Ryan Adams, Butch Walker at Massey Hall

Photographs by Sean Chin.

Ryan Adams gave a lesson on master class before a sold out crowd last night at Massey Hall.

The last time I saw Adams was in 2005 while supporting his Cold Roses album.  Back in those days Adams’ reputation as a cantankerous performer almost overshadowed his prolific output.   Personable, hilarious and endearing …never words I’d have used previously.

Fast forward to 2014 and Adams is touring behind his latest self-titled effort, released three years after Ashes & Fire, for at the rate Adams had been releasing albums must have felt like an eternity to his rabid fan base.  His performance last night revealed the most personable Adams I’ve ever seen, a pleasant surprise.

Opening his set with “Gimme Something Good” from the new album, Adams and his four cohorts delivered a sublime two-hour set touching on most of his albums in his vast discography.  He even offered up the live debut of new song “Do You Laugh When You Lie”.

Musically, Adams has always been solid, but he appeared so comfortable on stage last night, contrasting with previous times I’ve seen him where set lists largely drew upon the album being promoted at the time, with a few extras to keep the crowds happy.  Maybe it was Massey Hall or the gathered audience which Adams deemed one of the weirdest he’s had.

About half way through the show, Adams delivered a hilarious story about losing a girlfriend by blasting a Puddle Of Mudd song.  From there things got weird.  A couple of twits in the fifth row decided behaving like they were at a frat party was a good move.  Adams subtly derided their constant hollering, bemoaning their need to address their “masculine feelings”.  As distracting and annoying as their behavior was, I’m thankful they didn’t yell out “Summer of ‘69” which is where I thought they would be going. 

Ten years ago this behavior would have derailed the gig, but thankfully for everyone in the house, Adams handled them like a pro, although he appeared to almost lose his patience when asking the crowd to pick from four songs that would close the night.  Accounting for Massey Hall’s strict 11 PM curfew, Adams knew he couldn’t play the full set.  The crowd chose “Come Pick Me Up” from his debut, Heartbreaker, which saw Adams bring out opener Butch Walker to help out.  

I’m sure the crowd begrudgingly picked only the one song as I’m sure both Adams and crowd could have stayed together laughing and loving all night.