Annoying Crowd Results in Pathetic Encore
by ginnielouann on 11/14/15U of I Main Lounge - Iowa CityAdmittedly, the performer tried his best. He attempted to engage the audience in an interactive manner by opening the playlist to suggestion. That would work with a more mature audience. What ensured here was repeated (to the point of annoying) pleas by audience members for a particularly well-known number that the performer promised to include NEAR THE END OF THE SET. However, the crowd continued to badger for that piece (along with other inane requests such as Free Bird). Charming. The level of whit at Iowa City is off the charts. As the show progressed, it was clear the performer was becoming less enchanted by the heckling as well. Finally, with no fanfare, he broke into the mercilessly-requested piece (doing a damned fantastic rendition) then promptly exited. After lengthy crowd urging, he reappeared to "give us one more." And that really was it. Bottom line: I would love to see Iron & Wine again at another venue, Ticketmaster.