Ryan Adams-National Stadium Dublin 28th Nov

I have finally sat down to see my favourite artist performed after years of waiting, A trip to Dublin that has been dreamed of for so long had taken place last Wednesday night, I arrived sociably late , well had drinks beforehand was greeted by the cardinals in full flight as i found my seat in the dark of a dusty boxing hall in the heart of the city, The Scene was set there they were , everything was in place , nice number of warm up pints, good seats, good company (Thanks Clare & Cousins), A Singer and band who boosts a Discography that any artist would die for.

The Set list was one of the most unusual ones from the current tour as he picked unusual selection throughout his number of albums, 3 from heartbreaker, his first solo album for example, But it was clear tonight the cardinals were a tight unit and their 2007 tour as been a success, each song was magically pulled off to perfection and Ryan's Harmonies with fellow cardinal Neal Casal was on fire, Jon Graboff on pedal steel guitar just puts the finishing touch on this pristine outfit.

As with every gig there are always flaws maybe this is due to the fact that I have been waiting for this night for so long or I have been expected too much from Ryan, I have also listened to hundreds of Live performances from the 2007 tour and my standard was set very high already. The gig Lasted two hours and as we know this man has a serious amount of songs and know one in the audience had all their favourites sang due to the enormity of his back catalogue , maybe the set list could have been better, maybe he should have stopped his constant ramblings about Diet Coke and spiders between songs and maybe he should have just got on with the songs and made the concert seem as though he was taking us on a trip where the songs flowed and inter weaved between each other from a high number to a low soft number but hey as I said my standards were set way to high.

I really enjoyed the night in Dublin , Thanks to the cardinals for turning up and giving us some great memories and perfectly played music. I took some great highlights from the gig witnessing wild flowers, Sun also sets and Two live were superb. Cheers!

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - National Stadium. Dublin 28/11/2007, Two -final encore(recorded from my camera phone)