Iron And Wine Concert S
The River House Restaurant Concert Series. Iron & Wine’s latest release is Love Letter For Fire, an album of duets with fellow singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop.
With a haunting, whispered vocal style reminiscent of Elliot Smith and folk learnings of John Fahey and Nick Drake, Iron & Wine makes timeless indie-folk music that soothes the soul. Born in Chapin, South Carolina, US, Samuel Beam initially studied art at the Virginia Commonwealth University before moving on to become a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami, Florida. Iron & Wine first gained attention from the music industry after the broth roof Band of Horses singer, Ben Bridwell, gave a demo to the editor of Yeti Magazine, which attracted the attention of record label Sub Pop, who then went on to propose a deal to Beam.
His first album was released on Sub Pop in 2002, 'The Creek Drank the Cradle,' produced by Beam at his him recording studio. His second, 2004's 'Our Endless numbered Days' was a more polished affair and brought Beam to wider attention from critics and the public. His music went on to be featured on several movie and television soundtracks, including 'In Good Company' and 'Garden State.' Beam's five studio albums have garnered greater chart success, with his 2011 release 'Kiss Each Other Clean' okaying at number six in the US. Beam is a multi-instrumentalist, playing a variety of stringed instruments to accompany his vocals, from banjos to slide guitar.
His musical style has developed throughout his career, featuring more ornate arrangements and incorporating new influences, such as traditional Mexican music and jazz, as seen in his collaboration with Calexico on the 2005 EP, 'In the Reins' and 2007's 'The Shepherd's Dog,' which went on to be voted one of the top ten albums in 2007 by Paste Magazine. We have followed Sam Beam, a.k.a. Iron and Wine, for years. We followed him through his early acoustic period. We followed him through the bigger, louder, more pop-influenced sounds of 'Kiss Each Other Clean' (secretly lamenting the loss of the earlier, acoustic Sam Beam).
Last night he did an acoustic set at The Adelphi Theatre in London. Of course, we were there. And he did not disappoint. The bearded wonder has to be, is, my favourite musician, by a mile.
He is relaxed and laid back on stage, and the whole evening was made more wonderful by the setting - a small, intimate theatre, like a late-night fireside chat with your best friend (if your best friend were funny, an amazing guitar player and had the voice of an angel). He interacts with the crowd, charming us with his self-deprecating little jokes, playing the Iron and Wine lottery and egging us on so people start frantically screaming the name of every Iron and Wine song they have ever heard in the hopes that he will play them that one song.And he plays some of them, and he doesn't play others, and sometimes he forgets the lyrics or the chords halfway through the song. And that might annoy some people (we paid to see him! It's the least he can do!) but honestly, in the whole, warm, glow of 'I love Sam Beam', it's part of his unassuming charm, and we love him for it, because he's so unrepentant. And YOU try writing and remembering a whole canon of songs with as many words and see how well you do. Because Sam is so relaxed, the audience is relaxed, exchanging jokes and bantering with him, alternately laughing and whooping. There is a lot of whooping.
But the real testament to Iron and Wine is that as soon as Sam starts playing, the entire crowd goes completely silent. I don't think I've been to many concerts where the audience is quite so reverent of the performer and his music. There isn't even the usual annoying drunk girl who you feel you want to smack because she's talking loudly while you're trying to listen to 'The Trapeze Swinger'. Every one is there to hear Iron and Wine, and he plays and he sings and we are all full of music and song. He varies the arrangements, he adds vocal arrangements, and he keeps it interesting and relevant. His voice is wonderful and when he duets with Ms Jessica Hoop, the harmonies are beautiful, in particular their duet of her song, Hunting my Dress. I didn't cry this time, but it was a near thing.
Come back again, Sam Beam, come back soon. We miss you already. S mentioned before, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) performed a full set to open the evening. Iron & Wine was the first musical act I ever saw at Red Rocks (when he opened for Flight of the Conchords back in 2008), so there was some nostalgia floating around when he reminisced about the time he “opened for a comedy act.” This was the first time he’d performed the Rocks in broad daylight though, so it was nice that he was encouraged by a large crowd who were full of song suggestions. “Damien’s people are my kind of peoplepeople who like to mellow the fuck out.” It’s never easy to perform solo with an acoustic guitar while the sun is shining on thousands of people, but Beam used wordplay, sarcasm and an inviting sense of humor to woo the crowd into his ‘mellow’ way of life.
Showing equal attention to compositions from across his entire body of work, Beam wasn’t too cool to take requests from the crowd, “You guys have a lot of good ideas,“ but he also wasn’t afraid to stand his ground when necessary, “You’re pretty adamant about that one, but I’m afraid it ain’t your day man.” The music was extremely easy going. Even “Me and Lazarus”, from the more experimental Kiss Each Other Clean, was stripped down for the occasion. There was just something about Beam’s voice and disposition that held the crowd’s attention though. Marijuana might have had something to do with it, “you guys are high, but it’s ok, so am Iit makes this shit sound good,” but Beam’s performance as Iron & Wine is the type of thing the Red Rocks Amphitheatre was built for. As he closed things out with an extended version of ”The Trapeze Swinger”, you could almost hear the ghosts of the acoustic folk acts from the early 1900s who prompted the CCC/WPA project in the first place. And when Beam finished up with that particular song, he received the standing ovation he deserved. See more at: http://ilistensoyoudonthaveto.com/2015/08/13/damien-rice-iron-wine-red-rocks-08-10-15/#sthash.9y3ucYmK.dpuf.
Iron And Wine Concerts
16th November 2014. Adelphi Theatre. Iron and Wine. No sign of Gemma Arterton and the Dagenham girls in the theatre on a wet Sunday night. That said it was nice to be greeted with a firework display as we walked over the Thames. Nice touch The Adelphi. It’s Mr Head and The Burgess Boys tonight and rarely I have probably seen Sam Beam aka Iron and Wine the least out of the four of us.
Fourth time for me and it’s the first solo acoustic. I am a big fan of the first three albums and so am hoping for some real oldies and I wasn’t to be disappointed. Sam Beam has a quiet honeyed voice sometimes barely a whisper but delivers moving tales of religion, country folk and Americana that has you captured till the last note.
Iron And Wine Concert Schedule
It’s a slightly disjointed night though with little in the way of a set list but just responding to calls out from the audience. This works to a degree but does disrupt the flow of the evening a little although we probably wouldn’t have heard live rarities such as Jesus the Mexican Boy in the normal run of things. Towards the end of the set the support act Jesca (?) Hoop joins him for a few numbers. She looks like Andy Pandy with an added giant bow on the front of her blouse.
It’s pleasant enough but doesn’t add anything for me to the evening and I would much rather have heard three songs without her. Highlights are the hushed ‘Upward over the mountain’ and ‘Resurrection Fern’ both of which followed Ms Hoop’s removal from stage. A good night but with a few tweaks could have been a great one. There was a time during which if I were playing the Spotify radio based on my stared tracks and I forwarded it to the next song, it would always play an Iron and Wine song. This was completely and totally amazing because Iron and Wine was, is, and will continue to be one of the best acts out there.
I'm sure almost everyone has probably heard their version of Such Great Heights from the Garden State soundtrack, and that's definitely not a bad thing, but there's so many more great songs, like Cinder and Smoke and On Your Wings. Here's the thing, Iron and Wine are simultaneously melancholy and hopeful.
There's just enough silver lining on each wrist-slittingly good song to keep the tears at bay and help you believe tomorrow will be a better day. And on each hopeful, dare I say happy, song there's enough sadness there to remind you that even when things are good, life is no paradise. Music like this keeps you grounded.
Also, Samuel Beam can play guitar and sing, so he's got that going for him. As soon as Sam walked in, I was very excited to hear his voice.
I noticed two guitar stands and a microphone stand and knew this was my kind of show instantly. I'm used to going to concerts that do allow much musicians to be themselves, yes, they throw one or two jokes, here and there but they are not very spontaneous and don't necessarily improvise on spot. I'm not generalizing but Iron & wine's performance was pure talent.
The echo of his voice was magnificent, I loved every detail of the show, the simplicity of it, the way he was dressed simple and himself.I loved watching him make jokes and interact with the audience. I laughed so much, there's nothing more impressive than a talented person with such great sense of humor. As I was watching him perform, my imagination got deep and he kind of took me to a different planet with his music. The crowd was fantastic too. It was probably one of the few best concerts I've been oo. Beautiful, simply beautiful.
An amazing night in Paradiso with Iron & Wine. It has only been on a number of occasions that I have had the pleasure to experience a musician add so much to a live performance as Sam has done with this concert. Every song, a mixture of old catalogue and the new album, was carefully rearranged for a live performance. Often, I would not recognize a song until the first line was sung. Iron & Wine also proves how important stage presence is. Even the tenderest of songs, performed solo, had an amazing impact on the sold out house.
The supporting musicians were equally engaging and the connection between the band and mr. Beam worked very well.
A magical evening in a great setting made even more magical by carefully thought out lighting and small stage quirks. Seeing Iron and wine at the sold out RedRocks show was pure magic. Samuel Beam preformed his songs in a relaxed and enchanting manner; it was just him, his guitar, and whatever beautiful versions of his songs that he felt like playing.
It was great to hear popular favorites as well as nearly unheard of tunes from the artist. He sounded better than ever live-that coupled with his heartfelt chuckle between lyrics and his mesmerizing last song earned him a well deserved standing ovation. It was the kind of show that makes you feel in awe of the talent of musicians and sets the bar higher than ever for live performances. Annual benefit to support midwifery. He played solo acoustic for a solid hour, mixing new and old songs in a pretty balanced manner.
Brought out another four musicians and played a s a band for another hour. The band was talented, and complimented Sam very nicely.
He seems like a down to earth fella, and spent lots of time chatting, joking and interacting with the audience. Positives about the venue were sound quality, size and temperature. Only negative was not much leg room. Great show, and I would gladly go again!