Genius at Work

Let me start off by saying that the Disney HOB sucks. The door and the bar near where we were standing were the sources of more than a few distractions. But, that being said, Mr. Adams was easily able to transcend the suckitude of place.

I was first attracted to RA by his songwriting that spans multiple genres. With his varied catalog of songs I was curious about what a RA show would be like. It turns out it’s everything and more. The show was part Dead jam, then morphed into classic country, took a turn to rock, morphed again into sensitive acoustic, and then pow it was off to grunge. RA is a great talent and as a performer, he is in his prime.

By the end of the night RA leaves you somewhat slackjawed by his ability to write, sing, and play in such a wide variety of styles. He also performed several songs that I had dismissed after listening to the studio versions and turned them into gems. The acoustic Magnolia Mountain and the electric I See Monsters being the prime examples.

I will say that playing such a wide variety of songs (brilliant as they were) did not raise the concert as a whole to a level of one of my all time favorites (The Who, Cat Stevens, Bruce, Simon and Garfunkle). I guess I would say that RA’s show lacked a thematic consistentcy to rank it in my all time favs.

The good news is that Annie (she’s flying down today), Eth, and I are going to see him tonight at the HOB in San Diego. And the good news is that Nicky and Carly assure me that this HOB does not suck.