he only laughs when he's sad, and he's sad all the time so he laughs the whole night through

[jfb]

I had a great time at the Great American Music Hall tonight. I had heard that M. Ward was touring with a band and opening for Rilo Kiley, but I didn't realize that meant that the band backing him up would be... Rilo Kiley. It was cool and kind of funny to see M. Ward transform into a rock band. Anyway, Matt was great, both solo and with the band. His cover of "Let's Dance" remains transcendent, and I think his latest originals are even better than the ones that came before.

Responding to europopkid's post about the L.A. show: I thought the SF crowd was pretty into it. There was some talking in the back during the acoustic songs, but the front was pretty attentive and there was a lot of applause.

Between sets I had a nice conversation with another M. Ward fan, which helped to dispel the perpetual loneliness of the guy-who-came-for-the-opening-act. She lamented the audience's reluctance to dance during Matt's set; I, wistfully a swayer at best, kept my mouth shut. I gave her my card, so in case she finds her way here, Hi Amy.

As for Rilo Kiley: Well, I have no prior experience to compare to, but I thought their set was great. Jenny Lewis played the first song solo from the balcony! Diverse keyboards including, approximately, a Casio and an accordion were employed! The bass stopped working during the encore and it turned into drums and guitar solo until they got it fixed! It was a rock show.

Comments

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

I browsed around that Rilo Kelly site for a while, finally going offsite before I could determine that they were not, in fact, a band of doves.

I need a card for just situations like this.

[michaelpop.livejournal.com]

i purposely didn't mention the identity of matt's "band of four" 'cos i didn't want to ruin the surprise for you. hey, what are friends for, right?

i'm really, really glad you liked rilo kiley. for me they transcend being just 'a rock band'; they're more like old friends from high school that remind you of the 'good old days' whenever you think of them.

and perhaps having been witness to some truly amazing performances in my time, i unfairly hold them to a higher standard of excellence. the LA show wasn't as bad as i'd made it out to be--at least not for someone who had nothing to compare it to. they're a great live band and a whole of fun to watch.

but in keeping with the analogy, it's just like that friend in high school who suddenly gets super popular and you find yourself forced to splitting your time with them with fickle people who don't really *care* or *understand* this person the way you do and who you know will abandon him the second some Pretty New Thing comes to town.

all's fair in rock 'n' roll, i guess.