Ryan Adams and the Shining, with Milky Chance and Craig Finn, at the Basilica Block Party, 7/9/16

The stage and the basilica, early in the day.

I've been thinking about this show for a long time. Some shows just stick with you, and this was one.

I had never seen Ryan Adams live. During middle school, I spent a lot of time listening to Whiskeytown's Pneumonia and Adams' Gold in the car on my way to guitar lessons out in Sand Springs. I got really attached to those albums, but I never really explored his catalog any further. When I heard, the week of the festival, that Ryan Adams and Death Cab were headlining their respective nights, I decided to go. Game changer.

Craig Finn

I arrived in time to hear Craig Finn open. After almost a decade of barely missing Craig and/or the Hold Steady, I was pleased to catch him. His set was what I expected: somehow impassioned and aloof at the same time. His stage personality oozes out in the recordings, apparently. Craig is from the Twin Cities, which I never really appreciated until I moved to Saint Paul, and suddenly understood all the references to street names and locations. It's especially endeared the Hold Steady to me in retrospect. What I didn't know was that he'd grown up attending church at the very basilica that was hosting the festival, and that made it extra cool. His family was there, including two young nieces whose first concert it was.

I stood there all day, front and center, on the rail. Milky Chance played next, and by this time I was pretty thirsty. They're a German duo with a weird folk/reggae/electronic mix going on, and had invited a friend along to do additional vocals and instruments, including a lot of harmonica.

Ryan and the unexpected weight of his new Les Paul

Finally it was time for the headliner. Ryan's signature flag and arcade games came out to decorate the stage, along with some cardboard cutouts of cats and a giant stuffed tiger model. There stage lighting had kind of a warm glow to it the entire time -- no spotlights, strobes, color changes. I suspect this is because of Adams' Meniere's, but I appreciated it for its lack of distractions from the music.

The setlist covered the entirety of Adams' very productive solo career (sadly, no Whiskeytown
songs), from the Heartbreaker days through the self-titled. It all sounded great. Adams' backup band, The Shining, got together relatively recently, and all the guys seemed genuinely happy to be playing together. Mostly they just played, but there was some joking around, too. Adams said he'd been out around town that day and, while skateboarding near the venue, had come across a record store with a sign in the window reading "No Admittance for Ryan Adams, unless he's in a decent mood," which I thought was kind of amazing. He also had purchased a new Gibson Les Paul that day, which he was complaining was way too heavy to play for long. He said the other guitarist in
the band practically slept with his, and was bitter about his new acquisition. They were funny, without trying too hard and without talking too much.

Highlights for me were "Oh, My Sweet Carolina" (one of my favorite songs of all time; see my recording below), "When the Stars Go Blue", and "Shakedown on 9th Street". The encore included "Come Pick Me Up".

After the show, I delved deep into the catalog. I listened to the self-titled album on repeat for days. I watched live concert clips and clips from late night television. I even bought the full album cover of Taylor Swift's 1989, which I liked quite a lot. That's the kind of inspiration I don't get from very many concerts anymore. Can't wait to catch another Ryan Adams show.