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Great American Music Hall April 9, 2004 Review by Jake Thomas Oh man, what an exciting line-up…two bands I’d be willing to go see about anywhere playing together? Count me in! I got there just as Holopaw was taking the stage, and weaseled my way up to the front between all of the scarf kids and old folks. As expected, they sounded brilliant. Mixing new songs as well as pretty much playing their entire self-titled album, I wouldn’t be surprised if they won over some new fans from a crowd that was obviously mostly there for the headliners. Some may know singer John Orth’s voice from his work on Isaac Brock’s side project Ugly Casanova, but it is in his own songs that his vocals really shine. The new songs, which they played a number of, were just great – I really cannot wait until the album gets released so I can fully immerse myself in the southern gothic sounds that Holopaw so finely crafts. The headliner of the evening, Iron & Wine, has really seen a giant surge in popularity over the last year. It wasn’t that long ago that I saw him at Bottom of the Hill, playing solo shows in front of a half-filled house. I’m really unsure what set off this popularity, but I’m happy for him that it has happened – a talent as enormous as his is not meant to be bottled up in tiny clubs. This go around he was touring with a full band, but unlike the last “full band” outing he embarked on, this was by no means a rock show. That stuck pretty true to the originals, and considering there’s quite a bit more percussion on the new album it was really nice to hear the songs performed that way live. Sam brought along his sister for backing vocal duties, and it should be noted that she did an excellent job – where you’re used to hearing his vocals doubled on the album, she stepped in and provided that effect pretty efficiently. He played for quite a while, and pretty much covered all of the material on both of his albums, along with a few new tracks and a cover here and there (whose titles escape me at the moment, dammit). For the entire show, the crowd was very reverent for the duration of the show, barely a peep out of any of the lot of them, which made me happy. Yet another masterful Iron & Wine show, further ingraining in my mind that along with Damien Jurado, Sam Beam is one of the best singer/songwriters out there today. --- Read our previous Iron & Wine review: Review: March 24th, 2003 @ Bottom of the Hill Review: Febuary 8th, 2003 @ Bottom of the Hill ©2004 playinginfog.com |