Got a chance to see M. Ward last night at the beautiful Shalin Liu in Rockport MA

It’s a beautiful venue, but the lighting seems to have foiled my (admitted limited) photography skills.

He’s on a kind of warm-up tour for the impeding release of The Best of M. Ward, I assume coming out on Anti- soon. That meant he did a lot of material from across his catalogue, not just the most recent albums.

“Chinese Translation” – M. Ward live at the Shalin Liu in Rockport MA

He also rolled out a few of his popular covers, including “Rave On” by Buddy Holly and this one:

“Let’s Dance” – M. Ward live at the Shalin Liu in Rockport MA

I am a tremendous David Bowie fan and love the original of that song – which came out while I was a teenager – but I’ve come to like his version even more than the original.

The opener, Amy Vachal, an emerging singer-songwriter out of Brooklyn NY, joined M. Ward for the finale, a cover of the Bing Crosby classic April Showers

M. Ward with Amy Vachal, “April Showers” – live in Rockport MA

I wish I’d captured the whole duet – their voices work very well together. Notice they also opened the curtain on the window overlooking the harbor for the encore – not sure what the rules are for when they have it open or closed but it makes a great backdrop.