Draped across the stage at McMenamin’s Grand Lodge was an image of trees, their branches bare of their leaves. It was a fitting and complementary, but also contrasting, backdrop against the evergreen trees behind the stage at this outdoor venue in Forest Grove, Oregon. Iron & Wine’s backing band took to the stage, and the drummer, positioned at the side of the stage, lifted a string of bells, swaying them against the backlight of the setting sun. Sam Beam, the indie folk singer-songwriter known as Iron & Wine, joined the stage and began with “Carousel” from his 2007 album The Shepherd’s Dog. Beam then followed with “Sweet Talk” from his latest album Light Verse, released last year. The addition of a full backing band, comprised of drums, violin, upright bass, and keys, offered a more expansive sound in comparison to Beam’s solo recorded work.

Beam played 11 songs from a variety of his individually recorded work before inviting Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses on stage. Together, Beam and Bridwell performed a few of the covers they recorded together for their collaborative cover album Sing Into My Mouth before ending with a joint performance of Band of Horses’ “Detlef Schrempf,” Iron & Wine’s song “Upward Over the Mountain,” and finally, their recently released collaborative cover of Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song “Luther.”

Later, Beam would join Bridwell and the rest of Band of Horses on stage for more joint performances, but not before Band of Horses took to the stage to perform their own set. By now, the sun had set. The trees behind the stage were dark against the deep blue shade of the twilight sky. A recording of “Good Enough” by ’90s grunge band Mudhoney began playing on the speakers, and the stage illuminated in blue lights that matched the sky as Band of Horses entered the stage. They started their set with “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands” from their 2007 sophomore album, Cease to Begin. The band’s energy was infectious, and the crowd — mostly still during Iron & Wine’s more laid-back set — began dancing and raising their arms enthusiastically. Vocalist Bridwell grinned from ear-to-ear as he strummed on his guitar. Bridwell often interacted with drummer Creighton Barrett behind him, turning to smile at one another, feeding off each other’s energy. Band of Horses continued with “The Great Salt Lake,” an anthem from their 2006 debut album, which got long-time fans at the barricade singing along.

Band of Horses’ set leaned heavily into their older material — they played just one song from their latest album Things Are Great, released in 2022. Other than the song “Crutch,” the rest of the 13 songs they played prior to Beam joining them on stage were fan favorites from their earlier albums: Everything All the Time (2006), Cease to Begin (2007), and Infinite Arms (2010). Band of Horses ended their individual set with their most popular single,“The Funeral,” and Beam then returned to the stage to perform with Band of Horses for the last few songs of the evening. Together, Iron & Wine and Band of Horses played “Judgement” by Iron & Wine and a cover of “Thirteen Days” by J.J. Cale before ending the evening with Band of Horses’ “The General Specific” from Cease to Begin.

Apart from the collaborative performances between Iron & Wine and Band of Horses, what made this show special, and the tour in general, was that the setlist songs and order varied each night. Both artists switched up their sets for each show — even the songs Bridwell/Band of Horses played with Iron & Wine varied. “Judgement,” for example, has thus far only been played collaboratively on one other night, according to setlist.fm. Iron & Wine also only played his song “Sundown (Back in the Briars)” this night in Forest Grove, Ore., and not any other nights of the tour thus far.

In their tour flyer, Iron & Wine and Band of Horses had promised “three unique sets,” so I was admittedly a little confused that they had performed two distinct sets. However, considering each artist had their co-headliner join on stage for a few songs of each set, I think that was what was supposed to be considered the “third set.” My guess is they had planned to do three separate sets, with the third being collaborative, but after advertising the show as three sets, instead chose to invite the other on stage for part of each artist’s set — likely due to logistics in set timing, planning, and the set changover/set up. Regardless, the show was certainly unique, and the times both artists shared the stage together were special — one could tell that Bridwell and Beam have established a wonderful working relationship, and each artist’s vocals and instrumentation complemented the other well.

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