I used to describe Ryan Adams and the Cardinals as an Americana, an alt-country outfit, and bringing my soon-to-be 13-year-old son here (Brooklyn, Kings Theatre!!) I didn’t quite know what to expect (I kind of expected Ryan’s band, featuring Don Was (bass), Chris Stills (guitar), Brad Pemberton (drums), and Daniel Clarke (keys, organ), to have moved on, for sure).
But I didn’t expect what turned out to be three hours of downright, rambling, epic rock music – not even rock music at times – but hard-rock music.
They ended up playing more cover songs than originals… Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” and “Iron Man,” KISS’s “Shout It Out Loud,” Iron Maiden’s “Powerslave,” and yes… Don Was (“Walk the Dinosaur“). Understandably, a lot from “Cold Roses.” And then the rest from “Cardinology” and “Jacksonville City Nights.”
Nothing from “III/IV” or “29.“
BUT I WILL TAKE HIS COVERS OF KISS AND IRON MAIDEN OVER THE LATTER!!! Oh. Yes.
Ryan is now back and with whatever effort he can to bring himself back to his pre-2019 self.
My son was on a short NYC weekend trip with me, and at the start, watching Ryan play, I said, “If you ever really do want to learn how to play one of my guitars, just watch him.” (Yes, “one,” as I have far too many.)
It’s all so effortless and entertaining to watch. Other than the covers, this was all Ryan Adams and the Cardinals materials – there was no veering off to “Oh My, Sweet Carolina.” At one point, my son asked me, “When will he sing “New York, New York?” I didn’t know.
“Soon, I’m sure.” Errrrrr…….
I’ve never been to a Ryan Adams concert that hasn’t finished with “Come Pick Me Up.” So ending with Iron Maiden… and a hard, rocking version of it on a Friday evening in Brooklyn felt refreshing.
Weirdly so!!
This was just Ryan. With all his stuffed staged cats (God, yes, he loves cats) on stage, fog whenever needed, and with the Cardinals, was why I wanted to see this concert so much. It wasn’t just him alone, on a stage, but with friends. Rocking the hell out of the place.
Listening to their “Cold Roses” favorites like “Easy Plateau,” “Beautiful Sorta,” and “Magnolia Mountain,” but then hearing a completely re-worked “A Kiss Before I Go” from what I consider their most alt-country album ever, “Jacksonville City Nights” was so enjoyable. The song became a ballad, rather than the pedal steel guitar and piano-heavy original version.
He’s fun to watch. He’ll ramble on to the crowd between tracks and respond to them. I even yelled at one point, “It’s Friday Night, Ryan!” and his response was something along the lines of “Did someone just remind me it’s Friday? Despite, well, look at my T-Shirt. [He was wearing a vintage movie “Friday the 13th” shirt]. But because I suffer from a bit from OCD, it’s great to get these reminders.“
At the end, it was the time to stand and give these guys warranted applause. This was a great show. I still don’t know what my 13-year-old thought of it all.
But I hope I made him a Ryan Adams fan.
Chris Garrod, August 17, 2023