Ryan Adams at the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre!

 Elgin Winter Garden Theatre

Ryan Adams

 Ryan Adams set up

 Concert Time!

Ryan Adams at the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre!

On Saturday, I went to see Ryan Adams at the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre complex, which I read, is the, “last “double-decker” or stacked Edwardian theatre in the world”! I must say, that both the venue and Ryan were absolutely fantastic to see and it turned out to be quite the memorable experience!

The venue is a labyrinth of staircases with adjoining theaters all in elaborate gold décor with breathtaking details. We were located in the Winter Garden theatre where Ryan Adams pointed out the fact that an electrician discovered it after being closed up for decades! The electrician (that found this theater) tore down a wall while re-wiring to discover the Winter Garden (with the leaves, lanterns, and trees totally intact as it is presented today). A true ghost from the past brought a unique feel to the show throughout the night. 

I must admit I have seen Ryan Adams before (once in DC at DAR Constitutional Hall and the other opening up for Oasis in the US) but this show was my favorite by far. Going acoustic for his songs, he played all of my favorites such as, “This House Is Not for Sale”, “Dear Chicago”, “I See Monsters” and  “16 Days”.  I also loved his piano rendition of “My Blue Manhattan” which had the audience sitting in hushed appreciation. (Can you tell I just adore his  “Love is Hell” album)? And thank goodness for some twitter requests as we were able to hear a classic Ryan Adams & The Cardinals hit, “Dear John” which he stated, he hasn’t played live in quite some time! 

Of course with every concert you may have some disturbances and unfortunately this show was no exception. The sound system was having trouble with a low clicking sound to which Ryan Adams joked he feels like he’s, “playing against a Trent Reznor beat throughout the night”.  However when playing- it was easy for fans to ignore it and appreciate the music. There were also those annoying people who always call out songs for him to play. If you are one of those people reading this today- I ask- why?! My thought is to let the musician do what he intends to do- and just sit back and just enjoy the show! If you want to hear a special song think first “it may be coming later in the show” and if not think “I’ll put in on when I get home” (if your that upset you didn’t hear your favorite song). It always makes me think of people rudely expecting a song they particularly want to hear because they paid for tickets. (Like the musician is at a service to them or something)!

The other distraction (from an otherwise perfect night) was an annoying fan that was yelling at Adams and trying to get into some sort of vocal match. (Again I ask, why?!) After some ignorant comments were made, Ryan turned to the man at the end of the show and thanked him for sharing his feelings and having the, “ the most freest, most vocal man in town” come to his show. ;)

On an upbeat note, there were also some hilarious moments in the show were Ryan Adams performed some improv songs about Dracula’s cooking skills and his Motorhead Jersey (sweater) that is, “defiantly not a t-shirt”. (You had to be there to get those jokes in context but much appreciated by all of us in the audience)! Overall it was a wonderful night and I look forward to seeing him again!

Sources: http://sundaybrunch.to/, http://torontosavvy.me/2010/09/02/double-decker-elgin-winter-garden-theatres/, http://www.nowtoronto.com/daily/music/story.cfm?content=184294