Ryan Adams Fans vs. Gwendolyn Elliott

This past Friday night singer/songwriter Ryan Adams performed in front of a hushed crowd who hung on every song he sang and every word he bantered at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. Adams’ fans are notorious for keeping audience members in line when they start to disrupt his performance and Seattle Weekly blogger Gwendolyn Elliott got a taste of this zealousness when she showed up late, took notes on her Blackberry and chatted with a friend.

Some around Elliott chided her for coming in late, asked her to put away her Blackberry and shushed her when she laughed with her friend at a comment Adams made. Elliott was so put off by the crowd that she actually left the concert before it was over to have “a wild night.” The blogger’s “review” on Seattle Weekly’s Reverb site barely mentions the music. Instead, she takes Ryan Adams fans to task for being militant by going into detail about her experience. Adams came across the review and didn’t appreciate Elliott’s angle. He put up a post on his Facebook page urging fans who thought the “review” was as disappointing as he did to contact Seattle Weekly. As you might have guessed, a shit show broke out in the comments section with one Ryan Adams fan after another taking their shots at Elliott’s rudeness, writing skills and even her appearance (weak sauce).

When Reverb photographer Chris Kornelis blogged a follow-up on Monday defending his colleague, a whole new war broke out between RA fans and Seattle Weekly staffers in the comments section of that post. Within those comments, Elliott went so far as saying she “felt like Anne Frank creeping around the annex” during the show. Look, I can appreciate someone attending a rock show for fun and not wanting to be told to keep quiet or put away their mobile device, but as a writer you’d think she’d have known what she was getting herself into. This was an acoustic show at a theater, not Motley Crue at Key Arena; the Anne Frank comparison was a little much.

[Audience Member Snuck an Audio-Only Recording]

We’d love to hear from you. Do you think audience members should be free to do what they want, within reason, at a concert? Do you think Elliott should’ve saved her criticisms of the crowd around her and just focused on the music for the review? Have you had similar experiences at a Ryan Adams show or other performances? Let us know by leaving a comment below…