Last night Ryan Adams & the Cardinals were in town, playing at Madison’s Overture Hall in support of their upcoming release Cardinology. Because of the venue, I expected good acoustic sound and I wasn’t disappointed. This could have been one of the best sounding shows I ever attended. Musically the band seemed to give it their all, playing for almost three hours (with a 15 minute break between sets).
The concert started off with two new songs, which went over fairly well with the audience. Next was a solid “Everybody Knows,” a pained and somber cover of Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, followed by another new song. By this point Ryan and the band seemed to be functioning like a well-oiled machine, and came to the first big highlight when they played “Goodnight Rose.” It included a wonderful instrumental jam featuring harmonizing guitars, an almost whispering chant of “goodnight, goodnight” toward the end, which segued into the signature musical riff of the song at full volume to finish.