M. Ward opened for Rilo Kiley. We actually had a baby sitter, so it was the first show Adrienne and I both went to in a long time.
I came to see Rilo Kiley but ended up transfixed by M. ward. A smallish 20-something with a baseball cap pulled low, he played the guitar like he had sold his soul, and he sang like he was channeling a chain-smoking Louis Armstrong. He is a one-man musical time-machine. I bought his album, Transfiguration of Vincent, and have just been looping it over and over and over.
It wasn’t that long ago that I saw Rilo Kiley at Kilby and there were only about 20 of us there, and it was probably the best show I have ever been to. This time the place was packed and the set list wasn’t exactly what I would have chosen, but it was still a great show. I have to say though, the couple of songs they played with M. Ward were actually some of my favorites of the night.
The only real negative to the show—I managed to stand directly in front of a speaker hanging from the ceiling. Being 6’6“, the sound actually went directly through my head, was amplified by my skull, and then went out to the rest of the crowd.