Singer-songwriter Sam Phillips was relegated to the opening slot but said more musically and lyrically in 20 minutes than Counting Crows did in a set roughly four times as long.
Her songs are angular, tricky and intense but full of subtly engaging pop hooks.
Her sweet-and-sour soprano, an arresting vehicle, was well served by the sparse accompaniment - Josh Bell on drums and her husband, T-Bone Burnett, playing jagged-edged electric guitar.
Counting Crows may be the ones on magazine covers, but they should count themselves lucky if they ever come up with a single number that combines emotional fire and the drama of restraint as effectively as Phillips' "Baby I Can't Please You," "Circle of Fire" and "I Need Love," from the new Martinis and Bikinis, or her older, semihit, "Trying to Hold On to the Earth."