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Bon Iver at UIC Pavilion | Live review
Bon Iver's birth story—the one where Justin Vernon, a scruffy outdoorsman from Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a wailing falsetto and a heart full of hurt, secludes himself in a faraway cabin for three months in 2007, and proceeds to crank out a melancholy dissertation on lost love, For Emma, Forever Ago—has become so mythologized over the past four years, it's hard to separate fact from fiction. What we do know for certain however, is that during this same time, the Vernon-led band has transitioned from an up-and-coming indie rock outfit to a widely-adored arena act; and as of last week, it can also add the words "Grammy-nominated" to the band resume.
Oddly enough, Bon Iver's popularity reached new heights last year thanks to Kanye West; the rapper was so intrigued by Vernon's use of Auto-Tune on "Woods"—a squelchy cut from his 2009 EP Blood Bank—that he commissioned the singer for duty on a pair of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tracks: "Monster" and "Lost In The Woods." But it was undoubtedly the band's eponymous sophomore full-length, released this past year—and a definitive step outside the musical confines of their first album, with a grander sound and a push towards slick contemporary rock—that officially catapulted their already-growing profile to new heights. Vernon seems to still be getting used to the whole fame thing." This is a Bon Iver concert," Vernon, 30, deadpanned to the thousands in attendance at the UIC Pavilion Friday evening. "I hope you're in the right place."
In album-form, Bon Iver songs are highly personal, quiet affairs; not necessarily in terms of lyrical content or even sound, but in terms of how they're best ingested. As such, it was a bit uncomfortable to see beer men screaming as they roamed the arena aisles and a hyper crowd obnoxiously chatting all evening.
Much of Friday's show played like a run-through of the band's self-titled sophomore release: Vernon and his merry crew opened the show by essentially following their new album's tracklisting in succession—with renditions of "Perth', "Minnesota, WI" and "Towers" before doubling back and unleashing their Grammy-nominated mural "Holocene." Later on, older cuts like "Creature Fear" and "Skinny Love" also made appearances.
Recreating Bon Iver songs in the live setting is a noticeably collective effort: Vernon, accompanied by two drummers, three guitarists, a three-piece horn section and a bassist, keeps a solid rhythm guitar, while nine other technically proficient instrumentalists aid in each song's construction. Together, they layer rhythms, loop buzzing guitars and employ countless effects; on Friday evening's run-through of "Michiant", every band member spazzed out as sound effects—ringing chimes and gurgling bubbles—wafted through the air.
That's not to say Vernon couldn't pull off an epic solo show, if he so desired. On the For Emma lullaby "re: stacks", armed with only his electric guitar and an empty stage, the singer floated his wispy vocals over the utterly entranced arena. And after a communal sing-along to "The Wolves (Part I &II)," the nine other men onstage may as well have not been present: Vernon was all one wanted to see and hear as he pined for affection on "Flume."
In storybook-style, Vernon ended the evening with "For Emma, Forever Ago", the first song on his first album; Normally a somber song, on Friday it was quite lively: jumpy, merry and generally uplifting. The change made sense. What once was a song—and a band—birthed from pain, is now a beacon of promise.
Setlist
Perth
Minnesota, WI
Towers
Michicant
Creature Fear
Hinnom, TX
Wash
Holocene
Blood Bank
Re: Stacks
Calgary
Beth/rest
The Wolves (Act I & II)
Encore:
Flume
Skinny Love
For Emma, Forever Ago
