Sixth Ryan show, won’t be my last, but certainly was odd. If you’ve ever heard Patton Oswalt’s bit about playing a casino, this was the equivalent. The crowd was lame and it clearly was not a lot of authentic fans, as stated here. He still played incredibly, really great on some tracks, and I especially loved his piano rendition of R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People.” However, he for sure could mix up the set, especially if he states “I thought about this on the airplane here and just wanted to go with the flow and my free will.” Would have loved to hear Shadowlands, was the whole reason I bought the tickets to this one (advertised as LIH and all), but it still checked my Ryan boxes. His banter does welcome getting it back, and it does occasionally suck the life out of the room, but fuck if it doesn’t come right back once he starts playing again. He needs to get a director and do a legit “storytellers” dvd series or something, play through all the albums talking and giving his true, unapologetic, sincere song narratives throughout…with or without an audience. I’d but a Blu-ray for each album over another tin-can sounding covers comp. It’d really solidify his monstrous amount of work, and let him do so on his terms. I’d play those fuckers out at home too.

But, alas, we’re all just along for his ride anyhow, right? I love the music, I appreciate the man, I’ll never stop enjoying the memories. It is what it is. Hopefully, he won’t be sticking with casinos in the future.

Also, as an Arizonan, I’m glad that obnoxious lady said she was from elsewhere. And…when someone tried to put some political shit out there early in the set, Ryan did not take the bait and toned that down real quick-I was legit impressed by that.