Iron & Wine Keep the Volume Low But Spirits High

Iron & Wine's calm folk-rock demanded peace and quiet, and for the most part, got it from a very polite crowd. Backed by a band that, akin to its leader's razor-repellent facial hair, seems to grow with each passing month, frontman Sam Beam looked freshly aroused from a long nap. The group never detoured from the sleepy pace, relying on wood-block percussion and pedal-steel guitars to patiently trek through the sonic equivalent of the Amazon forest. At first glance, Iron & Wine's lullabies seemed a tailor-made match for playing to parents and children over on the nearby Kidz Stage. But seedy matter lurked underneath the otherwise tranquil exteriors of "House by the Sea" and "The Devil Never Sleeps." And their soothing moods and hammock-sway slowness encouraged a few adult pursuits — joint smoking, beer sipping, tripping — still off limits to the stroller set. Yet the muted aura occasionally dragged, a risk taken by any band traveling in the direction of a more strung-out version of the Grateful Dead.

More Lollapalooza Coverage: Rock 'N' Roll Diary

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter