01.25.08 Ryan Adams & The Cardinals Elsinore Theatre, Salem, OR I hardly ever get a chance to go down to Salem (not a whole lot to go there for, to be honest) but when I had a chance to see Ryan and his Cardinals at the Elsinore Theatre I jumped at it. My pal Greg, who went with me, told me the Elsinore (opened in 1926) is a gorgeous theatre that had fallen into a state of disrepair in the 60’s and 70’s but had gotten a serious facelift in the 80’s (a “Save the Elsinore” campaign had begun) and the place now looks amazing. At 6th row center we had a chance to see these guys up close. We had seen them on their previous jaunt through town last summer where they played all acoustic. Tonight was electric and Ryan was in rare form. Cracking jokes, chain-smoking cigs and seemingly in all around good spirits (though he was begging a gal ,any gal, to take him to her home to play video games). The band, opening with an amazing rendition of “The Rescue Blues”, sounded well oiled and confident and this bunch seem to truly enjoy playing music together (imagine that). We heard a generous portion of tunes from Ryan’s career ( no Whiskeytown tunes though…drats !) , from HEARTBREAKERS “Oh My Sweet Carolina” to GOLD’S “Answering Bell”, plus “Cold Roses”, “A Kiss Before I Go” (yeah, more pedal steel!!) , and several off the latest EASY TIGER, including “Goodnight Rose”, “Everybody Knows” , “Pearls on a String’ and plenty more. This bunch are loose and fun on stage and I’m really glad to see Ryan more comfortable in his own skin these days. Looking forward to the next record to see what they have up their sleeves.