Iron & Wine: Whelans, Dublin – 5th November 2004

admin on Nov 6th 2004

Taking more than a long time in getting started, various roadies and band members took turns in standing on stage examining equipment, deliberating for an aye-brow-raising amount of time. As the venue continued to fill up until things became cramped, and the scratching of heads and rubbing of beards seemed no closer to conclusion, the words “anti-climax” began to flash through my mind.

However, this kind of ponderous detachment, as I was to learn, only underlines the Zen-like quality that is emblematic of Iron & Wine’s particular craft of song-writing. What would follow from the trio was a soft, golden slumber (thanks, in part, to the lighting) of acoustic reveries which could be seen as impossible to sing unless in a completely tranquil state of mind.

Though a drunken hubbub exploded with applause between numbers, the performance of the songs themselves risked being drowned out at any moment by the sound of a dropping pin. However, after a riveting interpretation of Neil Young’s “Mr. Soul,” which has to be considered on par with the original (Beam’s rendition of “Smokestack Lightnin’” [previously featured on SeeWhatYouHear Radio] also does something to rival its original), the pace began to step itself up. Within minutes, a surprise chorus made up from audience members on my left sprang into song from the very start of “Bird Stealing Bread,” and before long, the band had amplified themselves up into a rousing blues slide.

Similar levels of enthusiasm were to be found when the beginning of each song (mostly taken from Iron &Wine’s new album “Our Endless Numbered Days,” but also including a nice take on a Stereolab song) was met a wave of “sshhhh” from pockets of the crowd. It also meant that when Sam beam began “Passing Afternoon,” the sudden litany of sing-alongs caused him to stumble the song to a halt in a distracted laughter. “I guess they were right about Ireland… Have you guys nothing better to do on a Friday night?” Beam joked, complying with the calls for a second encore. Possibly the quietest gig I’ve ever been to – but an enjoyable one all the same.