M. WARD- show review

A week ago, I went with some friends to see M. Ward at Bimbo's in Northbeach.

He played a solo show- meaning it was just him. Him and an acoustic guitar and a piano. Usually, if someone's just gonna do a guy-and-a-guitar thing, I'd rather be seated in a coffee shop, but this guy is so talented, he really kept the show going. I've seen Matt Ward before when he was on tour opening for Vic Chesnutt, so I knew that if it was just him and a guitar, he was entertaining enough to carry the show based on technical guitar chops alone.

But it was obvious that in the years since then, constant touring has allowed him to really hone his showmanship. He added a lot of cool showy touches that went off so slick, like very cool covers, the "premier" of a funny "music video", using a loop station to layer guitars on guitars, finishing by having a young kid come up and play piano with him for the last song.

What a fun night.