In defence of eccentricity: Ryan Adams shows us how a serving of talent with a side of wacko can captivate a room

VIDEOS: In between heart-rending versions of songs from Heartbreaker, Adams did a lengthy diss of Florida and improvised a song to insult a fan who left the show

Ryan Adams’ performance Friday (May 9, 2025) night at the Vogue in Vancouver was bonkers and beautiful all at the same time.

As long-time fans and followers know, Adams is pretty eccentric, shunned by many in the music industry because of his erratic behaviour. He's a former cocaine addict and alcoholic, estranged from ex-wife Mandy Moore who said he was gaslighting her, and he's one of "those guys" who went down when he made headlines in 2017 at the height of the #Me Too movement.

At the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver on Friday night (May 9, 2025), the prolific singer-songwriter melted hearts with bittersweet renditions of My Winding Wheel and Oh My Sweet Carolina, he enthralled with some Neil Young covers, and blessed the crowd with so many other songs, mostly off his now quarter-century old album Heartbreaker. 

In between the music that felt like warm butter on bread, his voice inexplicably lithe after a half century of use and abuse, and before and after Tourette-style yelps from middle-aged women and hoots of respect from aging hipsters, Ryan Adams went down some weird rabbit holes.

He also played for nearly three hours with no opening band and no backup band save for one song when his guitar tech hit the drums and a bassist joined for one electric song. He might have played more songs Friday night all by himself than I think I've ever seen any band play at a show in the past.

If one didn’t know the 50-year-old was sober as he has reported for many years publicly, it would have been easy to assume he was high as a kite the way he talked to the audience about various sounds he was hearing – a thump, a flip-phone ring, distant Granville Street noise. He ranted about musicians he hates (mostly members of Radiohead), had an ongoing joke about a long lost wannabe girlfriend, and lots to say about a supposed French model oil baroness.

Fun banter, sure. He also spent two full minutes doing a cheap comedy roast of Florida and Floridians in the context of the Leafs playing the Panthers in the playoffs.

Florida sucks

And most remarkable, insane, or hilarious depending on your point of view, he sang and played an entire song improvised on the spot to insult a person who walked out of the show and who said something out loud that Adams misheard. 

He thought the person said something about a "monster video" and no one in the audience could accurately clarify what was said, so he sat down and started strumming. If the song he created had a name it might be Ballad for a Panty Sniffer. He insulted the now absent person’s mother, said something about a bigfoot video, and added a few lines that I imagine would have warranted an interesting chat on the way home for the couple with two school-aged kids sitting in front of us.

Ballad for a Panty Sniffer

Pretty funny stuff in between his music and a few tangents that had the majority of the crowd scratching crania.

Narcissistic rock star recipe: Ego + talent + recognition

A lot of people really hate Ryan Adams and I have no real opinion on him as a person. I’m a relative newcomer to his full catalogue knowing only the big hits everyone knows, but I think that’s a good perspective to come to a show with. 

I know more of his music now.

I didn’t know tons about Mandy Moore and his shitty behaviour with other women and his disdain for members of Radiohead and many other musicians. I do now.

I didn’t know until recently that he has Meniere's disease and epilepsy, both of which can be triggered by flashing lights, and how he can lose his shit at shows when members of the audience disrespect his request to not use flash photography. I do now. 

I also know that for people who are exceptionally gifted at a creative pursuit and who get a lot of attention for being talented at that thing, humility is more uncommon than narcissism. But isn't that logical?

If you are confident that you are amazing and you actually are amazing and everyone keeps telling you that you are amazing, it's hard not to have an ego. Many rock stars and Hollywood starlets and billionaires are notoriously assholes but, sheesh, how could they be anything but?

The real stories are the exceptions that prove the rule: the Dave Grohls and Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogans of the world who are wealthy popular cultural legends yet ooze humanity and self-reflection, somehow.

Adams has demons and a big ego and a history of being shitty to bandmates and women. I'm not apologizing for him. He does seem to have enough self-reflection to recognize the former if not the latter. On Friday night during one in-between-song banter he mentioned that his doctor saw some of his lyrics on his daughter's Ryan Adams CD case, and the doctor him if he had considered taking anti-depressants. Damn straight.

There were moments at The Vogue Friday when he might have offended some people, weirded others out, and just annoyed a few with his sometimes incoherent ramblings in between heart-rending ballads. I guess he's beauty and the beast. Behaviour on stage that might seem bipolar if it were spread over a month rather than three hours.

I’m no music reviewer but it was a hell of a good show: jocular, emotional, mesmerizing, memorable. 

And yes, a little nutter butter at times, too. But damn, let's not over-analyze the behaviour of those who step up to make art that then immeasurably improves our lives.

I say let's stop demanding perfect sanity from our heroes.

-30-

Paul J. Henderson
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