Iron & Wine Calexico | The Spectrum | Dec 8th

I'm a bit late in getting this review posted mainly because I had problems getting my photos uploaded and a busy weekend of holiday activities. However, it had nothing to do with any apathy towards the show.

Before going to the show, I had been most excited to see Calexico. While I liked both bands, I had always prefered Calexico over Iron & Wine. I was always drawn to the varied instrumentation and sounds of Calexico's tunes. However, the reason I enjoyed the concert so much was because of Iron & Wine. The re-interpretation of his songs that Sam Beam exhibited was amazing.

jds and I got a late start for Montreal due to a late work emergency for me and dealing with some stuff at my wife's office. However, we still managed to get up there in time to grab some sushi at Isakaya. Unfortunately, we don't have any sushi restaurants in the Montpelier area so we took advantage of being in a multi-cultural city to fulfill our raw fish cravings. Good place. The fish was really fresh and with the exchange rate, I think it worked out to be only about $25 per person for dinner.

We got to The Spectrum around 9:20 for a 9:00 show and Calexico were already about halfway through their set which was disappointing. Those Canadians are damn punctual. Plus, the place was big and packed. The size and shape of The Spectrum reminded me of Irving Plaza in NYC and unfortunately, we got stuck in the back of it for Calexico's set.

For the part of Calexico's set that we got to hear, "Alone Again Or" and "Crystal Frontier" sounded good. They did a few tunes that sounded new to me and featured a very non-Calexico three electric guitar attack. It'll be interesting to hear how the album versions turn out but they sounded a bit out of place coming from Calexico. For their final song, Salvador Duran joined them for a blistering version of "Guero Canelo".

Duran then stuck around to play a few of his own tunes while Calexico left the stage. Since I'm not a huge flamenco fan, I took this as my cue to go to the bathroom and grab Calexico's tour-only CD, The Book and The Canal. They had sold out of the CD but were taking people's address for later shipments if you wanted to give them your money now. I trusted them so, hopefully, it'll get here next week or so. (Nico, when your copy arrives, I'll forward it onto you. Email me your address again.) When I got back to the concert, Duran was just wrapping up. Amusingly, jds told me that a bunch of couples had started making out during his set. I guess those latin lovers spread the passion.

Speaking of the crowd, I haven't seen that many women at an indie show in a long time. Plus, the age range was much larger than normal. There was everyone from teenagers to folks who appeared to be in their fifties at the show. I'm guessing that it is Iron & Wine that attracts the wider demographics. However, it was a friend's father who introduced me to Calexico and he must have been in his sixties at the time. So, who knows.

After Duran's set, there was an intermission which gave us a chance to move closer to the stage. We ultimately got to about ten feet from the stage which was a huge improvement over our previous spot about 150 ft. back.

After the break, Sam Beam took the stage sporting a scarf despite it being damn hot in the club. I guess that's what happens when you put a Floridian in Montreal in December. Beam then proceeded to play a long set of I&W tunes with varying levels of accompaniment. On some of the songs, it was just Beam and his acoustic guitar. Sometimes he would be joined by just his sister Sara or Joey Burns and other times he would be joined by a bunch of different musicians. On some songs there would be ten people on stage including Beam. This created a really rich and varied set. Ultimately, none of his songs sounded like they do on the album. Either they were built up into grand textured pieces or stripped down in even more minimal versions. I love it when musicians show off their craftsmanship and performed re-worked versions of their tunes. It makes the live experience so much more exciting.

After an hour of so, all of Calexico joined Beam and his band on stage for the rest of the show. They played about two-thirds of In the Reins and did a nice cover of "All Tomorrow's Parties". For the encore, just Beam and Burns came out with acoustic guitar for one last tune.

The only downside to the night was the length of the show. It was about 12:15 by the time the show ended. Three hours is a long show for me. I'm used to shows running an hour to an hour and a half. Three hours of music sounded great but my feet and back were ready for it to end as they rolled through the last few tunes.

One last note, I think there were a number of other Vermonters at the show. I saw someone there with a Higher Ground t-shirt on and when we crossed the border back into the US, the border guard said a number of people had come through before us saying they had been "at some Iron and something concert up there". Good to see the love for I&W and Caleixco in Vermont.