Story and photos by Kate Seesholtz
Newly married Ryan Adams and his band The Cardinals played their second
night of sold out shows in Nashville Sunday evening. For more than two and a
half hours Adams and the band played hit after hit to the eclectic crowd.
There was a strong mix of songs from the band's most recent venture,
Cardinology, as well as previous solo work by Adams. As vocalist and guitar
player Neil Casal commented to the crowd, "Nashville on a Sunday? It
couldn't get better."
In between popular songs such as "Fix It" and "Two," Ryan Adams showed his more
humorous side, joking with members of the audience. As he started to play a
familiar chord the crowd erupted into applause and cheers, forcing Adams to
stop and comment, "that could have been anything, why are you fucking
clapping?" He also took time to single out a man in the audience that had
the same shirt on as Casal, even providing an impromptu song about the
coincidence. The humor continued with the "evening joke with Jon Graboff."
That evening's was "I don't drink anymore" "Oh, really?" "Well, I don't
drink any less..."
While humor may have been a theme throughout the evening, the focus was
clearly intent on the music. The crowd went crazy for Adam's often covered hit "When the Stars Go Blue" and a long musical interlude during
"Goodnight Rose." Adams passed off vocals to Casal on a number of songs,
including "Freeway to the Canyon"- a track from Casal's solo album. The band
ended their set with the fast paced political rock song "Magick."
After relentless cheering from the crowd, Ryan Adams and the band eventually
reappeared for an unheard of five-song encore (a sight not seen by every
stop on the tour). The encore began with Adam's famous cover of the Oasis
hit, "Wonderwall." The song sounded even better live, perhaps a result of
the band's time spent on Oasis' tour last year. The encore also saw the
popular "Cold Roses."
Ryan Adams recently announced he is leaving The Cardinals after the band's
final tour stop March 20th in Atlanta. He has commented that he has "a
whole lot of living and learning to do" and is stepping back from the music
world for a while.
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