Unfortunately, I arrived a little late, so I missed Arthur & Yu’s set (luckily, I should be able to see them Tuesday night though), but I did catch the full set by his beardness himself, Mr. Sam Beam, otherwise known as Iron and Wine. There were a lot of new songs and I gotta admit, I don’t love the new album as much as his older material, so maybe I’m starting this review with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. While I did enjoy the show, I can’t really say that I flat out loved it for a few reasons. First off, there was very little between song stage banter, which is more or less fine for a place like Town Hall, but I thought he could have engaged us just a little bit more — maybe a few anecdotes about the new songs or something like that. Also, he is not the most charismatic stage performer, and given his music, I wasn’t exactly expecting David Lee Roth like antics, but frankly, there was just a little too much ass to the audience jamming for my liking. Finally, while I can’t begrudge him for playing a lot of the new record, I would have liked a few more “hits” for lack of a better word. Sodom, South Georgia, Jezebel, Boy With A Coin, The Sea & The Rhythm were the most recognizable songs of the evening for me (granted it’s been a while since I listened to The Creek Drank The Cradle, but everything else went by like a bit of a blur). On the plus side, the sound was great and the band was great too. The Town Hall is still certainly one of the best and most intimate theatres in town.

I’ve got a ton more photos on flickr. Oh yeah, Kathryn was there too, (with better seats than me of course), her photos will no doubt kick some ass.