Author: Cody Daniel

I’ve never been the biggest Ryan Adams fan.  That being said I do like a few of his songs a WHOLE lot.  These include “To Be Young”, “Stars Go Blue”, “New York, New York”, and a couple off of his new album “Prisoner” and “Do You Still Love Me”.

I didn’t know what to expect but my buddy Kyle bought me a ticket on pre-sale and for 45 bucks it seemed totally worth it.  The venue was Paramount which is an absolutely amazing venue.  Trust me, you smoke some weed or do some shrooms before you go and you’re gonna be staring at the ceiling wonder where the hell you are.  The architecture is so amazing you may think you’re in a Catholic Church.

One downside to the venue is the drinking situation.  You can only drink outside the concert hall.  This means your forced to make awkward talk with strangers while shoved together like cattle, or make awkward talk with your friends while shoved together.  That being said, drinks aren’t overly expensive (Here’s looking at you Moore Theater).

We came in the theater a bit earlier than I’m used to to get a good spot.  I was up towards the left of the stage.  Ryan Adams came out and kicked it off with “Do You Still Love Me?”.  Honestly I was immediately blown away.  For one he started with one of my favorite songs and for two the musicianship was out of this world.  The backdrop was killer and everyone was singing along.  After that badass song he went into “To Be Young”, so basically just a 10 out of 10 for getting the show going.

The next songs were all songs I knew, although I can’t remember the order exactly.  It was neat seeing it live because he’s one of the few acts that sounds better live.  He plays it different as well which I’ve always admired because if I wanted to hear it like it is off of the album, I’d just listen to the damn album.  One song that stick out to me is an amazing rendition of Prisoner.  It had a softer start than normal and then evolved into a straight up rocker with some killer guitar.

My favorite part of the show was when he completely improvised a new song in front of the huge crowd.  He was singing about if Bruce Springsteen sang his autobiography through the teleprompter.  It sounds confusing, and it is…but it was so good.  I’m going to attach a link to the video here for you to watch.  You gotta see this.  Moments like this are so memorable, and truly make Ryan Adams a must see live show.

After that awesome break it was back to more hits.  He ended the show with “Come Pick Me Up” which he apparently wrote in a closet at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle.  How cool is that?

Anyways thats my summary of the show.  I’ve had a great year of seeing shows, on top of many other great years, and this song will always stick out in my mind.  All in all a great experience, and it’s definitely made me much more of a fan.

Peace and Love and Ryan Adams.  Take Care!

The anticipation for this show, for me personally, was unbelievable.  I had one of my best friends fly all the way in from New Jersey and on top of that I got a camping spot.  Tool is literally his favorite band and while not one of my top 10 favorite bands, they’re definitely top 100.  With how rare it is that they go on tour, I bought these tickets right when they went on sale.  I’m unfortunately unable to make his bachelor party so I figured buying tickets to this would halfway make up for it. We went up a day early, secured a spot, and let the pregaming begin.

Honestly, going to the Gorge is a must for any big music lover.  It’s consistently ranked one of the best music venues in the whole country and it’s honestly hard to take in as “real” when you first top the hill and look out at the canyon. The only venue in all of America I think can compare is Red Rocks in Colorado (which I WILL go to one day, its a bucket list thing).

Anyways back to the show, the vibes were great and everyone was thirsty.  We walked up the trail, probably about 2 miles maybe more, and were finally ready to witness Tool by 8pm.

The band that opened was called Crystal Method and it may have been one of my least favorite shows of all time.  It sounded like filler music, or music played when a bar is trying to get you to leave. I literally can’t think of anything good about the show other than it was a good excuse to go to the vendors and buy super expensive food and drinks.

After that mess, Tool finally took the stage.  In perfect Maynard form, he stood at the back of the stage.  We didn’t have the greatest seats in the house but they weren’t terrible.  we were to the right of the stage but the sound was phenomenal.  Maynard sounded so good that one of my drunk friends asked if it was a recording.

I was absolutely captivated by the lights, the back drop, and the visuals.  Seeing tool live is definitely a work of art.  I truly believe thats why he stands at the back of the stage.  To make the experience about the music and not about persona’s or the people making the music.

Here’s the Setlist:

The Grudge
Parabol
Parabola
Schism
Opiate
Aenema
Jambi
Third Eye
46&2
Intermission
Vicarious
Sweat
Stinkfist

If you’re a fan of rock music and If you get the opportunity, I strongly suggest you go out of your way to see them live. Truly a one of a kind act and an experience that will last the rest of your lifetime.  Here’s my favorite song by them:

This show was an awesome surprise. Earlier in 2017 I was going to so many shows, and lately I haven’t been to as many. This is largely in part due to me being broke which is largely in part due to me being an idiot with my money.    Anywhooo….Thursday night my buddy gave me the heads up on this show and I knew I couldn’t miss it. I love My Goodness, and I’d heard good things about the openers Smokey Brights so I bought a ticket.

The show began as all good shows do, plenty of pregaming (5 brewskie’s) and plenty of good friends (4 dudebuddies).  I unfortunately missed most of the set of the first band Year of Death because I was getting carried away drinking and carousing around out in the sidebar. I caught the last half of the last song and it sounded like goth synth-y 80’s music.  Like, the kind of vibe where you dress up in leather and swing glow sticks around. Or like the music you’d listen to if you were in the movie the Matrix. Or like if you had a dance party out in a graveyard. Thats the only portion I heard so I really can’t give a fair opinion. I was trying to look up some tunes of theirs to share but couldn’t find anything. So it goes….

After a smoke break and a beer Smokey Brights hit the stage.  I was blown away quite honestly. I’m a sucker for guitar and going into this show I just assumed this band was mainly keyboard driven. I was definitely wrong, they rocked out. The guitarist shredded on a few of the songs.  In addition to that all the members were talented and had something to add to each song.  Stage presence was really good and the production of the music was fantastic.  I really couldn’t help but nod my head and do my dad dance to most of the songs. They are definitely a professional band and have their shit together. I’ve been listening to their music even after the show so thats how you know its good.  You should check em out.

After another smoke break and another beer or two, My Goodness hit the stage. At this point I was felling REALLY good.  I had attempted to see them twice before but never made it all the way to actually see them.  Anyways, as expected they killed it plain and simple.  Production was off the charts and stage presence was great.  Everyone was rocking out and getting the crowd into it. I was excited to hear a few of the songs I really wanted to hear.  Elevators and Sweet Tooth being the ones I was most excited about.  It was great hearing all of the new ones too.  I wish there was a video of the killer dance moves I was breaking out at this point…or at least a video of peoples reactions to the drunk guy rocking out in front of them.

After their set, the crowd thinned out pretty quickly.  I was corralled into and uber and woke up in my own bed so I’d consider it a VERY successful night out.  Here’s some links to their songs on Spotify.  Pretty sure you’re gonna dig em!