Folk singer/songwriter Samuel Beam, better known as Iron & Wine, played to a packed house at Chicago's Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park earlier this week for their biggest headliner of the Free Music Monday series.
Mobs, and I mean mobs, of people came for a picnic with friends and a night of good music kicked off by Seattle's The Head and the Heart. The six-part group best known for "Lost In My Mind" harmonized optimistic folk tunes generating dance circles across the grass.
Iron & Wine's transition into a full band on 2007's
The Shepherd's Dog and most recent release
Kiss Each Other Clean has given Beam the opportunity to explore new ways to convey his intriguing and powerful lyrics. In Chicago, he did the same with his older, melodic songs.
The addition of horns and percussion created a fun spin on some of his old favorites. The wispy falsettos and lullaby acoustics transformed into layered melodies and upbeat tempos. Lifetime fans danced the night away while newcomers basked in the folk-ridden breeze filling the park.