Ryan Adams and the Unknown Band at the Palace Theatre, Saint Paul, 7/28/17 and 7/29/17

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Ryan Adams and the Unknown Band
Sometimes a show changes your life -- at least in a daily lived experience kind of a way. The set that Ryan Adams and the Shining played at last summer's Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis was one of those. It kicked off a year-long exploration of Adams' catalog (which is pretty extensive and to be honest I haven't even scratched the surface - the guy seems to write 72 songs for every 15 he releases).

Setlist night 1. Photo credit: Ryan Adams via Instagram
Naturally, I was thrilled to learn Ryan was playing two weekend nights in a row in Saint Paul on his really ambitious Prisoner tour. Living in the Midwest, you usually don't see a lot of two-night stands, and you almost never get weekend shows. It seems like tours are just perpetually passing through most of the Midwest on their way to Chicago for a weekend night.

I got there early and met a handful of really cool fans, some of which I would go on to see again at Conor Oberst and Josh Ritter shows later in the year.

Acoustic jams: "Winding Wheel"
Jillian Jacqueline opened both nights, a three-piece act with a curious lineup made entirely of guitarists, two electric and an acoustic. There was a bit of an alt-country flare to the songs. I enjoyed some of the set in particular. On night two, she came out in a Twins World Series sweatshirt from the '80s she'd bought at a thrift store that day, and apologized for cutting off the bottom half. She was gracious and entertaining, but I don't think her music is anything I would seek out.

Night 1, from Ryan Adams' Instagram -- spot me in the front.
Ryan is into making an atmosphere at the venue. A crewmember smudged the stage with burning sage before the band came out. Pots of incense were regularly placed next to Ryan's pedal board, which was pretty intense at times (note to self: bring your inhaler to Ryan Adams shows). A smoke machine produced copious smoke. Stacks of old CRT televisions with deviant color settings played cool, eerie footage -- mushroom clouds, nebulae, strange short clips of people in weird postures. Stuffed cats of various kinds (house cats, tigers) are placed around the stage. Foam swords hang from the microphone stands that Ryan and Todd use for most of the set. The acoustic microphones that are used for solo, acoustic numbers are festooned with Christmas lights.

"Do You Still Love Me" on the Flying V
The first song of night 1 was "Gimme Something Good", and I'm not sure there's a better show opener than that song. "To Be Young" and "Shakedown on 9th Street" are the most up-tempo songs from Heartbreaker, and boosted the energy toward the beginning and end of the set.

Solo
The Unknown Band in this lineup is Aaron Ficca (drums), Ben Alleman (keyboards), Charlie Stavish (bass), and Todd Wisenbaker (guitar). They sound great together, and extended jam versions of some of the Cold Roses tunes, "Magnolia Mountain" and "Cold Roses", seem to highlight their musicianship. On night 2, Ryan took a request from a marquee in town, which read "RYAN, PLEASE PLAY ON MY LIFE IN SAINT PAUL". It turns out "On My Life", which was released only on the Blue Light single, had never been played live. Ryan said they were gonna give it a try, because you really can't ignore a request that comes via marquee. They didn't disappoint - more credit to the Unknown Band.

Night two was more energetic. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what was different, but everything clicked a little better. Maybe the setlist was also a little more spot-on for my taste. At any rate, the second night opened with "Do You Still Love Me" and kept blowing me away. Two nights wasn't enough, which is the hallmark of all my favorite musicians. I went out for drinks with some friends after, and then wandered around near the venue and ended up chatting with Aaron, the Unknown Band's drummer. He was super cool, and we mostly talked about how he joined the band (he used to be Ryan's touring drum tech) and Los Angeles. I raved about the Cathedral Sanctuary at Emmanuel Presbyterian. Eventually he got on the bus, which drove down the street a few blocks, picked up Ryan and Todd, and drove off to Chicago.

I went home and immediately bought tickets to another stop on the tour: Madison.







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