Onward And M. Ward

I have to say I am quite excited to see M. Ward rolling into town again tomorrow night. The last time through he played with DeVotchka (which deserve a whole host of accolades themselves) and I was absolutely blown away by his performance. I went in expecting a subtle, solo-acoustic show and got a ballsy, bluesy full-band experience. And I do emphasize the word experience in that sentence. Ward’s dexterity with a guitar is nothing short of astounding (which I never would have guessed by his catalogue) and his voice commands a room at once like a cannon and at other times like a soulful seducer. Needless to say, this show is highly recommended.

Check out an Mp3 off of his latest Merge release, Post-War, which just came out on August 22nd. It’s called "Magic Trick" and it’s no illusion (sorry) that it’s one of my favorite songs of the year. Buy the record, it's GREAT!

And here’s what is left of his tour:

09.09.2006 Columbus OH Little Brothers
09.11.2006 Toronto The Mod Club
09.12.2006 Montreal QC La Sala Rossa
09.14.2006 New York NY Webster Hall
09.15.2006 Alexandria VA The Birchmere
09.16.2006 Philadelphia PA Theatre of Living Arts
09.17.2006 Somerville MA Somerville Theatre
09.18.2006 Charlottesville VA Satellite Ballroom

w/ Portastatic
09.19.2006 Carrboro NC Cat's Cradle

w/ Lambchop & Portastatic
09.20.2006 Nashville TN Belcourt Theatre

w/ Portastatic
09.22.2006 Denton TX Hailey's
09.23.2006 Austin TX The Parish
09.25.2006 Tucson AZ Rialto Theatre
09.26.2006 Tempe AZ The Clubhouse
09.27.2006 San Diego CA San Diego Woman's Club
09.28.2006 Los Angeles CA Henry Fonda
09.29.2006 San Francisco CA The Fillmore
09.30.2006 Portland OR Aladdin Theatre