Pygmalion Fest: The Books, Iron & Wine

October 8, 2009

After a very bountiful three days of music festivities, Pygmalion was entering it’s final moments and Saturday began with Iron & Wine’s highly anticipated headlining set at the Krannert Theatre. The Books opened the show with a set that mixed found footage with avant-garde musical accompaniment. Although I’ve always admired the band, I’ve never quite invested enough time listening to the Books but for the few songs I was able to see of the show, they left quite an impression on me.

The videos that were projected during their performance were hilarious at times (informational videos about hypnosis) and tranquil and picturesque at others. The music itself was far folkier than I had imagine, with cello, banjo and acoustic guitar being the prominent instruments played spliced together with electronic elements and samples that gave the band their unique sound.  The best track I saw was set closer, “an owl with knees”, a trippy song with some spirited cello playing.

MP3 The Books – Take Time

(photo via Stereogum)

I’ve seen Iron & Wine twice before, both in large outdoor settings and both with a full band.  While experiencing some songs like “Boy With A Coin” and “House By The Sea” from Shepherd’s Dog with the full-bodied sound that the band provides is a must, nothing compares to seeing Sam Beam solo with just an acoustic guitar and the most potent instrument, his voice. The Krannert Theatre provided an immaculate setting for the show, the acoustics were and fantastic and the simplistic stage set-up directed the focus squarely on the gorgeous sounds that Sam provided. He opened with his cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” encouraging the crowd to sing along, which we were eager to do. Throught the show, I’ve rarely seen an artist who encapsualated an audience’s interests so intently, the crowd sat in complete, utter silence as he performed, activily interacted with him in between songs, and erupted in applause after each song finished.

The night brought an eclectic setlist with tunes from all of Iron & Wine’s albums and especially focusing on, for obvious reasons, his earlier, more acoustic-based work. The songs from Our Endless Numbered Days, which included some of Beam’s most intricate acoustic compositions such as ”Sunset Soon Forgotten”, “Naked As We Came”, and “Sodom South Georgia”, came off particularly well showcasing his skilled finger-picking and delicate vocals. Stripped down versions of songs like “Woman King” and “Peace Beneath The City” were also fascinating to watch performed solo and, in my opinion, improved both songs.

The clear highlight of the set was “Trapeze Swinger”, which I consider to be the quintessential Iron & Wine song. Although the track is amazing in it’s recorded form, the live version trumps it in just about every way. While on record, it keeps a consistent pace and tempo, the live arrangement started slowly allowing the wonderful lines (”I heard from someone you’re still pretty” gets me every time) resonante. From there the tempo progressively quickened on each subsequent verse before stopping suddenly before the song’s climatic final verse. The dynamic performance served to amplify the song’s heartbreaking beauty.

The night also served to remind us that although Sam Beam has long graduated from a solo act, that some of his prettiest acoustic songs have been his most recent like the drop-dead gorgeous ”Resurrection Fern” and set-closer “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”. Regardless of the fact that it was featured in a teen vampire movie, “Flightless Bird” is one of my favorite Iron & Wine tunes, and the stark, minimalistic version that we heard was stunning. The focus was purely on Beam’s heavenly vocals and although it’s cliche, you really could hear a needle drop as he hit that final falsetto. After a brief encore of ”History of Lovers”, he left the stage to uproarious applause. A brilliant, triumpant performance from one of the great singer-songwriters of our time.

MP3 Iron & Wine – Sunset Soon Forgotten
MP3 Iron & Wine – Resurrection Fern

Follow the jump below for more Iron & Wine pictures. Click here for the full set.

Posted by Taylor in Festival, Live