Sam Beam, the singer-songwriter behind Iron & Wine, has come full circle in many ways. His return to Tampa after a 10-year absence last Wednesday night was part of an extended Florida tour, possibly the most time he's spent down here since his days attending Florida State University. These dates also found Beam abandoning the sizable backing band he's been touring and recording with and re-assuming the role of solo troubadour, hearkening back to his early more stripped-down performance style, with just his vocals and an acoustic guitar.
Jesca Hoop warmed the stage on this evening at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, her emotive vocals stringing together narrative insights and darkly poetic lyrics that mesmerized with every breath. The artist's vast range and pitch combined with adept finger-picking proved inherently hypnotic. Hoop's set was peppered with anecdotes, like her intro to “Hospital (Win Your Love),” which found her asking if anyone had ever "indulged in injury"— the common childhood wish of having a black eye or broken arm to guarantee lots of attention from others. Hoop's set was dramatically stripped down from her recorded material; check the video for "Hospital" below for a definite contrast in sound and behavior from the subdued songstress we saw.
Jesca Hoop 'Hospital (Win Your Love)' (OFFICIAL VIDEO) from Jesca Hoop on Vimeo.
Sam Beam walked onstage to huge applause, looked out at the audience, and asked, "Well, what do you guys feel like hearing?" Shouted requests began coming in from all corners of the typically well-behaved Straz center, causing Beam to take a step back as he laughed easily. "You guys can shout all you want, I don't know how to Twitter." This easy banter between artist and audience continued throughout an intimate evening that Beam described as "The Iron & Wine buffet game," a smorgasbord of songs performed with no plan or schedule beforehand.
The set kicked off with a personal favorite, "Sodom South Georgia," its familiar notes and words delivered with increased tempo and lower pitch. Beam's easy-going style and distinctive vocals absolutely lit up the venue, the acoustics of the Straz's Ferguson Hall as perfect as always. Throughout the evening, Beam joked easily with the crowd, apologized to a child in the front row for his occasional cursing, and noted the ample space to do backflips on the empty stage. Occasional mistakes were tempered with plenty of humor ("Every time I sit down at home to play guitar I get jazzed to play something new," he commented at one point. "I'm never like, 'let's play "Flightless Bird" again.' Seems like a grave mistake right now"), and chuckling at a shouted request for "Freebird," then playing the first few notes while trying to remember the song he was really about to play.
As you might expect from an all-request setlist, there were some rather eclectic selections. An appeal for "something we've never heard" brought forth "Bottom of the Hill," an unreleased cut recorded years ago but never performed in a live setting. Several pared down tracks from the newest Iron & Wine release, Ghost on Ghost, were nearly unrecognizable in their simplicity, while others like "Boy With a Coin" were startling in their similarities to the studio versions as Beam's fingers moved rapidly across the strings.
The evening ran its course and the realization that the set was almost complete prompted a change in requests. Deeper cuts and eclectic personal favorites turned into multiple calls for "Such Great Heights," but Beam defied expectations when he brought Jesca Hoop back onstage for a duet of her song, "Hunting My Dress," then closed the set with "Teeth in the Grass," an old folky favorite.
Returning to the stage after a standing ovation, Beam encored with "Biting Your Tail," a seldom-heard Record Store Day release and interesting choice considering his vast array of material, though much befitting with the night's intimate spontaneous vibe.
Setlist:
Sodom South Georgia
Dead Man's Will (originally with Calexico)
Jezebel
Love Vigilantes (New Order cover)
Glad Man Singing
Bottom of the Hill (unreleased song)
Boy With a Coin
Grace for Saints and Ramblers
The Sea and the Rhythm
Walking Far From Home
Winter Prayers
The Trapeze Swinger
Big Burned Hand
Caught in the Briars
Tree By the River
Hunting My Dress (Jesca Hoop song)
Teeth in the Grass
Encore:
Biting Your Tail (limited-edition 2010 Record Store Day Black Friday single)