Flightless Night

I just got back from seeing Iron & Wine play at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. They sold out tonight and tomorrow night. He hasn't been in the southland since May 9, 2009 where he played the Troubadour. In that concert (which I also went to) he was alone and did an all acoustic set. It was amazing. His voice is pure and melancholy. This week though, he brought the band: Keyboardist, accompany guitar, two backup vocals, percussionist, drummer, bass sax, tenor sax/clarinet, and trumpet player. It was loud! I was prepared for a night of slow head nodding but this had my toes tapping.

If you're familiar with his music, he did some older tunes with quicker beats (Shepherd's Dog, Boy With A Coin) and a lot of the newer stuff from his latest album. Long guitar and brass interludes. It was fun. The crowd was rowdy in the best sense.

The band said good night and a lot of suckers left. Doesn't everyone know that the show isn't over until the house lights come on? Clapping, chanting and stomping ensue until Sam (the singer and lead guitar guy) come back onstage. A stage hand brings him is acoustic guitar. What will he play? Trapeze Swinger? Passing Afternoon? He didn't play Flightless Bird at the previous show so I wasn't hoping for that but just incase, I whip out both of my cameras (in case one of them fails, it's happened before).

What follows was an auditory miracle. A nearly a cappella Flightless Bird takes wing and submerges the audience in a hush filled worship of his voice. The video quality doesn't convey much but the audio is spot on. Enjoy!

Video also hosted here.