Ryan Adams Takes on Independence Day ?

So I’m known mostly to partake in video games and DVDs, and the occasional boardgame, but last night I hit Sayerville, NJ for the start of the new tour for Ryan Adams & The Cardinals at the Starland Ballroom. I’m not a music reviewer, so don’t expect poetry, but I can share the experience the only way I know how… through the eyes of a geek.

The venue itself was cool, lots of parking, easy to get in and not too crowded if you’re smart in where you position yourself. It got mobbed, some dude I never heard of opened up and just strummed his guitar singing songs in a style I’ve heard too often. Yes, you have a great voice, yes you can play a guitar, but it just felt empty. And then Ryan and his merry men took the stage. Now, mind you, my girl listens to him all the time so I catch it in the car every so often, but I don’t know him from a hole in the wall.

BUT… I liked him. The style alternates from poppy rockin’ tunes to country twangs, often revolving around some girl Ryan just banged and how he feels or she feels or they both should feel — but it’s fun, it’s got a beat and you can tap your foot to it. That’s all well and good, read other music reviews to get the real deets but the best part was after the first set, someone shouts out “Martians from Outer Space” and it’s not a song of his, so they just go into… and Ryan’s making up this song about “What’s up with these fuckin’ Martians? What the fuck do they want with planet Earth?” AND THEN THE BEST PART… he starts riffing on Independence Day! And I don’t mean he just throws out lame jokes about it, he actually KNOWS the movie. He starts saying how “Will Smith and Harry Connick Jr. are going to save the world from the martians” and goes into detail about the proposal scene between Will and Harry, even down to the actual dialogue spoken! Fucking awesome.

So Ryan Adams is one of my favorite new artists, mostly because he must obviously love Independence Day as much as I do. The End.

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