Ryan Adams & the Cardinals @ Hammerstein, Halloween 2007

This was my first Ryan Adams show - as I mentioned this summer, I just got into his music - and I really had no idea what to expect. This show began at 8pm and ended around 11:10, with a 15 minute intermission. For those counting, that's about 3 hours worth of music. Honestly, I could have arrived at the beginning of the second set and left a happy man. The first set, while consisting of some great songs, was a little too jam band-ish for me. It gave the Cardinals, an outstanding band in their own rite, a good chance to spread their wings so-to-speak but given the venue and my surroundings (Hammerstein is brutal), I just couldn't get into it. With a fifteen minute intermission (which felt like 30) to follow, our morale was a bit low. The 2nd set, however, was perfect. Great songs, one after the next that seemed tight and more focused. The encore also featured two songs that I wanted to hear most, "Let it Ride" and the AIC cover, "Down in a Hole." Perhaps some of his fanatical followers expected more from a tour closer on Halloween night but again, this being my first show, I'll leave that to the pundits.

Set list:
Set #1:
Peaceful Valley -->
Blue Hotel --> Peaceful Valley
Mockingbird
Beautiful Sorta
The Rescue Blues
The Sun Also Sets
When the Stars Go Blue
Goodnight Rose
Cold Roses
Freeway to the Canyon
Jon Joke/Spacewolf Happy Birthday
Off Broadway/Jam
Please Do Not Let Me Go

Set #2:
Bartering Lines
A Kiss Before I Go
The End
Dear John
Night Birds
Wild Flowers
Shakedown On 9th St
Everything Changes
Why Do They Leave
Two
Halloweenhead
Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.
I See Monsters

Encore:
Let it Ride
Down in a Hole
What Sin/Jam -->
Peaceful Valley End