With a glass of red wine in hand, Iron & Wine stole breaths at the Balboa Theater on October 28th.
Iron & Wine (Photo credit: Kim Black)
Warm strums of steel strings filled the theater from wall to wall, and tunes from the most recent album Beast Epic were well received by the audience. Songs like “Thomas County Law” and “Call it Dreaming” kept the audience in awe as Beam preached of love through verses. A very faint murmur of fawning hearts could be heard after the bands performance over the sea of applause.
“Last Night” began with Beam undertaking the role of conductor. A shake of his hand lead a moment of brief heavy dissonance until he firmed his fist. Soon followed the eccentric strut of the song, and a gorgeous soundscape of idiophones and bells danced through the air and stretched colors of tone.
Iron & Wine performed two covers throughout the set. A beautiful cover of Mazzy Star’s “Fade into You” brought a pleasing wave of nostalgia. The lyrics “I want to hold the hand inside you” caused the audience to willingly sink into a trance. Later, Beam paid a tribute to one of his friends overseas through a cover of New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”.
The excitement and love for Iron & Wine was evident in the eyes of the spectators. Well dressed and smiling, concert attendees shared with me how they were excited to witness the return of the band to Sub Pop. A familiar earth rich warmth that was present when the band signed onto the Seattle label in the early 2000’s was alive and breathing during the band’s performance on stage once again. The show ended with the warmth radiating through the room. The audience clapped after the encore hoping for just one more song to consecrate the night, but it never came, which only left the room thirsty for more of Iron & Wine.