Iron & Wine/Blitzen Trapper
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Workplay Theatre/ Birmingham, Alabama

Review by Trevor Starnes, Samford University

A sold-out crowd filled Workplay Theater in Birmingham, Alabama to capacity for a great show put on by Sub Pop artists Blitzen Trapper and Iron & Wine. The crowd showed up early, packing out the venue way before start time, in anticipation for both groups’ masterful live performances.

Blitzen Trapper are energetic and passionate rockers who took to the stage Saturday amid cheering, screams of joy and clapping from the easy going jam-packed crowd of music lovers. From start to finish the crowd was amazed by the bands vibrant and entertaining style. In the middle of its set, front man Eric Early started the band’s single “Furr” off with a long acoustic opening (leaving the audience to question if he was really going to finish the whole song by himself). To the crowd’s surprise, the rest of band joined Early midway through the song, rocking out through the end. Not only was this its most welcomed song of the night, but for the attendees that were not fully acquainted with the music of Blitzen Trapper, they became fans after the song had finished.

Throughout the show Blitzen Trapper used a wide range of unique instruments. On songs “God & Suicide” and “Wild Mountain Nation” (the single off Wild Mountain Nation) members incorporated everything from synthesizers, animal calling whistles (awesome sound), pre-fabricated beats, harmonicas and a wide range of percussion. This usage of multiple instruments produced an ear pleasing sound, but was also enjoyable to watch as the musicians had a fun time playing around with their innovative instruments. To be completely honest, the band’s albums do not fully show the players’ full pedigree, though based on this stellar show, they still possess a bright future and promise.

Shortly after the great set by Blitzen Trapper, Iron & Wine took to the stage. When Samuel Beam appears, audience members probably imagine him more likely to be reading a novel by Mark Twain and smoking a pipe-than playing a guitar. Maybe off stage he is like this, but while on stage he is nothing like his appearance. In retrospect, Beam serenades his fans like none other.

The singer/strummer started the show by appearing on stage with his sister, Sarah, starting with a five song acoustic opening, which set the mood for rest of the evening. The stage lights were dimmed from the start to the finish, allowing the audience to concentrate more on the beauty of the music than on the musicians themselves. Who would have thought stage lights would play a huge part in the show? Indeed the lights, combined with Beam’s angelic voice and his exquisite guitar playing, made the show a surreal and aesthetic experience.

Beam was suffering from a cold that he had just caught, but that didn’t limit his vocal performance one bit. After the acoustic introduction, the five remaining members of the band joined the main pair on stage. From this point till the end of the show, Beam traded in his Martin acoustic guitar for and electric axe. During this portion, he included new and old songs, such as fan favorites “Cinder and Smoke,” “Boy with a Coin,” “Resurrection Fern” and “Women King.” He took the usually slow acoustic, melodic “Jezebel” and turned it into a up-tempo rock ballad.

The best song of the night hands down went to “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog).” Beam and the rest of the band played the song similar to the record, but midway through they all took a hiatus from the song and went into a ten minute jam session. Amazing guitar riffs by Beam and unconventional sounds by the band integrated with Sarah’s violin strumming and plucking were compiled for an unreal excursion of melodramatic proportions. Without breaking stride from the jam, the band went straight into the ending of “Wolves” finishing the song off with an epic finish. Beam had to finish the set early because of his cold and he didn’t feel like risking his voice by straining for a couple more songs, but even though the set was cut short in time, it was not cut short in the amazement category.