After folk opener Freakwater, as a celebrity-induced tension fell over the unnaturally hushed Variety Playhouse crowd waiting for M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel to take the stage, my skepticism abounded. I wondered whether all these people were excited about the music they were about to hear, or were they just waiting to see a movie star? I wondered if the music would hold up to “vanity project” scrutiny. (I enjoyed She & Him’s recent debut, Volume One, but wasn’t floored by it.) I wondered if She & Him performances were as awkward as they’d been rumored to be. I wondered what kind of contrast there would be between the veteran M. Ward’s musicianship and newcomer Deschanel’s.
It turns out the Atlanta crowd’s preemptive awe wasn’t unwarranted, though my skepticism was. With a single guitar strum from Ward, Deschanel’s clear, saccharine voice rang out across the Playhouse. “My eyes are so weary,” she crooned on opener “Black Hole,” and it certainly felt as if we had all been hypnotized. The strange crowd silence persisted between sporadic bouts of cheering brought on by Ward’s ever-impressive guitar solos, and Deschanel’s harmonizing with Lavendar Diamond’s Becky Stark on back-up vocals, along with their impeccable backing band. The songs, though for the most part faithful to the album versions, took on a clarity and shimmering beauty I found wholly surprising.