Ryan Adams caused a stir at a recent gig in Philadelphia, slamming a fan for using a camera flash repeatedly throughout the gig.
Camera flashes during shows are irritating and distracting at the best of times, but it's worse for Adams as it's likely to trigger an episode of his Ménière’s Disease - a potentially debilitating inner-ear condition. It's a condition that he's struggled with, at one point giving him stage fright.
"I think just being dizzy and afraid that someone was going to flash lights at me on stage made me not want to do it, because it makes me want to fall over," Ryan Adams told Gigwise about his condition. "Before I fall over, it’s like having a panic attack. My nervous system feels like there’s electricity shooting through it, and I feel like everything is going to the right."
As Stereogum reports, This came to a head earlier this week, when Adams took issue with one fan in particular - telling them: "Hi, my name is Ryan and I have Ménière’s Disease. If you flash me with your camera, it feels like you took a lightsaber and you sliced my brain in half."
Watch the incident below (around 2 minutes, 45 seconds)
Meanwhile, Ryan Adams will be returning to the UK for a full tour in February. For tickets and more information, visit here.
Feb. 19 - Brighton/Brighton Dome
Feb. 21 - Leicester/Leicester De Montford Hall
Feb. 24 - Edinburgh/Usher Hall
Feb. 25 - Leeds/O2 Academy Leeds
Feb. 27 - London/Eventim Apollo
Feb. 28 - Wolverhampton/Wolverhampton Civic
Mar. 1 - Liverpool/Liverpool Guild of Students
Ryan Adams latest, self-titled album is out now. To celebrate, we asked him to take over Gigwise.
See our Ryan Adams takeover below
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