Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, Tulsa, 2.28.09

For the second time this year, Ryan Adams and The Cardinals made their way to Tulsa, this time in support of their most recent LP Cardinology, and for the second time this year, I was there (for Lawyer's earlier review from the same tour, click here). After playing Cain’s Ballroom their first time through, this trip brought them to The Brady Theatre, a converted church just two blocks down from Cain’s. Those in attendance got a solid dose of alt-country from some of the best in the business-- but is that enough?

My fellow concert-goers consisted of three individuals in their early twenties, two males and a female, all of which count themselves as Adams’ fans (although, to be fair, the young lady wasn’t as familiar with his pre-Cardinology work). After grabbing a bite at local Mexican restaurant Mexicali and a quick stop at a watering hole, we made our way to the The Brady. The venue holds 2,500 with the classic horseshoe shaped balcony open, a perfect size with hardly a bad seat in the house.

The stage was decorated with the symbol from the cover of their most recent album framed by two blue neon roses, the official symbol of their band taken from their inaugural Cold Roses CD. The band took the stage at 8:30 sharp, launching into mid-tempo country rocker Let It Rock off Cold Roses, a somewhat surprising lead-off number (my money had been on Magick, the hard-rocking number off Cardinology), but a choice that, for good and ill, was appropriate for the evening.

The next song was Easy Tiger standout (and Lawyer fav) Two, followed by A Kiss Before I go (Jacksonville City Lights) then two off Cardinology, Evergreen and the great Fix It. Peaceful Valley, the sixth song of the night, was the first that really ignited. And therein lies the problem with this concert for me. While the band was consistently solid and Adams’ voice, down to the trademark howl and falsetto, where in fine form, this concert never truly took off. They stuck to the mid-tempo southern rock and altcountry that is The Cardinals stock-and-trade, and there’s no one out there doing it better, both musically and lyrically, than they (my apologies to Wilco fans).

Still, as long as Neal Casal is playing lead guitar for The Cardinals, the best guitarist in the band, Adams himself, is wasted. This is particularly glaring when they play Ryan’s solo material and Casal’s take on Adams’ riffs is wanting. It’s not that Casal isn’t a capable guitarist, he’s technically very good, but that genius, the special ability that the truly greats have to ratchet it up or pause a fraction of a beat, to interject a little jazz and improvise magic on the fly, he’s missing that. And Ryan has it in spades. Go back and listen to Heartbreaker, in particular Shakedown on 9th Street, and you’ll hear it. With Casal at the helm, The Cardinals are always a powder keg about to blow, but not quite there.

The first set, a solid ten songs with two more standouts, Cold Roses and Why Do They Leave, ended with Adams promise that they’d be back in five minutes “to play until curfew.” True to his words, they came back and played until 11:00. Their second set was 14 songs, lead off with my all-time favorite, I See Monsters. Other stand-outs included crowd favs Come Pick Me Up, Wonderwall, and When the Stars Go Blue. The closer, Magick, was exactly that and should have been placed earlier.

Overall, a very good concert, but not a transcendent one.

Complete Play List:
Set 1
Let It Ride
Two
A Kiss Before I Go
Evergreen
Fix It
Peaceful Valley
Everybody Knows
Why Do They Leave
Rescue Blues
Cold Roses
natural Ghost
Set 2
I See Monsters
Close The Door (?)-first of two songs of Neal Casal's album and sung by Neal
Goodnight Rose
Beautiful Soul (I believe a new song)
Like Yesterday
Wonderwall
Born Into the Light
Come Pick Me Up
When the Stars Go Blue
?(Another song by Neal Casal)
?(Didn't recognize this song and can't findn the lyric)
Easy Plateau
Bartering Line
Magick