Old 97's and Ryan Adams' Paths Cross Once Again Tonight St. Louis

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Eileen Tilson
The biggest two shows in St. Louis tonight pit headliners that haven't exactly had a history of friendship. The heat has long since faded, but Ryan Adams, particularly in his Whiskeytown days, was known to have a bit of an attitude about the Old 97's and frontman Rhett Miller in particular. Jesse Hughey, writing for the Dallas Observer, remembers one particular scene from a show in 1998:

Between songs, Adams needled frat guys with remarks about renting friends. Then he put on a pair of black-framed glasses, forced a buck-toothed smile and picked up his acoustic guitar. "Look, we're the Old 97's," he said. "What a nerd!"

The 97's, for its part, kept things a little more subtle -- you can read some theories about diss tracks, which includes an interesting theory about the source material for "Crash on the Barrelhead." You can find a more definite reaction on the Old 97's blog -- a 2004 post offers that they've removed editing features from the comments so people can be as much of an "(old school) Ryan Adams wannabe ;)" as they want. Winky face theirs.

KDHX (88.1) has asked the fans to settle that age-old question of who would win in a Battle Royale between Miller and Adams; you can read the comments for some incredibly hilarious depictions.

Incidentally, nice glasses, Ryan. What a nerd.

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The Pageant

6161 Delmar Blvd., St Louis, MO

Category: Music

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Peabody Opera House

14th St. and Market St., St. Louis, MO

Category: Music

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3 comments
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LannyadurbiN
LannyadurbiN

Old 97s forever.  Admittedly, they don't always hit a home run with every record, but "Too Far to Care", "Fight Songs", and even the latest "Grand Theatre 2" are some of the best albums in the genre.  They have what Adams lacks: a sense of humor.   I cannot get into anything Ryan Adams has done post "Strangers Almanac" by Whiskeytown.  Just seems like a whiny turd to me.  And his songs suck, so theres that too.

But a strait up fist fight?  I'd still say Rhett, but it would be a close fight.  They're both a little sissified, but Rhett is from Texas and they punch people alot down there.

paul frazer
paul frazer

Adams 1 - Old 97's 0. I"ll be at the peabody.

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