Universal Buzz Concert Review: M. Ward at the Mod Club 1/27/07

It takes a truly gifted artist to be able to captivate a crowd by him or herself. To put on a great show with no backup band, no DJ, no accompaniment of any type is a true gift. In all my years of seeing shows, I have only seen a handful of artists who are able to pull it off (Beck, Ben Folds, Kimya Dawson). Now, I am glad to say I can add singer/songwriter M. Ward to that wonderful list.

On Saturday, January 27^th, my friend Anna and I headed up to the Mod Club in downtown Toronto to check out an artist who has been dominating my stereo for the past few months. While “Transistor Radio” and “The Transfiguration of Vincent” have been favorites of mine for a while, “Post-War” took my love of M. Ward’s music to another level. With each album, Ward has expanded his sound and taken it into new territories. And with each step, he continues to get better and better. So when I found out he was embarking on a short winter tour, I jumped at the chance to see him live.

The one concern I had when I found out it was a solo show was how well his new songs with go over without his band there to compliment his sound. Well, that concern was washed away pretty quick. Once Ward took the stage, he immediately busted into the amazing guitar solo of “Duet for Guitars #3”. His finger picking was so smooth and rich in sound, the sold-out crowd just stood in awe of this fantastic songwriter who doesn’t get his due in terms of being an guitar virtuoso. After getting the crowd in just the right mood, Ward went right into “Chinese Translation” with the audience was right there alongside him and they didn’t let up for the remainder of the show.

The set list was a nice balance of upbeat, rockabilly tunes like “Magic Trick” and “Vincent O’Brien” to the mellower, laid back tracks like Transistor Radio’s “Fuel for Fire”. He even put the guitar down and jumped on the piano to play a few tracks like the soothing title track to “Post-War” and even a nice Daniel Johnston cover (not “To Go Home”, which was not played in concert but the M. Ward “Directed” music video was played on the video screens around the Mod Club). One of the true joys of the show for me was hearing M. Ward perform “Undertaker”, the track that first got me into his music. Using his guitar pedals to loop the multiple guitar parts, he recreated the magic of that track live and in person and it was a joy to hear it in the flesh. He took a bow to the audience while that song wonderful hook played on repeat for a number of minutes.

To the crowd’s delight, Ward returned to the stage to perform a few more tunes. After afew tracks, someone in the crowd requested “Rollercoaster”, at which time Ward said he would do if someone in the audience could accompany him on piano. A young man raised his hand and said he could do it and after Ward showed him the chord progression, the two kicked into this wonderful boogie woogie number. Ward again looped his guitar parts before walking off the stage but the young pianist didn’t stop. He kept jammin’ on the piano, even as the security guard signaled for him to get off. It was at that point that M. Ward walked up on stage to and grabbed his harmonica and ended the show on a brief piano/harmonica jam before walking off the stage one final time.

While leaving the show, both Anna and I marveled at how amazing it was to watch an artist captivate a crowd with so little. While other bands might need the laser lights and the fireworks and horn sections and dances and all kind of theatrics to put on a great show, all a gifted artist like M. Ward needs is a guitar and a microphone to give you a wonderful concert going experience.