Live Music Review – Iron & Wine and Blitzen Trapper

It’s not everyday that you go to see one of your favorite bands and one of your favorite recent discoveries is opening for them. But that’s just what happened when I got to see Blitzen Trapper open for Iron & Wine at Rams Head Live in Baltimore last night. Both bands played to a packed and enthusiastic crowd, and both played great sets. But one of them really surprised me.

Blitzen Trapper opened the show with their mix of classic and off-the-wall rock. Their rockers rocked. Their ballads were tight and effective. And the rest was a little odd. But over all they didn’t disappoint at all.

“Echo”

Iron & Wine broke their set into a separate mini-sets of sorts. Initially Sam and Sarah Beam came out and played some of their older songs as a duet.

“Each Passing Night”

They mixed a new song into that part of the set, though they didn’t give a name:

Then things got interesting. They brought out the rest of the band, Sam switched to an electric guitar, and Sarah hooked her violin up to a wah pedal. Then they did something I never thought I’d see: Iron & Wine turned into a jam band. They played new and interesting arrangements of songs from The Shepherd’s Dog, and transitioned them into equally new and interesting arrangements of older songs. Not only were the arrangements different, they rocked. People were dancing. At an Iron & Wine show. Amazing.

The music wasn’t the only surprising thing. The last time I saw Iron & Wine Sam was very quiet between sets. Last night he was positively chatty. He talked about being in Baltimore, reacted to the crowd, and even told jokes. He was a completely different Sam.

So overall I got a set that completely defied my expectations. Luckily it was better than I imagined it would be. If you have a chance to catch up with Blitzen Trapper and Iron & Wine I highly recommend it.