Photos by Tim Dwenger
The Scene: The weather in Morrison on Monday night was just about perfect, there was a slight breeze and just the hint of a chill in the evening air as a varied crowd poured into Red Rocks for a unique double-bill of two genre defying artists who each chose to tackle The Rocks on their own without the help of their backing bands. Unfortunately there were some rude Damien Rice fans seated near us that insisted on talking over Sam Beam during much of his poignant performance, but some empty seats down the aisle proved to be far enough away from the chattering mouths so we were able to take in the beauty that is Iron & Wine.
Iron & Wine: Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) has now performed at Red Rocks three times armed with just an acoustic guitar and each time it has been breathtaking to witness the power of his hushed voice, tenderly picked guitar, and expertly written lyrics as they silence nearly 10,000 people. While there was some talking early in the set as I mentioned above, by the time Beam closed with “The Trapeze Swinger” it was stunningly quiet across the sea of people transfixed on the stage.
Personally, it was extremely moving to watch Beam open the show with “Upward Over The Mountain,” a song for “all the mom’s out there” as my own mother passed away almost exactly four weeks before this show. It was lines like:
Mother don’t worry, I’ve got some money I saved for the weekend
Mother remember being so stern with that girl who was with me?
and
So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten
Sons are like birds, flying upward over the mountain
that really touched me. The last few weeks have been okay as she needed to go and I truly believe she’s at peace, but there’s no doubt that there is a empty space in my soul and I’ve always looked to music to fill those voids in my life so why should now be any different? Unwittingly, Sam Beam filled that void almost immediately with the opening song of his set and went on to play an incredible, though not technically perfect, show that showcased all the things I love about Iron & Wine. There was the moment that someone yelled that he should play his favorite song and he said “my favorite song is ‘Beat It’ by Michael Jackson and you don’t want to hear me play that,” the sarcastic way he responded someone in the crowd who yelled out “play whatever you want” by saying “don’t worry about that man,” and the moment he called us all out for being high before saying “that’s okay, me too, makes this shit sound good, I know!”
But it was obviously more than just witty one liners and sarcastic comments that made his portion of the evening so good; Beam plumbed the depths of his catalog drawing on most, if not all, of his albums as he delivered “Low Light Buddy of Mine,” “Me and Lazarus,” “Love and Some Verses” and one of my personal favorites “Sixteen, Maybe Less.” Though he struggled with some lyrics, and, at times, tuning, it made the performance that much more accessible. Sam Beam was just a guy on stage who was doing his best to showcase his life’s work to 9,000 people. That’s an intimidating task and one that he pulled off with incredible grace.
While this incredible set did have some warts, he capped it with an amazing performance of “The Trapeze Swinger” that brought tears to my eyes as he built the song and gradually released the tension as it ended in a thunderous standing ovation. If you’re listening Mr. Beam, next time you come through Red Rocks we all want to see a career spanning performance that incorporates both your incredible band and your amazing command of a crowd as a solo artist. Now that would be something special! You’ve delivered it at Planet Bluegrass for Folks Fest a few years back, now lets bring it to the big stage at Red Rocks!
Damien Rice: Let me start by saying that, before Monday night, I wasn’t very familiar with Damien Rice’s music at all. Sure, I’d heard a few tunes here and there and friends had raved about his live performances, but I had never seen him live or really put much time into listening to him at home. Well, that all changed on Monday and Rice won over a new fan just a few songs into his monumental set.
The Irish songsmith kicked things off with “My Favourite Faded Fantasy” and by the time he got to “Delicate” I was hooked. As he moved through his set he displayed exceptional command of both the acoustic and electric guitar and even had the audience howling with laughter as he delivered a brilliant introduction to “The Professor & La Fille Danse” that touched on sexual repression and masturbation, but it was an absolutely stunning performance of “Trusty and True” that was the highlight of the evening for me. Rice moved across the stage to a Harmonium (a hand pump organ) and slipped into a gorgeous, and decidedly Celtic flavored, version of the song that filled Red Rocks with organ swells.
After this amazing moment, Rice ran through “Volcano” and “Older Chests” from his 2002 record O and then closed the set with a pair of songs from his most recent release, My Favourite Faded Fantasy, “Colour Me In” and then a powerfully layered “It Takes a Lot to Know a Man” that saw Rice looping guitar riffs, clarinet, and more while adding cymbal crashes and creating a intricately woven cacophony that faded out as he toasted the crowd with a nearly empty wine glass and vanished into the wings. Minutes later Rice returned to encore with “The Greatest Bastard” and “The Blower’s Daughter” before he sent the adoring crowd out into the beautiful night with a memory is sure to last a lifetime.
Energy: A
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: A+
Set/Light Show: A-
Overall: A
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