Boy With A Guitar: An Iron And Wine Show Review

posted in: Features • Music News • Reviews & Playlists

It’s no surprise that Iron and Wine, a.k.a. Sam Beam and his backing band, sold out the House of Blues on Tuesday. Between his new album Kiss Each Other Clean, the fortuitous decision to tour with local favorites The Low Anthem and the three years that have gone by since the singer-songwriter was last in town, Boston was a town thirsting for some Beam. And with a diverse set and a robust live sound, no one left disappointed.

If you’re not familiar with the opener, Providence, RI’s the Low Anthem, a fan behind me summed up their sound fairly astutely: It sounds like what would happen if you snuck into Johnny Cash and June Carter‘s old house and found a music box with Bob Dylan trapped inside. Well played. Their folksy, southern sound was almost hypnotizing, and while they only played a thirty-minute set, the quartet left the audience spellbound. When the last beautiful harmony of Leonard Cohen‘s Bird on a Wire blanketed the room, Sam Beam, his beard and his band took the stage to thunderous applause.

Within the first few chords of the opening track Boy With a Coin, Beam and co. established that the set would have little in common with an Iron and Wine record. We like to mess around with the songs a little bit, Beam said with a smile a few songs in, which could very well be the understatement of the century. With a total of ten band members backing him up”two guys on percussion, a keyboardist, a guitarist, a bassist, two female vocalists and a three-piece horn section”Beam’s songs, already intricately layered in studio recordings, took on a completely new life. Some, like Walking Far From Home and God Made the Automobile became rollicking rock tracks while others, including Wolves (Song of the Shepard’s Dog), were stretched out into wandering, jazz-influenced jams. The songs were recognizable as Beam’s handiwork, sure, but while his studio tracks can sometimes seem more sparse and pared-down, these newly-realized melodies swelled to fill the House of Blues from floor to ceiling. Beam’s voice even seemed stronger and more confident than the wavering whisper often heard on his albums.

The night was heavily stocked with tracks from Kiss Each Other Clean, not surprising considering that it’s his most recent release, but Beam’s set was peppered with something for everyone. One track from Beam’s first release The Creek Drank the Cradle even managed to sneak in between his more contemporary work. The only letdown of the night? Despite numerous pleas from the audience, the band never got around to playing Jezebel. Not that anyone seemed to mind, Beam played enough favorites throughout his set to satisfy even the most intense fans.

Beam joked that he wouldn’t let four years slip away before he came back to Boston again, which is a comforting promise. But we have to side with the guy in the back who yelled, Never leave!