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…
11 Responses
Ryan Adam’s Music: Sometimes Great, other times reminds you of the great music he made
Ryan Adams: Douchebag
People who like Ryan Adams: Sometimes great, other times douchebags
Also, this be me.
I’m with the blogger. I love ryan adams but not the douchey holier than though fans. I thought about seeing him on this tour, but unless he’s with a band, dealing with fans like that just aren’t worth it. I miss the Cardinals days.
I am totally with the Ryan Adams fans on this one. I could care less about Adams or his music, but I go to a lot of concerts, etc and many people are annoying in their behavior at shows. My ability to enjoy a show is routinely interrupted by audience members coming in late and having trouble finding their seats, talking during the actual performance, using their cell phone during the performance, drinking too much beer and passing out, being obnoxious, throwing up, etc. The people at the Ryan Adams presumably paid to see Ryan Adams perform, not get interrupted by a reporter who comes in late, talks, etc…
I once went to see She and Him play at First Ave (not a theater by any means). Well, my buddy and I spent most of the show talking about how awesome M Ward is. The dude is pretty sweet. Towards the end of the show, a teenage girl told us to shut the hell up – it was awesome.
I didn’t know a concert could turn into a library!! What the hell is wrong with these people?
I was at the Seattle Ryan Adams show featured in Gwen Elliott’s article. I was also at four other Ryan Adams shows on this tour, and I’ve been to several other Ryan Adams shows in the past, which included his backing band The Cardinals. This was not a traditional “rock concert” and was not always in traditional “rock concert” venues. The artist made it very clear by using several means to convey the request that cell phones and other recording devices were to be shut off during the show. There was no mention that reporters were exempt, so this applied to Ms. Elliott as well. I myself took prolific notes using pen and paper, so I know it was feasible to do so. These shows have all been seated events, so getting to and leaving your seat is going to be somewhat disruptive. I’m a season ticket holder for a professional hockey team, and even for that you are asked to not move from/to your seat until there’s a stoppage in play. When the venue is such that a mere whisper can easily carry a distance, chatting during an acoustic show, such as this Ryan Adams show was, should be kept at a minimum and as low volume as possible.
Perhaps these common courtesies are easier to disregard when you have little interest in the performance, but when this is your only opportunity to see an artist who hasn’t toured in years, you’ve spent your hard-earned money to be there, waited hours in line to get good seats, and someone comes along who is disruptive and unwilling to behave in the same manner as virtually everyone else there seemly out of spite, well, I cannot blame Ms. Elliott’s neighbors for how they responded.
I don’t know what, exactly, is in Ms. Elliott’s job description, but I would guess that when she’s attending an event she’s reviewing for the Seattle Weekly, that she’s there representing them and should do so in a more professional manner than she herself conveyed in her article. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was acting like someone still in high school. At the end, the Seattle Weekly still did not provide a review of the show itself, which is all anyone really wanted. No one really cares how the audience acts, or wants to be reminded (again) of how Ryan Adams acted in the past. We were given the opportunity to see a different Ryan Adams, freshly back from a two-year hiatus, with new music, renewed health, a new outlook, and the Seattle Weekly readers still know absolutely nothing about how he got there or how his new music sounds. That is the real disappointment.
Well said!
It was the worst “music review” I have ever read. Elliot is a self centered hack. She should do something else with her life.
I was at this show at the beautiful Benaroya Hall, and did feel that the venue lent it’s aura to the night and the performance of Mr. Adams. He was gracious,
creative and his voice was like the end of summer, ripe blackberries, sweet peaches.. He sang his heart out, old and new, and there was a wistful and lovely part of him that came through. I for one loved the whole night and am sorry to read the blog from Ms. Elliot, as it was not even close to what the evening represented for most of everyone there.
I did not attend this particular show (I’m in Massachusetts) but I have attended several of Ryan Adams shows in the past, acoustic and electric. Always great people there, more of a “Community,” much like Springsteen fans. These people are there for the music.
The key point in the article: she was chatting on her Blackberry! At an acoustic show! Are you kidding me?! If anyone ever started yapping on a cell phone during a Springsteen acoustic show Bruce himself would have taken them to task AND OFTEN DID! No one ever wrote any articles calling him or his fans douchebags. Ryan Adams is often cited by lackluster journalists who don’t have the talent to write about anything else.
Want to chat away on your cell phone Ms. Elliot? Go to a Britney Spears show or better yet go where every other ignorant fool goes to talk on their cell phone…the movies!