I went to see Iron & Wine at 4th & B in San Diego on Tuesday evening.
It was my first time at 4th & B. It reminded me a bit of the of the Mean Fiddler in London 'cause both have standing balconies, though 4th and B is a fair bit bigger. There were rows and rows of seats laid out in front of the stage, I guess cause Iron & Wine's mellow sounds don't require space for moshing. The seats and the high stage meant that I had a decent view for once.
The support act were Califone, who had two percussionists and a drum machine too sometimes. The two other band members played a variety of instruments swapping between guitar, banjo, violin, and keyboards. They had a tendency to fiddle with their guitar pedals a bit too much, and didn't start and finish their songs cleanly. The banjo tunes were the best and had a good groove. Some of Califone returned to the stage later in the Iron & Wine band.
Iron & Wine were very good. Their leader, Sam Beam, looks a bit like Billy Connolly of welly boot song vintage. In general I preferred their simpler songs that didn't involve the whole band. And in particular I thought the marimba never fit that well into the sound, and was too random and harsh in tone. But at times the soft vocal harmonies were stunningly beautiful. In all they played for about an hour and a half so even though there wasn't much traffic on the way, it was nearly 1am by the time I got home.
