Jordan Ward runs it back at Antone’s

Ethan McConnell  

Local Music Director  

 It’s around that time when countless bands and artists start their tour runs. I know I would be dead broke if I made the decision to see every single artist I knew coming to town. There is one though that has been on my radar for a good long minute, and I just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. Jordan Ward came down to a sold-out show at Antone’s after releasing his second studio album BACKWARD, with support from rising R&B artist, Dende. 

Dende 

I’m not well versed in the genre of R&B for newer artists. All I’ve known is the main ones my mom would play to let us know it was a cleaning day around the house. Going into the set, it was a very mellow tone of course, not too harsh but easy feeling. The voicing was soft and very melismatic when he would sing syllables of words over multiple notes. The instrumentation was very muted with drums sounding like knocks and clicks with vibrant guitar strums in the back. What stood out was his ability of storytelling in his music when transitioning from track to track, giving the background of where the song comes from. It created a more elevated feel with the music, making it more personal and relatable. With tracks like “Better Than Him” and “Ultimatum” I feel like it captured the perfect cooldown feeling. I also found out that he grew up in Katy, TX, which is not far from where I grew up, making it feel more grounded.  

Jordan Ward  

Moving on to the meat and potatoes of the concert. Jordan Ward has been in the game being consistent in his work doing collabs with artists like Joony and Lido, as well as works here and there spreading promotions with sets on Colors studios and Tiny Desk NPR. Just about last year he went on tour for his FORWARD debut album, and now he’s making a round two for his sophomore album. The set up had a warm home feeling with a tv, treadmill and lamps on stage with little easter eggs from the newly released album. When Jordan Ward took the stage, the presence was felt immediately. You had walking bass lines coming in holding the melody with Jordan consistently holding a falsetto throughout the set, which as a male vocalist is impressive. Not only the singer himself, but the band was well versed with the bassists and guitarist switching between holding the melodic line from each other. It was mainly clean tones with little fuzz. Being in that venue hearing iconic tracks, “Lil Baby Crush”, “SMOKIN POTNA”, and most notable “WHITE CROCS”. The mood set was chilled, but it never got too chilled with splashes of acoustic guitar and light touches of synths giving a cross blend of electro-acoustic all throughout. Emotions were felt heavily through the set leaving a resonating feeling with each fan in the crowd all thanks to that warm at home feeling brought on by Jordan Ward himself.