Apr

20

MWard and friends

Posted by Administrator

April 20, 2005 |

Matt Ward
Columbus Little Brothers has been around for what seems like forever and I think there are good reasons behind that. Its small, intimate and provides the concert goer with a upclose show, not to mention a decent pint of Nut Brown Ale.

Last night LBs hosted Matt Ward, who Ive talked about here many times, though it was my first chance to catch him live. The openers were intruiging to me as well in Norfolk and Western and Devotchka (Russian for girl). I must say I was pleasantly surprised by both openers. I was really only hoping to get one of them that I could walk away from with a nice sound but both were quite interesting. From thier wide array of instruments to thier interchangeable parts (the drummer played in all three acts), the music was refreshing.

I heard a little Colin Meloy in the N and W set, but it could just be due to the vocal arrangements or the violin on a couple songs that brought the Decemberists to mind. Devotchka was next in line and employed some heavy vocal reverb to get thier point across. And even more violin, which was quite nice. I would like to have been able to make out a word or two within the song however, im not sure if the sound/reverb was to blame or something else. My sister came along and bought the Devotchka album she liked them so much. I promised a related post….

M Ward of course headlined, and did not dissapoint, Matt led off with Helikopter and with a full band behind him, was much more upbeat and loud than I expected. This man is just an amazing guitar player, on whatever he picks up. The first half of the set was a rollicking one and I was glad to see a rockin side of Matt. Many of the members of the previous bands were on and off the stage contributing to thier fellow Portlanders set. The ever present drummer even donned the ukelele for a quick Elvis tribute as Matt stepped away for a break. The show ended with a couple jam session type songs with just about every capable musician stepping onstage to contribute, it was quite fun, and you could tell they were enjoying themselves as well.

Heres hoping Matt and Co. come back to Ohio in the near future, maybe a little further south next time….

Related Posts:
She And Him (M.Ward) - Volume 1New Norfolk and WesternHymnsM Ward - Post War Album ReviewCorporate Radio Sucks

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