The show started off once again with "One Kiss Before I Go". A great poppy

country rock song that sounded like it was straight off a Whiskeytown

record. "Shakedown on 9th Street" was great tonight, and started with Ryan

singing rather than Brad Pemberton Bo Diddley's rhythms. The highlight for

me though was the medley/jam of "Cold Roses" into "Bird Song"! The thing was

flawless!! It definitely lasted over ten minutes (maybe 15? maybe 20? i

dunno) and liked this way better than any of the "Wharf Rat" jams that I've

heard. Rachel Yamagata sang brackground vocals on this song as well....

Everything else that was played in set one was very strong for the most part

and "Come Pick Me Up" was awesome! Came as a little bit of a surprise.

Set two was filled with a lot of his "Heartbreaker" and "Gold" songs. "Oh My

Sweet Carolina" was played electric and started off quiet with just Ryan and

kept building as it went along. "When Stars Go Blue" was another great

version, but I had some trouble hearing the solo at the end. Ryan played a

new version of "Let it Ride" that was slightly more laid back and had Rachel

Yamagata singing background vocals. "Why Do they Leave" was one of two major

highlights for me in the second set. The song sounds great with the

Cardinals. The end of the song featured a harmonica solo, lead guitar solo,

and a sick solo on pedal steel! Great version! "To Be Young" was slow and

bluesy and ended with tons of energy. "La Cienega Just Smiled" was a little

rough at times, but good. Then the other major highlight for me came with

"Rosebud"!! Fucking awesome live! The album version is slow and folky....

the live version is almost on the verge of punk but still keeps a little bit

of that Grateful Dead sound, sounds like something straight off "Rock and

Roll" live!

Then Ryan came out for the encore and played a brand new song that he was

working on that day called "Beach Front Town" on piano. Although there were

some verses in the song where he was joking around, I felt like overall it

was a really great song and had some potential to wind up on an album

someday!

Awesome show!! The Northampton show was good too, but when i left that one,

I kinda didn't know what to think. After this one, I was just pumped! So for

everyone out there, who thinks Ryan isn't as good live as he used to be....

you're wrong! Last night showed what him and his band are capable of on this

tour! It was a great night!