Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

Photo By Gary Miller

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

Paramount Theatre, July 14

The lone microphone planted out front of the band told the entire story, Ryan Adams stepping up to it only once during the two sets. The rest of the show found him singing from the folds of the other Cardinals, couched inconspicuously amid the seated sextet stage right. Opening with "Please Don't Let Me Go" and "Blue Sky Blues," the echoed atmosphere of his trademark melancholy matched the wash of blue stage lighting and hanging Chinese lanterns. "Blue Hotel," "Cold Roses," and the exquisite "Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play That Part" mined Adams' extensive catalog, his vocal dexterity dancing breathlessly alongside piano and the high-lonesome pitch of pedal steel. Unfortunately, the capacity crowd's enthusiasm fell largely unacknowledged by the band, peaking when Adams emerged to the fore on "Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd" and thrust himself, sunglasses on, against the mic in classic rock star form. The excitement was short-lived. The second set found Adams again retreating into the band and, though his exceptional song craft shone on "Dear John" and "Peaceful Valley" from Jacksonville City Nights, the crowd began to wilt from the subdued sound. Likewise, the smoky blues of live staple "What Sin" and the almost "Terrapin Station" jam of "Magnolia Mountain" offered a prime opportunity to inject some electric energy into the show, but Adams' deft picking remained acoustic. With songs from his latest, Easy Tiger, sprinkled throughout, including "Goodnight Rose" and the aptly titled "I Taught Myself How to Grow Old," Adams closed abruptly on Love Is Hell's "I See Monsters" before exiting sans encore. The main attraction proved mesmerizing in bursts over two hours, but his retiring performance was an odd offering for such a notoriously disparate and naturally charismatic artist.