Before Sunday night, I was nervous about seeing Bon Iver live. For Emma, Forever Ago, the debut album from singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, is so intimate that I feared the intense personal connection to the music, easily attainable in private, would be lost in the public setting. As my melophobe companions have pointed out, an obnoxious crowd can spoil an otherwise touching performance. Specific to Bon Iver, Vernon's pensive and timid explorations of loneliness, regret and sorrow are more profound when the listener knows he recorded the album in the dead of winter, alone in a Wisconsin hunting cabin. Adding a three-piece band might weaken that emotional intensity.
Fortunately, my fears were quickly set to rest.
Vernon told the crowd, "This is the perfect place to play," and it truly was. The Wilbur Theater had removed its floor seats, creating a sea of humanity that, just by nature of bodily proximity, created closeness. The seated balconies and traditional, ornate architecture added a sober complement. With regard to further sobriety, by eliminating the alcohol element present at most music venues, the crowd that night was there for the music and music alone.
Having toured for almost a year, Vernon and his band have perfected the live arrangements of For Emma's pieces, which pleasantly and impressively deviate from the album. Though you lose the personal element of seeing only the songwriter on stage, the band's presence alone makes the emotions expressed feel more universal. Further, the richer instrumentation highlights and intensifies certain emotional musical moments. For example, during "Skinny Love," one of the simplest compositions on the album, all three band members complemented Vernon's guitar with stripped down percussion. As Vernon angrily and painfully sung the chorus, "I told you to be patient, and I told you to be kind," the band simultaneously hit their drums, punctuating his frustration.
"Creature Fear" likewise showed the band's ability to flesh out Vernon's lush pieces. A song in contrasts, the verse begins with quiet and slow harmonies, with Vernon foregoing his signature falsettos. But the chorus speeds up, offering pounding guitars and percussion and loudly highlighting Vernon's passionate and forceful vocals. Together, they increased speed and volume, reaching a frenetic climax that rocked so hard, one guy in the front row made devil horns.
The night was certainly not wanting for emotion. In fact, I'll end with the three moments that brought tears to my eyes. First, was a new song from their upcoming EP Blood Bank, to be released in January 2009, but currently available on vinyl that sold like hotcakes after the show. "Babys" begins with Vernon incessantly pounding the high notes on his keyboard. One by one, the band adds a distortiony guitar, a pounding drum, a clangy chime. An experiment in minimalism, the piece builds and builds to Vernon's climactic howl, which then falls apart in a deconstructive, inconclusive finish. "Babys" serves as a poignant contemplation of the ordinary yet sublime subject of human reproduction.
The second tear jerking moment was when Vernon took the stage solo to perform "re: Stacks." Before the song, Vernon graciously and sincerely described his incredible year of touring for this very personal album. "re: Stacks" explores loneliness and desperation better than any other track from For Emma. With hints of loss, meaninglessness and a possible contemplation of suicide, Vernon let each lyric trail off, dropping the last beat, mumbling through most of the words. But near the end, Vernon lifted his eyes, raised his voice and clearly and assuredly sung, “This is not the sound of a new man.” And that's when I lost it.
Finally, the first set ended with an emotional crowd sing-along of "Wolves." Though I know this happens at every Bon Iver show, and though Vernon even instructed the crowd to sing, the intensity of a chorus of voices contemplating "what might've been lost," was not diminished. For the first time that evening, the crowd was able to cathartically echo the emotion so beautifully expressed by Bon Iver throughout the night.
