Star rating: ***
It would be a great shame if the Cardinals became Ryan Adams's Tin Machine. Like David Bowie 20 years ago, Adams is apparently tired of the solo spotlight and now wants to be the guitar player/singer in a retro rock band.
On the evidence of so-so new album Cardinology and Friday night's mammoth set, being one-fifth of the Cardinals is a mixed blessing. Many times during the show it was all too apparent that immersing himself in the band blocked the various shades and nuances of his musical personality. The format favoured lengthy jams and indulged his desire for endless guitar solos, but it didn't allow Adams's best instrument - his voice - to shine, nor let him play his best songs.
Perched out wide on the stage, ploughing through a series of samey songs from Cardinology without acknowledging the crowd's presence, for the first hour Adams failed to connect.
Things didn't take flight until his spectacular reworking of Wonderwall, where the room in the music allowed his voice to soar. From there things improved dramatically, particularly when Adams discarded the setlist and plunged headlong into material from the Cold Roses album: the combination of Magnolia Mountain and Meadowlake Street was electrifying, illustrating the wonderful fluidity of the vocal and instrumental interplay between the band members. However, for a show that lasted almost two and a half hours there were simply not enough of such moments.
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