On 21 Feb 2002 at 18:30, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I've been trying to get tix to see Ryan at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC in > March via Ticketmaster and to no avail, yet they don't say the show is sold > out yet. Go figure. Will try for the Philly show that goes on sale Friday > 2/22. I hear he drinks alot on stage. Anyone wants to goze, email me off > list. >
By all means, do whatever you can to get a ticket. I saw him at the Troubadour in LA last November. The event was a Rolling Stone party. (BTW - Rolling Stone has been doing quite well the last couple of years in showcasing artists who are "next" before anyone else knows it. When it comes to these events, they actually do what you imagine they should do.) Now most of these kinds of parties are a drag for the artist because it's an industry crowd and people are talking and working the room. And usually the artist will keep the set short to minimize their own pain. Not that night. I had never seen a group of industry people act like excited fans until that evening. People were lined up outside the door for 90 minutes before the show started. They pushed up to the front of the stage. They danced. I thought that it must have been like this the night Elton John had his debut there. (Which is funny because Elton said in an interview that listening to Ryan inspired him to do his latest, "Songs from the West Coast.") And instead of doing the usual 40 minutes of tunes that this type of thing usually requires (including the single and anticipated singles), he played for more than two hours. He had fun. The band was rockin' and he just kept playing until he ran out of ideas. He did some covers - Dylan, Stones (not "Brown Sugar"). He even played tunes the band didn't know - so he did them solo. At one point he called his producer out of the audience to play with him because it was a tune that wasn't rehearsed with the band. He was clearly having fun that night and it showed. And he was CUTE! He had a barrette in his hair, right on top (well, just because). His drummer was really sick with the flu and he literally told him that he loved him a half a dozen times. He's got so much music in him that you just have to be excited for him. He's the real deal. See him now while he's still in small venues. Brenda n.p.: Elvis Costello - "Shallow Grave" (He drinks a lot of beer and chain smokes. )
