Songs driven by smooth, subtle guitar riffs, achy vocals and sincere lyrics have a tendency to transcend musical trends, and few modern artists have mastered the craft of arranging such tracks like Portland’s Matt Ward. Between the success of his 2006 breakthrough, Post-War, and the 2009 release of his sixth studio album, Hold Time, M. Ward fortified his role as a figurehead of contemporary folk-rock by contributing to high-profile side projects She & Him (with Zooey Deschanel) and Monsters Of Folk (with Conor Oberst and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James). Ward’s sound is a throwback to a simpler time in rock music—and based on his reception at the first of two shows at 9:30 Club last night, it’s an era for which many feel a certain ironic nostalgia. The show opened with the politically charged rock of D.C.’s Chain And The Gang, the latest project of local indie mainstay Ian Svenonius (formerly of Dischord’s Nation Of Ulysses and The Make-Up). In many ways, Chain And The Gang’s set was a stark contrast to Ward’s style: flamboyant, preachy, and cacophonous. Flanked by four fellow band members in full-body prison stripes, Svenonius took the stage in a white suit and flailed through the set, belting out demands for reparations from the government, a detailed account of how he killed JFK, and our general lack of progress as a society. The band’s militant post-punk aesthetic fell on the deaf ears of the folky crowd.
In his usual style, M. Ward opened his set with a brief but powerful solo acoustic performance—at times emitting the sound of a full five-piece band from his guitar. His crackling voice debuted with “Fuel For Fire” off of 2005’s Transistor Radio, accented with beautiful, Dylan-esque harmonica lines. By the time the band joined Ward on stage for the set’s third song, “Post-War,” couples throughout the crowd had already cozied up into warm, tender embraces, setting the tone for a night of vomit-inducing adorableness more befitting of a rom-com marathon than a rock show.
Ward eventually shifted focus to his latest work with a string of tracks from Hold Time: “Rave On,” “Never Had Nobody Like You,” “Hold Time,” and “Jailbird.” Although these tracks effectively pulled the crowd out of its initial lull, the most noteworthy performances of the night were off his earlier albums. “Big Boat” (off Transistor Radio) was the set’s most stimulating track, featuring a keys-hammering piano solo reminiscent of a young Jerry Lee Lewis, while “Chinese Translation” and a glammed-up rendition of “Poison Cup” (both off Post-War) were noticeable crowd favorites.
If there’s anything that can be said about M. Ward’s stage presence, it’s that he’s efficient. Ward kept the stage banter to a minimum all night, rarely even addressing the crowd between songs. And with an extensive list of three- to four-minute tracks in his catalogue, the nearly 20-song set seemed to fly by. Even the night’s two encores seemed a tad sparse, each treating the eager crowd to only one bonus performance (Post-War's “Magic Trick,” then “To Go Home”).
To be fair, M.Ward has never claimed to be a showman. At his core, Ward is a songwriter—and a damn good one at that. We don’t come to one of his shows expecting to leave drenched in sweat or mesmerized by wild onstage antics. We come to be charmed, living in a state of gooey lucidity. And in that respect, last night’s show was an undeniable success.
http://www.avclub.com/dc/articles/m-ward-and-chain-and-the-gang-at-930-club%2C31132/
