Bon Iver

Thursday 22nd February. Apollo Hammersmith, London. Bon Iver. It’s not without a little trepidation that we head out to the Odeon tonight. Since the low fi beauty of ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ Justin Vernon has experimented with sounds, auto tune, loops, etc. but not to the extent of last album ’22, A million’ which I think is fair to say has divided opinion. This is the second of an eight night sold out residency. On the first he played the whole of the latest album in order and the second set a sprinkling of tracks from his other three releases.
Tonight though he switches it around and plays the whole of his second full release, the eponymous ‘Bon Iver’. It’s not played straight by any means with many tracks reworked to a degree but the OTT auto tune only made an appearance on set one closer ‘Beth/Rest’
It was an exhilarating set. Vernon backed by five piece horn section, drummer, percussionist and a couple of multi instrumentalists produced a crisp sharp clear sound usually missing in a larger venue. The stage was dressed in flowing feathers from the overhead rig and fake candles to provide an eerie haunted house type feel. Enhanced by dramatic staccato light show it was one of the most striking audio visual sets I have seen reminiscent of Sufjan Steven last tour with his cathedral like backdrop.
After a 22 minute interval, do you see what he did there, it’s onto the second set which aside from ‘Blood Bank’ it’s the majority of the new album. Personally I thought the set lost its way a bit here. I think ’22, A million’, has some good songs trying to get but they are often obscured by the electronic trickery and whilst live both audibly and visually it certainly brought these tracks more to life it still felt a little disjointed.
After another brief interlude Vernon comes back on stage to deliver a masterful, no frills, no tricks version of the Leon Russell ‘A Song for You’ (a good spot by Mr Berry on the night) and then finally ending the night with his hit ‘Skinny Love’.
So a game very much of two halves with the band going two nil up, really nailing it for the first forty minutes especially the horn section adding that special sauce to the dish accentuating and enhancing Vernon’s voice. A patchy second half with the odd own goal but finishing with an injury time winner of an encore.
Till the next time keep on rockin’ y’all

Seeing Bon Iver live is a real treat. I remember my first Bon Iver show in San Francisco, at The Independent. His album had just come out on Jagjaguwar, although the initial, un-mastered album had already made its way around the internet and garnered high praise. Back then, Bon Iver was only a three piece: Justin Vernon, Sean Carey, and Mike Noyce, and they were considered "co-headliners" with Phosphorescent.

These three guys created a sound that I never knew existed. To put it in a word, it was magical. When they played "Blindsided," it blew me away. They brought together acoustic sounds with electronic sounds, along with a crazy, distorted, acoustic guitar solo. Sean Carey, only on drums at the time, played the whole night without a hi-hat. They explored ambient textures and free-form improvisation on "Flume." They got the entire crowd involved in cathartic fashion with "The Wolves." And they quickly ran out of material. With only nine songs at the time, they played a short set that I won't ever forget. Justin ended the set by himself, playing "Re: Stacks." When he began, the room became hushed to the point where you could hear a pin drop in the 400 capacity venue. It was spellbinding. And "spellbinding" is a word I haven't really seen fit to use in any other context since. You can see the performance for yourself on YouTube. My buddy was the videographer who was lucky enough to be capturing a few songs that night for a music blog he was doing at the time. In the video, you can see it go dark for most of the song, of which the audio was captured from the soundboard feed. And his only explanation for not doing his job of filming on that song was simply that it was too heavy, too special to simply be an observer, and not a participant.

I've since seen the band at Outside Lands, The Fox, and Coachella. And although Bon Iver have since grown to include new bandmates, and their live sound has grown in dynamic range, their music always invites you to be a participant, not an observer. You're in it. And you're not going anywhere but somewhere beautiful.

Bon Iver, the indie folk band fronted by Justin Vernon are considered to one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the last decade. The sweeping, cinematic sounds that they create on albums 'For Emma, Forever Ago' and 'Bon Iver' has won them a huge following globally as well as two Grammy awards.

Despite playing in a large arena, Justin Vernon and his accompanying musicians were able to make the entire experience feel intimate and low key. With guitar proudly in hand, the shivering opening tones of 'Perth' fill the arena and captivate the crowd instantly. A beautifully designed stage illuminates the musicians and creates a wonderful ambient setting in which they perform and the audience are entranced from song to song. The only respite to the ethereal atmosphere is the rapturous cheers and applause that the group receive at the end of each track. Playing the self titled second album in full, the band maintains the wondrous, spine chilling atmosphere for the entirety of the show.

Vernon thanks his huge crowd and admits his confusion at the sheer reputation the band has amassed in its short career. The cheers the opening riffs of 'Skinny Love' and 'Beth/Rest' receive are credit enough to the adoration the crowd has for Bon Iver.

Hammersmith Apollo, 22nd February, 2018.

Bon Iver played a show that is genuinely one of the best things I have ever seen. Not just gigs, literally one of THE best things.
Every note was perfect. Even more perfect than they are on the album versions, if it were possible.
I am 31 years old and have no shame in saying I cried about 5 times. Even at a song like Creeks, in which Justin's voice is so modulated it barely sounds human. Because that exactly what the recurrent theme is throughout all his songs; Humanity. Emotion. It takes a very special kind of musician to make people feel that way. The rest of the audience were just as spellbound.
Justin Vernon is a bona fide genius - there are only a handful of current artists that can create such beautiful art as him. Go and see Bon Iver if you ever get the chance to, it will be something to remember forever. I promise you that.

I had the distinct FORTUNE to be able to get a ticket to
the December 4th performance at the Kings theater in Brooklyn.  And the only word I can use is astounding.  Completely collaborative, it was a perfect marriage of outstanding modern dance and music.  The dancers were amazing, the ways they made their bodies float, pierce the air, evoke the lyric meaning, whoa. 
The finale was "Naeem" and it blew my breath away...STANDING OVATION, NO SHIT.   
What I will say is that I believe that the people up in the mezzanine near me were expecting "A greatest hits/fan favorite" kind of setlist.  Me, the only thing that could
have topped Naeem, would have been to have heard Holocene.

The show yesterday at Allstate Arena, Rosemont IL was good. The stage with its incredible light show was amazing and the sound was perfect even at the very back seats. On the other hand this was not my Bon Iver. I missed all my favorite songs! I grew up with the album "For Emma, Forever Ago". Maybe this is (once more) a sign that I'm getting old. I totally understand Artist getting bored while playing the old songs over and over, but clicks and views tells you that some people want to hear some of those songs. In my point of view, it needs a good mix of new and old songs and definitely less effect on a such beautiful voice.
To sum up: This was more a show than a concert to me.

This was a magical show. I was surprised at the length of the set...pretty sure Justin Vernon played everything off the current album and most of the highlights of his old stuff. The version of "Woods" that he played in the encore was breathtaking. Also, highlights of the show were "Holocene" and a very interesting version of "Calgary" that sounded nothing like the original recorded version. Venue was great from a sound standpoint, but it was unfortunate all the people who wanted to stand in the aisles were marshaled off by an overzealous security staff. I'm pretty sure he played "re: stacks" in the encore, but it's hard to recall. Overall, a 5 star show....

Literally the best thing I have ever seen. The whole band sounded so tight, the light show was insane and they really played to the audience. Two full sets of material plus an encore was probably more than any of us expected. They played so many songs that I wanted to hear, even some really old material which was so unexpected.
The whole audience was buzzing with energy and love for a band that are so good, but really don't tour enough. I'd waited 10 years for a chance to see them and now that I have, I'd have waited another 10 if I knew it was going to be that perfect. It was a privilege to be in that room and witness something so beautiful.

A powerful electronic-heavy set featuring the frequent auto tuned vocals of frontman Justin Vernon. Moments of magic with contrasts of crashing drums and thumping brass with falsetto vocals and brief seconds of silence. Highlights included older masterpieces such as Blood Bank, Wash, Creature Fear and Perth and, at times, a return to the more dulcet tones of their first two albums would have been welcomed. Although not as engaging and memorable as the previous tour, the heavier sounds and incredible stage and lighting contributed to a worthy performance.

I have loved every song by Bon Iver and Volcano Choir but this concert was shockingly bad. Too much auto-tune, heavy over-used industrial beats, terrible dance troupe that was almost always out of time with each other, the media display felt like it was produced by some high school student with all the cliche's ... people were leaving after the 4-5 song. I am still in shock that someone as talented as Bon Iver could produce such a terrible performance.