Nobody blames the happy guy
Adam Green, Jackie Cohen, Ryder The Eagle
European Tour presented by FM4 Indiekiste, Flex Wien, Austria 20191105
It’s been a while since the (early) 2000s. Names like Beck, Eels, Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter, The White Stripes and Pete Doherty with The Libertines and Babyshambles dominated the Indie spheres. Now, years after Albert Koch of the Musikexpress stated the death of the genre, FM4 presents an Indie heavyweight at the Flex Vienna.
As a starter, Ryder The Eagle gets on stage alone. Holding something like an iPod, he tells “This is my band. I’m gonna play three songs for you” starting about the American Dream, dancing and jumping. Just a little later during the second song, he is already down right between the guests. On the FOH, getting rid of his shirt, he gets the diverse audience with his performance of “Wounded Bird”. The second support is Jackie Cohen with Kevin Basco (Rubber Band Gun). With her she got songs like “Take Care Of Your Skin” from her new record “Zagg”, a nickname she was given in high school. The happiness of the two playing, singing and joking together seems to be infectious.
The main reason for the gathering is Adam Green. The man who got attention with The Moldy Peaches and gets compared with e.g. Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Scott Walker and Leonard Cohen headlined the Szene Open Air back in 2010 and also creates movies like “Wrong Ferrari” with Macaulay Culkin. His set contains the classic “Emily” already as second song, before the title track of his latest record “Engine of Paradise”, which music video visualizes his comic “War and Paradise”. Also “Cheating on a Stranger” is new. Adam dances and smiles like in a dream. The whole band is an eye-catcher in general, with Ryder The Eagle on guitar, the keyboardist with the wonderful whipping hair and the drummer “check out his band The Pirouettes!” For “Drowning Head First” from “Sixes and Sevens” Jackie gets back on stage. The regular set ends with “Jessica”. During the encore, Adam goes crowd surfing and let the audience enjoy his great voice a little more, before the whole tour gets to an end too.