Emily Campbell
After interviewing Catherine of country sister duo Ward Thomas at the end of March, Impact’s Emily Campbell headed to their performance at Birmingham Town Hall on the 6th of April to review. Their tour was in celebration of their newly released album ‘Music in the Madness’. Therefore, they performed most of the tracks from this album, but the audience also got the chance to hear a collection of songs that spanned across their discography.
Ward Thomas are what the current music industry should be all about – pure musical talent, honesty, a genuine dedication to their fans and a clear love for the music they are producing and performing. Their musical talent vocally and instrumentally was clear from the very beginning of the set. They performed All Over Again first, the third track from ‘Music in the Madness’ and their effortless harmonies and sublime vocals immediately shone.
My favourite moment of the concert was their performance of their title track Music in the Madness which depicts the moments of light in the darkest times and how music can bring us together
Their band are immensely talented, and the multitude of instruments available allowed Ward Thomas to diversify the instrumental accompaniment across their setlist. For Cartwheels the band left, and the duo accompanied themselves with guitar and piano. This was vastly different to their upbeat very country-rooted songs Push For the Stride and Justice and Mercy which were the heaviest texturally with the full band of drums, bass guitar, electric guitar and piano accompanying them. The songs also featured impressive guitar riffs. Razorlight’s America, their only cover to feature in the concert, involved the full band and their support act Charlie Worsham who played the mandolin adding even more texture to the performance.
The duo not only had great chemistry between the two of them but their interactions with the crowd created a warm, welcoming familiar environment
My favourite moment of the concert was their performance of their title track Music in the Madness which depicts the moments of light in the darkest times and how music can bring us together. The song is lyrically superb because at least one of the lines will resonate with each person in the audience. It is the perfect title song for the album because it encapsulates what the whole album is about, finding “peace in the chaos” and “light in the dark”. These themes are reflected particularly in songs such as Next to You and If It All Ends Today.
The duo not only had great chemistry between the two of them but their interactions with the crowd created a warm, welcoming familiar environment. In I Believe in You they split the audience in half and had us singing the bridge section “You’re on your way, yeah” in harmony. This got the whole audience involved and created a great uplifting atmosphere.
The concert ended with an encore of their most popular song Carry You Home from their second album ‘Cartwheels’ and Love Does from ‘Music In the Madness’. While the theatre-like venue encouraged the audience to sit back and enjoy the music by the last two songs everyone was up on their feet singing along which made the perfect end to a brilliant music-filled evening.
Emily Campbell
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article images courtesy of @wardthomasmusic via Instagram.com. No changes were made to these images.
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