how does one begin an entry on experiencing a bon iver concert? with a question.... and a statement: there are no words.
i realized that i've never written about bon iver before - save for a small portion on his bonnie rait cover (which i'm in love with). i first heard about bon iver when i was finishing my post grad - i was spending a lot of time with music students who weren't sure if they loved or hated this man, who was blowing every theory about music out of the water. and when i listened... i knew. he was exactly my type of musician. i always shared with my friends that music wasn't simply about technicality - though that was plenty important - but it was also about making those who were listening, feel, think, and breathe in a certain way. as an un-trained ear, it didn't matter to me how they did it... as long as i felt something.
bon iver made me feel something - he made me feel what he felt. what more could you want from music? a feeling, an understanding, a belief in something so real and impenetrable, that you give your trust to that musician for the rest of the song.... that they will best encapsulate what they intend on conveying to you.
that was when i fell in love with justin vernon.
so when i was offered the oppourtunity to go see him (as i haven't been able to schedule a concert any time he's been near me), i jumped. i smiled so hard my cheeks hurt.
so, i spent the week counting down, and the entire month listening to him. then, this time, last week, i was preparing (and literally counting the hours) for the bon iver concert at massey hall. i read reviews of the previous night's performance, but they could not prepare me.
the experience itself was worth more than the words I can write on this page. the sounds, the motions, the energy and the soul within each of the words.... the 9 people on stage could no more magically have portrayed the emotion in each of the songs they played.
frank yang said it. without me having to:
Breathtaking and everything I wanted.
the set list:
i'll leave it at that. it was mezmorising. the company was perfect. it was the best way i could have imagined the night to go.
i realized that i've never written about bon iver before - save for a small portion on his bonnie rait cover (which i'm in love with). i first heard about bon iver when i was finishing my post grad - i was spending a lot of time with music students who weren't sure if they loved or hated this man, who was blowing every theory about music out of the water. and when i listened... i knew. he was exactly my type of musician. i always shared with my friends that music wasn't simply about technicality - though that was plenty important - but it was also about making those who were listening, feel, think, and breathe in a certain way. as an un-trained ear, it didn't matter to me how they did it... as long as i felt something.
bon iver made me feel something - he made me feel what he felt. what more could you want from music? a feeling, an understanding, a belief in something so real and impenetrable, that you give your trust to that musician for the rest of the song.... that they will best encapsulate what they intend on conveying to you.
that was when i fell in love with justin vernon.
so when i was offered the oppourtunity to go see him (as i haven't been able to schedule a concert any time he's been near me), i jumped. i smiled so hard my cheeks hurt.
so, i spent the week counting down, and the entire month listening to him. then, this time, last week, i was preparing (and literally counting the hours) for the bon iver concert at massey hall. i read reviews of the previous night's performance, but they could not prepare me.
the experience itself was worth more than the words I can write on this page. the sounds, the motions, the energy and the soul within each of the words.... the 9 people on stage could no more magically have portrayed the emotion in each of the songs they played.
frank yang said it. without me having to:
"To recreate the solitary vibe of the recorded works, Bon Iver wouldn’t need to be anything more than Justin Vernon, a guitar and maybe some snow. So that Bon Iver was, instead, a nine-piece band armed with an orchestra’s worth of horns, percussion and guitars was the first sign that those expecting the show to be a celebration of sadness might be in for a surprise. Intimacy was not to be the tone of the evening, with the introverted nature of the songs checked in favour of grand, extroverted arrangements with big, jammy breakdowns, choral vocals and a constant trilling of horns and strings, all accented by a pulsing, occasionally strobing light show. No, no log cabin atmosphere here."
it was simply perfection. they walked out, and i had goosebumps. their intonation, phrasing, and the way they played the musical signature on each song was breathtaking. i could do no more than lean forward in my seat, and drink it all in. my hands clasped together the entirety of the time i had with them.... i sighed, i sang. my eyes did not blink for 2 hours. |
| image from shan_b's instagram |
the set list:
1. perth. 2. minnesota, WI. 3. calgary. 4. beach baby. 5. hinnom, TX.
6. wash. 7. towers. 8. creature fear. 9. blood bank. 10. team.
11. holocene. 12. re: stacks (justin vernon solo). 13. lisbon, OH. 14. beth/rest.
15. the wolves (act I and II).
THEN. encore.
my dream. the one i was worried would be missing.
skinny. love.
then who is it (a bjork cover) and for emma to finish it off.i'll leave it at that. it was mezmorising. the company was perfect. it was the best way i could have imagined the night to go.
c'mon skinny love just last the year | pour a little salt we were never here | my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my | staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer | i tell my love to wreck it all | cut out all the ropes and let me fall | my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my | right in the moment this order's tall | i told you to be patient | i told you to be fine | i told you to be balanced | i told you to be kind | in the morning i'll be with you | but it will be a different "kind" | i'll be holding all the tickets | and you'll be owning all the fines | c'mon skinny love what happened here | suckle on the hope in lite brazziere | my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my | sullen load is full; so slow on the split | i told you to be patient | i told you to be fine | i told you to be balanced | i told you to be kind | now all your love is wasted? | then who the hell was I? | now i'm breaking at the britches | and at the end of all your lines | who will love you? | who will fight? | who will fall far behind?
this video is the most stunning portrait of what this song means to me.(listen to the entire concert set out in youtube videos here)