Nineteenth nervous breakdown: The cranky Ryan Adams will perform July 4 in New York – and that’s it, he says on his site, ryan-adams.com. “I think I quit. In fact, I know I quit. I’m going to be playing in a new band that I won’t be singing in. That’s all … I’m not drunk … And I do quit … I actually feel really good about it. It’s very liberating. I feel like a real person for the first time in for f—ing ever … P.S. The show on the 4th isn’t a last shebang or anything, it was booked for awhile so it isn’t some CHER thing.”
Unsigned band No. 1: Stones wannabees the Witnesses performed at Manitoba’s on Monday; the tiny Lower East Side bar was so stuffed that fans who couldn’t gain entry were stuck hanging with the smokers outside. Some of the crowd may have been drawn by the rumor of a secret show by old punks 999, but the Witnesses owned the room. They return tomorrow night.
Axl Rose Lee: Three woman in Edmonton, Canada, have created a GN’R musical called “Paradise City,” which turns “Sweet Child of Mine” into a soft-shoe swing number, adds funk to “Welcome to the Jungle” and reinterprets “You Could Be Mine” as a torch song. As for the title track: “Paradise City” gets a gospel choir. At least they don’t have to rely on Axl to show up, so there will be no riot.
Unsigned band No. 2:
Our favorite rock ‘n’ rollers, the Shazam, performed a midnight show to a mostly empty Village Underground on Wednesday – but they have high-profile fans. Springsteen guitarist/”Sopranos” star Little Steven Van Zandt – who’s played the Shazam on his radio show, “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” on Q104 – and Canadian artist Ron Sexsmith, on tour with the Wallflowers, were in the house.