Secret Meeting score: 80
by Mark Jackson, Philip Moss and Phil Scarisbrick
In January 2017, shortly after the announcement of the new Prisoner LP, Ryan Adams came over to the UK to perform a small number of free guerrilla gigs for fans, announcing them on social media just hours before. Venues included Treadwells Book Shop, London and The Soup Kitchen, Manchester, giving his ever-loyal fanbase an up close and personal in the type of setting he hasn’t performed in since Whiskeytown, right at the beginning of his career.
Following these shows, Ryan performed a final, similar-sized gig at Rough Trade’s ‘East’ branch on London’s Brick Lane. The live recording was put on pre-sale on the Rough Trade website as a limited edition vinyl through Adams’ own Paxam Records, sending Ryan obsessives into hysteria as they clambered to secure one of just 2,000 pressed copies.
Opening the Prisoner-heavy set with that record’s opener, Do You Still Love Me? Adams’ distinctive guitar style and one-in-a-billion voice sucker punches you as soon as the needle drops. For Prisoner, he honed his ‘full-band’ sound (even developing his own VCR guitar pedal), whereas here all that accompanies his voice is his guitar and harmonica, and the results are stunning. The stripped back versions of songs like Doomsday, Tightrope and Prisoner underline the emotional toll his marriage break-up has had on him. There is no slick production, thrashing guitars or drums to dilute it.
After a forgettable, 54-second ad lib song entitled Dunebuggy, we flip over to side B for more Prisoner cuts. Broken Anyway and We Disappear continue in the same vein as side A, before we are treated to a couple of tracks that didn’t make it on to the album. Was I Wrong and Still a Cage in no way feel like material that should have ended up on the cutting room floor, and further display his immense talent as a songwriter.
The set closes with a rarely played run through of 1984 track, Rats In The Wall, and a beautifully delicate rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s 1994 Philadelphia soundtrack single, Streets of Philadelphia. As someone whose recent work has clearly been influenced by The Boss’ eighties albums, it is a fitting tribute as well as a treat for our ears.
The Prisoner tracks on the studio album benefit from all the layered musicianship and electric drive of Adams’ Johnny Marr-toned guitar work. Here however, Adams proudly presents his songs to a hardcore fanbase as he first wrote them- strummed out on his favourite Buck Owens acoustic guitar. Adams’ current contentment and satisfaction shines out on this recording, despite the difficult subject matter. After focusing all of his bitter emotions into penning these tracks, he was seemingly unable to wait until the album’s release date to start sharing his work with his audience. Getting back out onto the road was something you imagine spurred him through his darkest hours when penning such deeply heartfelt songs.
In truth, we are glad that Adams has found a solid live band, in particular with best friends and jamming partners Charlie McTavish and Todd Wisenbaker. Both of whom have helped spark a revised passion into Adams following a torrid battle with Meniere’s Disease that very nearly saw him give up live performance all together. These Live At Rough Trade recordings however demonstrate the quality that Adams continues to produce in his song-writing, whether selling out theatres and headlining festivals with his full band, or using Instagram to organise a last minute acoustic show. In whatever setting, the result will always be sensational. And, once again, Ryan Adams continues to add weight to the argument that he is the greatest singer-songwriter of his generation.
