from:
http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1549~2591752,00.html

Article Last Updated: Saturday, December 11, 2004 - 7:37:25 AM PST

Singing to the soft sounds of shhhhhhh

By Jim Harrington - CONTRIBUTOR

SAM Beam's concert at the Great American Music Hall is best
summarized by using an old radio slogan: "Light rock. Less talk."

Beam, better known by the stage name Iron & Wine, distinguishes
himself from other sensitive male folkies by using a seldom witnessed
performance trick. He turns down the volume. (Gasp!)

Beam simply plays softer than just about anybody else, which is
ironic given the deafening buzz currently surrounding the artist. The
audience, for its part, reacts in kind. Crowd members appoint
themselves "Noise Police" deputies and monitor behavior to create an
environment more commonly experienced in a library than a club.

The result on Tuesday night was the type of setting where a simple
cough would annoy everyone. The bar's cash register totaling up at
the end of the night came across like a New Orleans brass band. A
person talking on his cell phone seemed as if he were broadcasting
through a bullhorn.