Interestingly, ‘head in the clouds’ is indeed one sentiment I would use to describe Iron & Wine. And then there they were, white and fluffy and dangling lazily above the paraphilia scattered across the QPAC stage (30 May).
The crowd sat quietly beneath the indoor sky, though the accompanying band entered even quieter. They silently took their instruments, delving into an ominous introduction; Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) crept on stage and sung the haunting ‘Winter Prayers’.
‘Around The Well’s closing track ‘The Trapeze Singer’ followed, the chorus-less ballad both heart-warming and breaking, each verse leading with “Please, remember me”.
He paused, then greeted the audience: “Those are old songs, here are some new ones,” the band exploding into the more experimental musings of newbie, ‘Last Night’.
The leading track from ‘Beast Epic’, ‘Claim Your Ghost’ was short, but impressionable, Sam stopped again: “You should see it. Staring into a room of smiles.”
‘Jezebel’ was pretty, almost 20-years-old, ‘Sodom, Saint Georgia’ turning back time to another year. Iron & Wine swiftly transitioned into ‘Boy With A Coin’ next, the track more fast-paced, harmonies faultless throughout.
2011 record ‘Kiss Each Other Clean’ made its debut with ‘Tree By The River’, songwriting screaming of innocence, nostalgia and first love.
The accompanying band exited without a word, Sam tuned his guitar, cheekily whispering to the crowd: “We’re alone now. Finally.” He palpably pondered over which piece of music to pick, an audience member suddenly screaming: “Play ‘Big Burned Hand’!” Laughter ensured, Sam added: “Alright,” he chuckled, “I’ll play that.”
His acoustic rendition was very different to its quirky, recorded counterpart, though the following track was true to its origins, cheers erupting as he plucked the riff of fan-favourite, ‘Naked As We Came’.
‘Grace For Saints And Ramblers’ saw the full band return, words mischievous, tempo upbeat, though it retracted again with ‘Love And Some Verses’, one of my personal picks among his epic discography.
‘Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car’ proved similar to its ‘The Shepherd’s Dog’ associates, quite instrumentally layered, less lyrically focussed; ‘Call It Dreaming’ next comfortably blended with the better-known releases.
Iron & Wine at its rawest, ‘Muddy Hymnal’ gave the audience a delicate taste of Sam Beam’s first EP, ‘The Creek Drank The Cradle’. Nicely juxtaposed, he closed with set with new track ‘Song In Stone’, before finishing on a high note with ‘About A Bruise’ in the encore.
I was curious as to how a folk musician would translate performing in such a large-scale venue; my expectations were surpassed the moment the first words left Sam’s lips, song one.
His voice is a wonder, projected with a surprising amount of strength; in recordings, it comes across as soft, gentle, though listening live added an element of richness that enhanced the music in a way I didn’t think possible.
Massive props to his accompanying band, too: a bassist, celloist, pianist and drummer, each as equally hypnotising to watch, clearly exceptionally talented musicians. Back-up vocals were also perfectly executed, never striving to outshine, simply highlighting the melody, the balance flawless.
As a composer, Sam Beam isn’t exactly a man boasting a small handful of highly original, highly successful pieces. Instead, he’s an artist humbly carrying an incredible, eight studio albums in his back pocket, each consistently beautiful, intricately crafted, and grounded by words both tragic and hope-filled, all poetic.
I used to categorise Iron & Wine as wind-down music, the kind of artist you play while you soundlessly ponder the world, ‘head in the clouds’. Now, I’ve released Sam Beam’s work is far beyond the white and fluffy, dangling lazily from the sky or ceiling.
His composing and quirky nature is instead very much the sunshine ‘Beam’-ing through.
