M. Ward – Dallas Museum of Art – 3/16/09

Tweet

So we heard about M. Ward playing the DMA from the recommendations calendar via Last.fm (fantastic site, by the way – go sign up for a free profile), and even though none of us had heard of a concert inside the DMA, and since none of us were ultra familiar with M. Ward’s music – especially solo – Ben Jill and myself rolled down there not fully knowing what to expect.  (A side note – the DMA has a summer jazz series which takes place outside and is free; Thursdays around dusk, FYI.)  At any rate, M. Ward brought a very relaxed and chilled out solo acoustic show of his brand of country/folk/bluegrass/soul to the DMA and I walked away impressed.  Find the whole review, tour dates and MP3s after the jump. 

Unfortunately, the DMA prohibited photography, so Ben and I only managed to snap a couple of illegal photos with the digicams and a couple with the totally awful iPhone camera, so I apologize for the lack of photographs, but find the proper photos here and my iPhone photo here. 

First up was the opener, who’s name I cannot remember and can’t seem to find online anywhere.  No matter because I honestly was worried that I was going to fall asleep in the middle of her admittedly short set.  Moving on to M. Ward.

I don’t think it really comes across on Hold Time just how talented Mr. Ward is at the guitar.  He started his set with a very technical, very fast paced, and very awesome steel-guitar sounding ~5 minute solo.  Producing an extremely full sound, yet being the only one on the stage was not only impressive, but such a welcome change from the opening act’s slow, even fingerpicked song after song, that he got a rousing cheer from the crowd as soon as the song ended.  Being a solo acoustic only show, this was by far the most energetic of his songs, and he really slowed things down for the remainder of what turned out to be a very solid show. 

M. Ward hit a few songs from Hold Time including Never Had Nobody Like You, and a great Oh Lonesome Me, but generally, the feel of the show is what I understand Jeff Tweedy solo shows to be like – you know many of the songs, but they are very chilled out versions of the same music.  Relaxed, quiet, yet still pretty fantastic, Ward played a relatively quick set, moving to the piano in the corner of the stage for a couple of songs as well.  If you can catch his solo show, I really recommend, but I”m not sure it would work in all venues.  The DMA theater is a completely sit-down affair, and has no bar or anything in the theater, so it lends itself to a quiet, very intimate show.  Bottom line, the solo stuff was very good for what it was.

M. Ward – Oh Lonesome Me - From Hold Time
M. Ward – Jailbird – From Hold Time

M. Ward is currently on tour, and tour dates are as follows:

4/17 – Indio, CA – Coachella
4/18 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
4/19 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theater
4/20 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
4/22 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
4/23 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown
4/24 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
4/25 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
4/26 – Chicago, IL – Vic Theater
5/15 – Visalia, CA – Fox Theater
5/16 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
5/17 – Davis, CA – Freeborn Hall
5/18 – Chico, CA – Senator Theater
5/22 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theater
5/23 – George, WA – Sasquatch Music Festical