It’s rare to find an artist who is so expertly aware of and on top of their craft; one not only capable of recreating their recorded material live, but also skilled enough to make the sounds on stage transcend their recorded counterparts. This is M. Ward. At heart, he’s a studio man, more comfortable at home in Portland meticulously weaving intricate guitar lines together. That is when he’s not busy lending a production hand to the compositions of Zooey Deschanel as one half of She & Him. Side note: when I was leaving the venue, I overheard the following: “Yo man, have you ever heard of Zooey Dechannel?”. It was a priceless moment.
But Ward’s performance at The Vic last night was very much geared towards the longtime fans. Entering the venue, I was intrigued by what the audience makeup would be - it’s hard to deny the career boost brought to his solo career by the immediate success of She & Him - but nevertheless, even a deep cut like “Helicopter” from 2003s Transfiguration of Vincent had the whole room singing along.
With the lights dimming around 8:45, bassist Mike Coykendall and drummer Scott McPherson walked out to begin the slow, plodding rhythms of “Post-War”, a track from his 2006 album of the same name. Ward casually strutted out about a minute in, picked up his signature Gibson guitar, and stepped up to the microphone to fill the room with his unmistakable voice. “Clean Slate”, the opener from his April release, A Wasteland Companion (Merge), followed. One of the more captivating guitar lines he’s written, Ward seized the opportunity to perform an extended intro to the song paralleling the styles of Leo Kottke. It’s moments like these that truly display Ward’s virtuoso musicianship.
Both “Poison Cup” and “Chinese Translation”, favorites from Post-War, were warmly received by the audience. Others, such as “Eyes on the Prize” and “Magic Trick”, were welcomed selections of the setlist as well. A nice surprise came halfway through when Ward announced they were going to try one of his tunes, the track “Whole Lotta Losin’” , from the single album spawned from his 2009 side project, Monsters of Folk.
The main set ended with a beefed up, electrified version of “To Go Home”, a rocking Daniel Johnston cover, again from Post-War. And lucky for us, we got not one, but two encores. Ward closed out the night with “Duet for Guitars #3”, an instrumental gem from Vincent, but also a staple of his live show.
Ward himself has mentioned before his dislike for the road, that it keeps him away from home. This sense of a rushed, let’s-get-it-over-with vibe occasionally would filter throughout the room as he and the band generally allow for a healthy second between songs. But this is strangely welcomed in a way. Ward’s incredibly detailed music requires acute attention, and any excessive banter or theatrics would have proven distracting.
Ward’s A Wasteland Companion is out now via Merge Records.
-Sam McAllister | sam@tandemshoprecords.com
