Live: Ryan Adams takes it easy at Ann Arbor Folk Fest

I’ve seen excellent Ryan Adams shows (his phenomenal 2007 concert at the Gem Theatre), horrendous Ryan Adams shows (his disastrous set at Lollapalooza in 2006) and completely blah Ryan Adams shows (his opening gig for Oasis at the Palace in 2008). Part of the allure of the trainwreck alt-country troubadour is you never know what you’re going to get — or who you’re going to get — when you see him live.

Friday night at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, as headliner of the first night of the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, Ryan Adams was in fine form: subdued, downtrodden and utterly hilarious. He mixed material sang at a near-whisper with biting, sharp moments of humor, and was never less than whip smart in his banter. His 13-song, hour-long set — his first area appearance in more than three years — was full of moments of quiet beauty, made up almost entirely of songs that seemed to be near suicidal in their temperament. “Thanks for havin’ me. Let’s see if I can’t send you home depressed,” he said at the opening of his set.

Adams, alone on stage and playing a red, yellow and green acoustic guitar, opened with “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” and the sold-out crowd was so hushed that every cough in the audience nearly ranked as a disturbance. Fans were respectful and enraptured by Adams, and he took great pleasure in ribbing them between songs. When someone inevitably yelled “Freebird!” he answered, “what do you mean? This place has so much natural reverb!” And when someone hooted at the first strum of “Dirty Rain,” he called out, “you can’t know what that is! It’s not ‘Dirty Rain,’ it’s a new one, called… Mr. Fancy Pants.” (Later, there was an extended bit that started with a White Lion mention and ended with a reference to pterodactyls that maybe only Adams could truly follow.)

Adams stepped over to his piano for “Sweet Lil’ Gal” — “I thought I’d pick things up for a second,” he joked — and returned later for a slowed-down, reworked “New York, New York.” He closed the set with “Come Pick Me Up,” or the song with “all the curse words,” and left the stage with a wave. Depending on your perspective, the set either ended short or before it had the chance to derail; either way, it was an engaging performance from a charismatic artist who’s been gone too long. No matter which Ryan Adams he is, it’s good to have him back.

Ryan Adams’ set list, 1/27/12, Ann Arbor Folk Festival

1. Oh My Sweet Carolina
2. Ashes & Fire
3. Dirty Rain
4. My Winding Wheel
5. Sweet Lil’ Gal
6. Everybody Knows
7. Firecracker
8. Please Don’t Let Me Go
9. Lucky Now
10. Let It Ride
11. Two
12. New York, New York
13. Come Pick Me Up