is to literally change a bird. if it was possible to genetically alter a bird, to change it to maybe a mailbox, then the song became historic.

the only really awkward part came about halfway through when Ryan introduced slide guitarist Jon Graboff to tell a joke. someone yelled “Andy Dick” right as Jon approached the mic, and he went back and sat down. the rest of the band was laughing, but Jon seemed mad about it. he eventually did come back and tell a great joke. i think Jon was just playing, but it seemed awkward at the time.

so the show was divided up a bit more. the first main set, then a second set, then an encore, then a 2nd encore (a one song encore of Magnolia Mountain to close the show). not bad at all. they played from about 8:35 to 11:25, almost 3 hours. it was very very excellent. i took a few pictures and got a poster, but i can’t post the pictures until i get home. the poster has a meteor in the form of the Cardinals Rose symbol racing off from Earth with the Shuttle nearby. pretty cool.

the sad news…yesterday on my way to Houston, my A/C stopped blowing cool air. driving 6 hours with no A/C from the NOLA area to Houston i think should be considered a form of torture. i couldn’t stop, because if i did the car would not have been able to cool down. i was able to make it to Houston without stopping thankfully. i brought it to a Honda place nearby this morning, and there are two possibilities for fixing it that cost $1000 and $1500. i am hoping for the $1000 obviously. apparently some valve or coil failed and is caught up in the compressor. not a cheap fix, and not a quick one either. they said they will have it done today, but that means by 5. so obviously i may not be able to make it to Dallas. i’m still hopeful, but realistic at the same time.