Ryan Adams makes good

As Ryan Adams & the Cardinals took the stage at the Brown Theater Wednesday night, crowd tension, nervousness and anticipation hung heavy in the air. This was his last chance to make good with Louisville. To patch up a friendship so rightfully earned.

A few years ago, Adams took the Brown stage a bit under the weather. He was grumpy, feverish, annoyed. Which is understandable, but is something a paying Louisville audience doesn’t forget. Then came May’s WFPK Listener Appreciation debacle. Some speculate he was again grumpy and in pain from a recent skateboarding injury to his wrist. Others claim it was Ryan being Ryan. The closing act for the second night’s concert, Adams came out with his band, hiding underneath a hooded sweatshirt and shower cap. The subdued blue-lit hue never turned to a spotlight. No one member of the band was ever lit up. They sat all in one row, and you could hardly tell which was Adams. They played a handful of songs from the yet-to-be-released Easy Tiger, then abruptly exited the stage, leaving the audience aghast, then angry.

So here we were — anticipating the worst but hoping for the best. As Adams stepped in front of the mic, a roar of approval cut the tension. This was Ryan Adams, after all.

He started in to a song off his new album, Easy Tiger, and browsed through his 10-album catalog for a solid two hours. There was applause. There were standing ovations. There was Adams’ amazing voice.

Though some (drunken) members of the audience continued to annoyingly shout requests to a musician known for sticking to his playlist, Adams seemed giddy, breaking in at times to a deep Southern drawl as to poke fun at where he was playing. Heckling the hecklers, so to speak. It was all in good fun.

When the last note of “Cold Roses” was sung, Adams thanked the audience and left the stage. This time, instead of boos and fury, the audience rose to their feet and welcomed back a friend. —Sara Havens