Last Saturday night saw Sara and Beth at The Sphere in Buffalo to catch the Ryan Adams show. And boy, was it a show.

The venue was one of the coolest I've ever been in. Although it was general admission (aka "no seating") the club is round in shape and has many tiers to it so that there are good views from just about everywhere. The acoustics were also spectacular.

I wish that we had been able to catch all of the opener, Rachel Yamagata. She had modest backup from only a guitarist, cellist, and her own playing, either on piano or guitar. The stripped own arrangement was perfect because it put her gorgeous, lived-in voice up front and center. I was disappointed we only caught the last couple of songs of her set.

No complaints though because Ryan Adams and The Cardinals were spectacular. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into the show since Adams has been known as a hopelessly difficult person, prone to occasional outbursts at unruly concert-goers or even his own band. But some voice inside told me that I could not miss this show. I'm glad I listened.

Ryan Adams is the artist everybody, critics in particular, loves to hate. A prolific writer with an intense love for both the classic country and rock & roll cannons, he seemingly invites criticism. All this has led to 4-star reviews saturated with caveats and barbs. "[He]'s got diarrhea of the recording studio" and is "predisposed to [publishing] every whim", he "apes" so-and-so, thrown in with even more enfant terrible references than those heaped upon Conor Oberst, who as also been accused of "mistaking prolificness with profoundness". (Try "prolificacy", pal.) And it's not just the pretentious set leveling the "he's affected and self-important" accusations. The opposite end of the spectrum has also been frustrated by his dabbling in a diversity of styles and topics and his preference to play new, unreleased material live rather than regurgitating the "hits". (Even going so far as play entire sets of songs he had just composed earlier that day.) But hey, can't we just lay down the knives for a little bit? Let's not slay a guy for having the compulsion to create or the gratitude to pay homage to those who have inspired him. Where's the love?

Alright, with my "lay off Ryan Adams" diatribe behind me, let's move on to the show in Buffalo a week ago. As Adams' new album Cold Roses appeared to indicate, the muse has led him into a territory of rootsy jamming a la Grateful Dead. He's found himself a consistent band to collaborate with and it's clear they've fallen into a groove that's comfortable without being lazy or routine. The first set was composed of songs from Cold Roses and material that I can only assume is scheduled for release later this year on one of Adams' other two scheduled album releases. "Easy Plateau" was the standout from this set, with it's blistering spaced-out jam.

There were a couple of things that surprised me about this show besides the devolution of Adams' appearance to a haphazard mix of scary Robert Smith bedhead with a Rivers Cuomo-style emo geekiness and plenty of facial hair to boot. I was caught off-guard by Adams' guitar prowess from the start. But even more startling was the quality of the vocals. Normally live vocals suffer in clarity and quality compared to studio recordings. Of course artists are generally able to make up for this with intensity and delivery which cannot be conveyed in a polished studio recording. This is why we see artists live. Adams voice appears to be an anomaly. Surprisingly enough, his voice actually gained strength and clarity live, which led to vocal interpretations that were off the charts in quality. Which is why it was one of the most popular topics of conversation during the break.

The second set was a little more intimate and off-the-cuff and kicked off with Adams alone at the piano playing a couple of new tunes. Finally, a frustrated fan yelled out, "Play something we know!" This woke up Adams who had hardly spoken all night. "You may not have heard them before, but you know them now," he replied. "I'm a songwriter. That's what I do. Do I come to you at your job and say, 'Stop doing what you're doing. Make something I know.'?" And with that he launched into yet another unfamiliar song. Finally, the ornery Ryan Adams I had been expecting to see made an appearance. But after that he finally gave the crowd what they wanted by playing his gentle, thoughtful cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall" and followed it up with a gorgeous solo rendition of his own "Sylvia Plath". Then more banter with the audience as he awkwardly attempted compliment the efforts of the Historical Preservation Society of Buffalo and was interrupted by a patron telling him to be quiet. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting you?" Adams retorted. "Everyone, can we have a few seconds of silence so this person can finish what he was saying?" Silence. And with that he finished his remarks and resumed the show.

Adams brought the band back out for the final crowd pleasers; a roughed-up, mellowed out "New York, New York" and a raucous, rambling take on "Shakedown on 9th Street" to close out the show.

I have very few complaints about the show. How can you complain when you get 4 1/2 hours of high-caliber live music for $25?! Okay, so the guitar soloing got a little self-indulgent at times and after 3 hours I was starting to wish for a place to sit, but other than that, I couldn't have asked for more. Sign me up for another one.