Iron & Wine played at The Depot last Friday, October 9. Ken Pomeroy opened the show.
Iron & Wine is known primarily for its exceptionally beardy lead singer, Sam Beam, and for gravitating toward the quieter side of things. After seeing his concert, I was reminded of an earlier idea: he must be held to higher standards than most. Maybe it’s always been that way for him. But more than a few criticisms came my way from some who’d attended, and all within 24 hours of the concert. Baffled me a bit. Perhaps I judged the performance less harshly, especially when it was earmarked with all I’ve come to expect from an Iron & Wine concert.
There were the jokes about it being impossibly quiet, both during and between songs (“Hey keep it down, I can hardly hear myself drink!”), a largely respectful, ears-wide-open audience, stage design that doubled as traveling artwork, the relaxed atmosphere that attends the music like a welcome stranger and — maybe best of all — their choosing to offer up new and usually reinvented versions of songs in their catalog. Beams’ live shows are not carbon copies of his albums, and they’re one of the few bands I know to prove that whenever they play. Some don’t like that, and I can’t quite get enough. Keeping things fresh is cause for a lot of celebration.
Photos by Natalie Simpson
Beam sang some beautifully half-whispered favorites (hat tip, sir), songs attached to melodies that tend to stick around in my headspace far longer than a whole heap of others. Songs like “Call It Dreaming,” “Freedom Hangs Like Heaven,” a first-ever experience hearing “Jesus The Mexican Boy” live, and bringing it all home with “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” for an encore. Yes, it was a solid way to end, especially when many in the crowd were nailing those high notes in the chorus (you know the ones), the choir the band never expected but loved being part of.
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