Why Ryan Adams Isn't Allowing Photos

By LA Weekly Mon., Feb. 20 2012 at 3:30 AM

Illustration by Sam Washburn

By Kiernan Maletsky

Friday night, Ryan Adams performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Check out our review of the show -- the opening act was Val Kilmer as Mark Twain -- you'll see that we have no photos from it.

That's because on this tour Adams' isn't allowing them. His PR is actually encouraging reviewers to bring along a sketch artist; that's what our sister paper Riverfront Times did in their review of his performance in St. Louis, and you can see some of the art in this post. (Big ups to Sam Washburn.) But here, the folks at Disney Hall wouldn't even let us do that.

Illustration by Sam Washburn

Adams' reps say that he is not allowing photography at all the shows in order to cut down on possible distractions for other audience members.

And they're not fucking around. This reviewer from Louisville.com reports strict enforcement on the Louisville stop, saying, "And if you were so foolish as to even flash the backlit screen of your phone momentarily, you were descended upon with klieg lights and a stern admonition to PUT AWAY YOUR PHONE."

Adams is certainly not the first artist to refuse photos on tour. Kanye West did it for his Glow in the Dark tour in 2008, though the reasons were different -- he was hoping to keep his elaborate staging as much of a surprise as possible.

Tags:

Photo Policy, Ryan Adams

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It seems as if the no photo rule applies to press photographers as well as fans. Most concert photographers can get what they need in the first few songs and are used to a 3 song limit, so, this seems a little silly to me to create a blanket 'no photos' rule because of distraction. I think it's more about control than anything else.

Poophead

i took a quick non-flash pic... tough shit!

Testegueste

in going sober he must've also given up the rampant vanity that had him trolling the internet every night for pictures of himself in the lat 90s-mid 2000s!

An even more important question, why does Ryan Adams not allow audio recording of his concerts any more?

Ryan was the most taper friendly artist at his level for over a decade. To many in the taping community, he was the Grateful Dead of his generation.

In the Spring of 2011, prior to his first tour since the Cardinals broke up in 2009, Ryan completely shifts his position on taping, deciding to not allow taping of his concerts anymore. He publically stated his reason was because he was recording the shows to distribute during the promotion of his latest album Ashes & Fire. But, not recordings have surfaced.

During the course of the Ashes & Fire tour, his position became so rigid that long time fans (people who where allowed to record previously) where searched after being spotted at his concerts. What a shame.

All too often I spend an entire show watching it through the back of everyone else's camera's and smart phone. Nothing sucks like not being able to see because every ass in the place is holding up their phone to take shitty pictures for the entire show.

bubba

kudos for killing the cameras... I get so sick of people holding up their stupid cell phones in the way of my viewing of the show... just relax and listen to the music and watch the show...

BTW, MM... that was BRYAN Adams... not Ryan Adams...

Real Deal

Bubba DUDE!!! Take NOTICE!! They are addressing REAL Photographers and NOT CELL PHONE BULL SHITE! So, You Need to be Educated as to what you are giving "Kudos' Too. Concert Photography is NOT CEL Phone None-Sense!!