setlist – Fare..Eat..Ales

Musically, Bethlehem is probably best known for Musikfest, a multiday festival with a wide variety of music ranging from local bands to larger venues with keynote acts. It’s a good time but is super busy and usually hot as hell given the fact it’s held during the dog days of summer which are near unbearable in Pennsylvania. I have a couple of the commemorative mugs on a shelf in my basement. Outside of the festival itself, it is a draw for many artists who can utilize a number of the available venues. This was the case with the Outside Problems tour with Iron & Wine and Andrew Bird as co-headliners. A dramatic shift from the Rage concert I saw the weak before, these artists offer a folk rock experience with plenty of acoustic guitar, clever lyrics and even some whistling.

The Levitt Pavillion is an outdoor venue located in the Steelstack area of Bethlehem. Steel, of course, is quintessential in defining the identity of the town (just listen the the song Allentown by Billy Joel). The stage is surrounded by symbols of the industry including old warehouses and silos which are laced with colourful lights, creating a unique and down-home setting which appeals to any musical genre.

I wanted to go to this concert for a couple of reasons. First, Iron & Wine was one of the concerts I missed out on when covid broke. I had tickets for Echo Beach in Toronto in 2020 but the show was never rescheduled. Second, I have family that live just outside Allentown so I could combine a visit with the show. Full disclosure..I wasn’t nearly as familiar with Andrew Bird but with a few listens on Spotify and a Grammy nod I didn’t need much convincing.

One thing I’ve come to appreciate as much as the artists is the fan base. As I’ve aged and diversified my musical spectrum, I enjoy taking in the array of fans that show up for shows. Some are very predictable while others are a bit more surprising. In this case, there were a lot of what one might expect..a rather wide age range and dress typical for a midsummer rainy night speckled with bohemian flair.

Iron & Wine, aka Sam Beam, using his grizzly yet gentle persona, started the show with an eight song featuring a mix of tunes from his two decade music career ending the set with “Call it Dreaming” which is one my favorites from his 2017 Beast Epic album. He’s actually quite humorous and frequently infused clever and thoughtful insights throughout his set.

Andrew Bird was next and also delivered an eight song set which focused primarily on his 2022 release Inside Problems but he also performed others including arguably his most popular tune Sisyphus, a catchy song featuring his trademark whistling. He was less charismatic than Beam but was still entertaining considering his use of the violin, ukulele, pedals and the aforementioned whistling as part of his set.

The two then combined efforts for half a dozen songs, alternating between each others’ creations. The highlight was “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”, an Iron and Wine ballad best known as part of the Twilight movie soundtrack. The show ended with a few more from Bird including a single song during the encore.

All in all, the Levitt Pavilion was a great place, despite the light rain, to see a folky concert during the summer. There is decent beer (both in selection and price) and ample room to wander while still having good audio and visual access to the show. As is often the case, the fan watching was an enjoyable as the concert itself. As for the concert itself, I particularly liked the back and forth collaboration which provided unique versions of half a dozen of the artist’s more recognizable songs.

Setlist

One of the advantages of living in London, Ontario is that there are a number of good concert venues within a 2 hour radius. In many cases, if a band doesn’t come right to London, they will do a show in Detroit, Buffalo, Hamilton or Toronto. Sometime I peruse all three venues looking for the best seats and price for a show. Such was the case for Rage Against the Machine. I remember frantically flipping through my phone looking for the best seats before settling on the Keybank Centre in Buffalo.

This concert was originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 and was bumped twice because of covid restrictions. I figured hey…I waited 30 years to see them so another couple of years wouldn’t hurt. My only worry was the fact that Zack de la Rocha tore his ACL at the beginning of the tour so the expectation may be that the level of energy may be a little lower than normal.

Most of my trips to Buffalo either start or end with a trip to Charlie the Butcher. This institution is a staple in Buffalo culture best known for Charlie’s hardhat and a beef on weck that Geoffrey Zakarian once called the best sandwich he ever ate. Honestly, I can’t disagree. Coupled with any of the stellar sides they offer (I’m usually up for the cole slaw), this is a can’t go wrong lunch.

Once we settled into the hotel, it was time for some preconcert drinks and dinner. A quick walk up Main Street brought us to the Other Half Brewing Taproom, a roomy space with an array of games and plenty of seating. I recall this brewery has a big focus on big and boozy New England style IPAs so had to limit our consumption to one.

On the way to dinner we said hello to the Nikola Tesla statue which made me remember the significant contribution he made to the Western New York power grid while hob knobbing with the turn of the 20th century tycoons. I only mention this because it may in fact be machines like this that Zack et al. have raged against for three decades.

Dinner was at the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery, a large and historic restaurant known for its numerous bars and great views. We sat on the patio and got to experience Buffalo’s trademark wind while sipping Don Cherry Cherry Wheat and munching on mussels along with Buffalo staples including wings and a kielbasa platter.

The show itself was exactly what I expected…a greatest hits compellation surrounded with an aura of angst and plenty of choreographed strobe lights. Although I missed Zach pounding the stage with his flare of old, despite sitting he didn’t disappoint from the waist up and the remaining band members energetically filled in the gaps. The show opened with Bombtrack and we were immediately reminded in big bright letters that “Fear is your Only God”. About half way through the show Run the Jewels, the opening band, came back out to jam to Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck). This was immediately followed by one of my favorites, Down Rodeo, in which Zack mimicked using a shotgun to emphasis the corresponding lyrics. Toward the end, the billboard flashed “Abort the Supreme Court” (I believe with “Freedom” playing in the background) in response to the anti-abortion decision a month prior. Fittingly, the show ended in the same manner as pretty much every bar experience I had during university in the early-mid 90s; a crowd sing along to “Killing in the Name of”.

All in all, it was a triumphant return to big tickets concerts following the covid hiatus and another older school band I could cross off my bucket list and it completed my holy trinity since I had already seen Audioslave and Prophets of Rage previously. I enjoy Buffalo and it’s blue collar vibe as a city (especially when I’m tailgating at a Bills game) and Keybank centre is a decent larger venue to catch as show. I was also reminded me that, although I have aged and my musical tastes have simmered somewhat, I can still appreciate an aggressive political antics as much as a more subtle message in sync with the subdued strumming of an acoustic guitar.

Setlist

Tag: setlist

Iron &Wine/Andrew Bird-July 31, 2022 Levitt Pavillion Steelstacks- Bethlehem, PA

Rage Against the Machine- July 25, 2022- Keybank Centre- Buffalo, New York