concert #15: m.ward @ chelsea | May 19, 2023

2023-12-19 21:17:02

“M. Ward” played music completely alone and only with his guitar in Vienna’s Chelsea – an experience of a different, more comfortable kind.

Admittedly, I initially had no idea who “m. ward” actually is. My partner then pointed out to me that M. Ward was the one who formed “She & Him” together with Zooey Deschanel. And my view of the country musician from America actually changed. If a woman like that makes music with him, then he must have something, right?

When we arrived at Chelsea it was pointed out everywhere that there was a strict ban on taking photos and filming. And to be honest, I thought that was a bit stupid – I’m part of a minority that regularly watches cell phone videos of concerts to remember them, and not making videos of his performance seemed like a theft of my personal memory. What I can say at this point: of course I took photos because I was officially allowed to, and I also took videos, secretly. But otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to write these lines here.

So, how do I describe the appearance of “m. ward“? Basically, he stood completely alone on stage for the entire performance. He was only equipped with his guitar and that alone says a lot. He didn’t need any support, he knew exactly what he was doing, with his guitar and of course his voice. He spun his instrument around regularly, sometimes even dancing with it a little, and sometimes he rested his head on his neck and enjoyed the guitar as his interaction partner, as his object to hold on to.

Looking at his setlist (which I photographed to sketch a better picture here) left me a bit perplexed. Looking at this, I wouldn’t know which songs should be played in which order. but in his case only he had to know his way around. So he played his alternative country pieces to himself and always kept moving. He rocked, hummed and really got into his songs.

and I also found myself tapping along at times, even though I don’t really know anything about country. but his particular form of it and his way of presenting himself seemed appealing, even though I found him relatively unlikable from start to finish. There was a certain ambivalence – is one allowed to sing along or does the artist see this as a disruption to his work? I thought everything was possible with “m. ward”.

“M. Ward” not only enriched us with his ambivalent nature and his own songs, but he also had a few cover pieces up his sleeve. and these cover pieces were then my objects to hold on to. and finally my small, positive points to ultimately rate everything I heard as good. But: maybe m. ward simply hypnotized us all. In any case, the evening was a good one, a comfortable one and, above all, a gentle one. And this gentleness embedded itself in my memory, without any cell phone video support.