Sat, 22 Apr 2006 12:00am

Live | Calexico and Iron and Wine

I went to see Calexico and Iron and Wine at the Manchester Academy last night.

For the uninitiated, Calexico have an eclectic sound that spans Ennio Morricone-esc soundscapes and cowboy ballads, through jazzy Mexicana and Californian post-rockness. Iron and Wine are focussed around the massively-bearded Samuel Beam and are more rooted in the lo-fi sound.

The night started with Iron and Wine setting the atmosphere in style. They were then joined on stage by Calexico and the two bands played numbers from their recent collaborative EP 'In the Reins'. Then both bands left the stage and after a short, 5 minute, break Calexico returned for a full set of their own.

Starting with some great Mexican-style tunes, with lots of brass and guitars, they went through a good mix of songs from their back-catalogue as well as from their new album 'Garden Ruin'. Finally, for the encore, they were joined by Iron and Wine again for a bit of a jam.

It was a great night and I can't wait to see one or both bands again. Coincidently, Calexico are playing at this year's Summer Sundae in Leicester, so it looks like I won't have to wait too long.

Author: Sean Clark