Last night the Pabst Theater witnessed the transfiguration of M Ward from a man who just a little over a year ago played one of the more intimate venues in Madison, to the premier venue in Milwaukee.  It’s hard to believe the catalogue of music that Mr. Ward has managed to amass since the turn of the century.  Each passing album brings more maturity, a fuller sound, and music that in my opinion is pretty close to as good as it gets these days.

Thus, it’s of very little surprise to me that M Ward is enjoying a bigger audience, with widespread critical acclaim for his recent release, Post-War, after all, he deserves it.  The first time I saw him, I wanted to bolt right out the door, not because of anything wrong with his performance, I was just brutally sick.  I can remember the place I was standing at the venue and the opening riff to CCR’s “Green River” that instantly seemed to cure my weary body and gave me the strength to make it through the remaining two hour performance.  If anyone says music isn’t healing, I’m here to argue the opposite.

For me, the stand out track on his latest offering is the track “Poison Cup,” that found it’s way into the set list as the second song in.  Ward’s backing band provided a perfect compliment to his salty vocals and blues fused guitar playing.  As much as I enjoyed the backing band, the moments I found myself enjoying the most were the simple solo, duet, and trio numbers that Ward and selected band mates performed.  If there was anything that could top that, it most definitely would have to be the night ending cover of the Carter Family classic, “Hello Stranger.”

I’m not sure where M Ward’s Post-War will land in terms of year end favorites; it will be on the list.  The hardest part is that each of his albums has a way of making you fall in love with it all over again, like most great records do, making it extremely hard to judge because it will always continue to grow on you.  His performance last night at the Pabst Theater, and I assume the remainder of this tour, will surely keep him from playing the venues he had in the past.  Initially, that news brought me a small sense of sadness, because there’s always something so great about seeing your favorite artist in a small club or venue, but further contemplation led me to an alternative view.  M Ward’s music deserves a larger audience, it’s been deserving for some time, so I wish him all the success in the word, and have already started to anticipate his next album and pass through town.