Only one encore?

Matt Ward, when I first heard him, I thought he had an awful lot of live promise.

Some performers are made for jams, not production. Ward's one of them.

The gig was so, so, so worth losing sleep over. There is nothing so fine as watching a well-tuned machine plow through challenging music. That Ward had never played with his backing band live before tonight was something that made me laugh aloud. Phenomenal jams.

The guy evokes the Tom Waits of many years ago, but the jams are rocking in a roots/blues kind of way, and a lot more edgier than I've heard Waits doing. I couldn't believe how much more aggressive and developed Ward was onstage.

Some artists are defined by their production (U2, Radiohead, and from the "now" scene, Bloc Party) while others are destroyed by the overthought process that's inflicted on them by well-intentioned but narrow-viewed producers. Ward, live, is a thing to marvel at: a relentless strummer with his very own picking style--a curious, curious style of picking I could watch all night long. Straight-up virtuosity.

I swear to God, the dude is double-jointed on his right hand. He may have even been wearing false fingernails. I couldn't quite tell. Hey, don't knock it, it's done by some strummers, y'know.

As for his singing, I've mentioned the Waits reference, but what I love is his strained raspy voice. Although he's got that Waits sound going on, he's definitely got a bit more range. He's got great phrasing and rhythmic change-ups.

I'm thinking it's time to hunt down some of the bootleg performances that I can only hope are kicking around.

[PS: Ward's a hottie, the kind who exudes sexuality but never cockiness. Got that oh-so-not metrosexual thing going with the battered jeans, little bit stretched mustardy sweater, slightly unkempt but not-too-long curly dark hair, and the always-sexy soulpatch. Too bad about the ballcap. I think he's one of those performers who likes to "watch" his audience, so he tugs the cap down low over his eyes, and you never once see 'em during the show. Then again, that's kinda hot.]