Ryan Adams photo by Philip Cosores; Alt-J photo by Andy Moran
Ryan Adams is in Portugal this weekend for the annual NOS Alive Festival. The singer-songwriter gave the Lisbon crowd more than just highlights off Cold Roses, Gold, and his self-titled LP, however. At one point toward the closing of his set, Adams snuck in a brief but stinging diss on alt-J, who’d played on-site earlier in the day.
“We’re sorry about alt-J,” he told the audience, according to Stereogum writer Ryan Leas, who was in attendance. “It’s like a mosquito bite — if you ignore it, it’ll go away. I’m just kidding. I love Nickelodeon. It’s a great channel.” And in one fell swoop, Adams reduced alt-J to an annoying, pesky entity suited for the Nickelodeon demographic. Oof. We’re guessing Adams wasn’t too big a fan of the UK indie rockers’ newly released album, Relaxer.
Alt-J will have an opportunity to fire back with their own witty remarks next month, when they and Adams headline Iowa’s Hinterland Festival.
