M. Ward finding his way
Somerville Theatre, Somerville, Mass., February 18, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
She may not be with Him this time around, but all things considered, life is pretty great about now for M. Ward. He just released the very solid "Hold Time," his first since "Volume One" with actress Zooey Deschanel as She & Him to much acclaim last year. He's getting a tremendous amount of press with the new CD, and the CD looks to be among the best selling albums this week in the U.S., quite a feat considering that he's going against the likes of Taylor Swift, Plant/Krauss and The Fray.
With all that happening, he just started a tour with this being the second stop, the night after guesting on David Letterman.
Ward strode on the stage at the sold-out show, with acoustic guitar in hand to launch into the new material with the soft-sounding title track and the more forceful Lullaby + Exile from "Transistor Radio with acoustic guitarist Mike Coykendall helping out.
The rest of the band then came out with Ward playing about eight songs from "Hold Time." There was a lot of a twangy, rootsy feel to the music with a song or two outright country sounding. Ward's guitar playing was one of the highlights for sure, adding a lot of bite to the songs.
He didn't drag out the songs. Basically, these were two or three-minute songs, sometimes with a pop bent, other times slower and more moody. Ward did a credible job in singing and putting the songs across, but with the raspy quality to his cords, he could not be accused of having a pretty voice.
One big negative was the length of the show. Ward played a 900-seat theatre and to clock in at 70 minutes is quite chintzy to say the least. That's more like what you'd expect playing a club. Maybe. It was almost disbelieving to hear Ward say "The night is coming to an end" before launching into Big Boat to close the regular set and "This truly is our last song...we're all out of songs" prior to a smart, slowed down cover of Rave On from the new disc.
Ward also wasn't exactly exciting on stage either. He cut somewhat of a presence with his songs, but he was not particularly engaging and had little to say.
Maybe chalk it up to being just the outset of a tour where kinks inevitably need to be worked out and everyone needs to get in gear. The songs were there. Add a dose of excitement, more interaction, learn a few more songs, and he'll be on his way.
