Those of you who know me, and I’m going to assume it’s all of those reading this blog, will know that Bon Iver is my favourite band. Perhaps the only band I can say that I honestly love whenever people ask me about my taste in music.
I discovered Bon Iver in the Hong Kong HMV in Causeway Bay shortly after For Emma, Forever Ago was released in 2008. I was walking around and saw a band I was familiar with in one of the CD players. For the life of me I can’t remember what band it was, perhaps Uh Huh Her? But in the CD player directly below was For Emma, Forever Ago. I was intrigued by the short blurb that had been written about Justin Vernon retreating to a cabin in the woods and so I gave the album a little listen. And what can I say, I fell in love.
When I arrived at university I knew that they would be playing on the Wednesday of Fresher’s Week at Queen’s Hall. It was not sold out. Me being me though I was far too shy and a little but too awkward to ask any of the people I’d just met if they wanted to go. It never occurred to me to just go by myself. And so I missed a great opportunity to see Bon Iver perform live.
Roughly a year after I discovered Bon Iver, I preordered their EP Blood Bank. The sound was still quite true to For Emma, the songs were essentially those that didn’t make it onto the For Emma track list. With the song “Woods” though there seemed a bit of experimentation.
Then came their self titled album. Also pre-ordered but this time I had to wait until I returned to Hong Kong from my time in Beijing before I could get my hands on it. I think this album was a bit harder to love after being so obsessed with For Emma. The album reached number 2 in the US charts and 4 in the UK. If I were to name my favourite songs from the album I would name half of the album – “Perth”, “Minnesota, WI”, “Towers”, “Michicant” and “Calgary”.
So realising a new album was being released meant the possibility of a tour, and perhaps either an Edinburgh or Glasgow gig. The tickets sold out on the day they became available to the public. I struggled with the website and when I could finally pick the tickets there were only 6 remaining. That was in May.
5 months later (last night!) I saw them perform.
Not the best seat in the house, but it definitely had its perks.
The set list to begin with left much to be imagined in the sense that the songs were played in the order they appeared in the new album. So they, like their album, started strong with “Perth”, then played “Minnesota, WI”, then “Holocene”, “Towers”, “Michicant”. But then things were mixed up a bit once “Flume” from For Emma was played.
I say that the set list was a bit dull to start, but the band were absolutely amazing. What started out as just Justin Vernon has become a 9 piece band with everyone being incredibly talented. So many instruments were picked up and played: violin, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, chimes, french horn, saxophones… The result was beautiful swells and crescendos and absolutely incredible moments when – and this is where it will become painfully obvious that I know nothing about Music really – descended into an artfully constructed sound with every instrument playing. I can’t even describe how wonderful some of the instrumentals were.
And Justin Vernon’s vocals did not disappoint at all. I think to an extent I was worried that he wouldn’t match up to expectations. But Justin Vernon’s voice is more beautiful live than off of a CD. “Re: Stacks” was absolutely stunning because all we listened to and watched was essentially Justin Vernon and his guitar.
I don’t know how to end this post really. This was a beautiful gig. Because I had been waiting 3 years to see Bon Iver live, last night I could have experienced crushing disappointment. Instead, I’m sitting here and I cannot wait until I can see them again.
Standing ovation! Also, how beautiful of a venue is usher hall. Wish I'd taken photos of the details in the construction.
