Sam Beam, better known as his stage name Iron & Wine, is holding court on a crowded stage. Although Iron & Wine is a one-man musical project, Beam is joined by seven collaborators tonight: there are the musicians – covering strings, keys and drums – and then there are the puppeteers: two artists from the Emmy award-winning Manual Cinema work three projectors. On a screen behind Beam and the band, the seated audience is treated to a shadow puppet show throughout the set. We begin with an ominous clouded sky as Beam asks God to deliver us love on his opening song On Your Wings.
With his long grey beard and dark suit, Beam cuts a prophetic figure on stage, as he digs into Iron & Wine’s six-album-deep discography with songs such as Me and Lazarus and Resurrection Fern. Beam’s between-song banter is as wry as his lyrics. “I see a few of you nodding off already,” he says with a laugh, waving up to the balcony. Fiona Apple is nowhere to be seen, so he is joined by opener Lizzie No on the soulful duet All in Good Time, a highlight from the recent album Light Verse.
Meanwhile, the shadow puppets continue to illustrate each song. Manual Cinema’s work is intricate and impressive, as flowers, heads and reams of transparent foil are timed with the music. Yet, the shadows pull focus during some songs. Beam’s songwriting is already rich in imagery, so on a song such as Cutting It Close, the storybook tale being told with dancing shadow puppets distracts rather than aids the imagination. Other times, the puppetry pairs perfectly, like when empty landscapes conjure up the emotional desolation of a song such as Angels Go Home. The stage does eventually empty out and it’s a pleasure to listen, with undivided attention, to Beam singing three songs solo.
The set finishes with Iron & Wine’s most commercially successful track Flightless Bird, American Mouth. Behind Beam, a shadow bat flutters against a full moon – perhaps a nod to the song’s inclusion on the Twilight soundtrack. The band suddenly falls away and Beam is left alone once again to deliver the first chorus a cappella. His falsetto is the only sound in the silent, awed hall, and it’s as enthralling as the dancing shadows.
