M. Ward at the State Theatre — May 1, 2014

M. Ward wore a plaid shirt and a sweet, slight grin throughout his set at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, Thursday, May 1. His vocal performance offered raspy, honey-sweet perfection, sounding more resonant live than in his recordings. A few songs in, he mentioned that the tour stop brought him to St. Petersburg for the first time, and he surveyed the crowd to see if they preferred to call it St. Pete or St. Petersburg. “St. Pete!” was the loudest response. Ward even gushed a little about the Burg, positing that the Burg’s citizens “live in paradise.” Ward gave the performance his all with modest graciousness, showing off his skills on a Gibson and acoustic, plus a harmonica too. His top-notch backup band had one guitarist multitasking on a second drum. He opened with “Poison Cup” and played tunes throughout his catalog, including his latest full-length, Wasteland Companion … (Text by Julie Garisto. For more photos by Daniel Veintimilla, visit Eternal Oblivion on Facebook.)