Ann Powers | May 17, 2022
Filmed in Chicago’s beautiful brick Irish American Heritage Center during a recent tour, this four-song set begins with Fontaines D.C. singer Grian Chatten in the stacks at the center’s library, playing a button accordion and singing the mordant ballad “The Couple Across the Way” as cellist Maureen Dunne and violist Isaac Henry accompany him. An emotional touchstone on the band’s latest album, "Skinty Fia," it’s a taste of an unfinished Fontaines project: the Irish group originally planned to release a double set with half traditionally-styled tunes and half the searing, atmospheric post-punk that makes this third LP the band’s best.

But we won’t stay here in the quiet, unsettled heart. Chatten ambles over to the library’s open area, where the band is set up alongside members of the Northwestern University Choir to perform “In ár gCroíthe go deo.” The eerie blend of the choir’s harmonies and the band’s droning, building rhythms moves this music from storytelling to poetry. The song is a keen: an Irish lament for a dead woman whose family wanted the song’s title phrase inscribed on her grave but were thwarted when officials in their English hometown demanded a translation. “Gone is the night, gone is the day,” Chatten sings through gritted teeth as the choir and his bandmates chant those lost Irish words. Another library corner offers a dynamic shift, as Carlos O’Connell leads the tender, drifting “Big Shot” with delicate keyboard. Then it’s back to the noise with “Nabokov” — the perfect tune for tearing up an archive — and a final surprise sends the set into happy chaos.

SET LIST
“The Couple Across The Way”
“In ár gCroíthe go deo”
“Big Shot”
“Nabokov”

Red Berenson’s storied career in hockey- from the Canadian junior hockey league to the University of Michigan to the NHL- is defined by his strong convictions. He is perhaps best known in non-hockey circles for playing a role on the Montreal Canadiens’ superteams of the 1960’s as well as holding the NHL record with six goals in one game. However, his legacy in hockey history is cemented by decisions he made throughout his playing and coaching career that have gone on to redefine the culture of the sport.

Taken by the “If you build it, they will come” story of the Jerry Run Summer Theater, located in the remote Appalachian town of Cleveland, West Virginia, Grammy-nominated singer songwriter Sam Beam (who performs under the moniker Iron & Wine) felt the location was the perfect setting to film a concert in celebration of the release of the album 'Archive Series Volume No. 1.' The Archive Series is a collection of demos and never-before-released songs from the Iron and Wine vault. "Dreamers and Makers Are My Favorite People" captures this a batch of songs that had never been performed live, presented for the first time, in a tiny, out-of-the-way homemade theater, to an audience of fans and music lovers, many of whom had never heard of Iron & Wine.

'Dreamers and Makers are my Favorite People' looks back to Iron & Wine’s earliest moments and shares the story of the musical community fostered by Jerry Run Theater. Through live footage, interviews, and photos the viewer is treated to a rare glimpse into the past.