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| Justin Vernon |
“Everyone wants to be here.”
A Pabst/Riverside/Turner employee spoke that simple sentence (and a rather large understatement) Wednesday night after Bon Iver’s friends and family rehearsal. Playing to around 100 people inside the Riverside, the nine-man band ran through the set complete with light show, lighter shtick, encore and “Wolves” singalong tutorial. At one point, my rehearsal companion turned and said, “No one’s going to be talking about that cabin anymore.”
Indeed.
Post-rehearsal, band members made the rounds among the crowd, chatting and preparing for another night on the town. Here since Saturday, they had taken in quite a bit of Milwaukee. This night: boat tour. But come Friday, their massively anticipated musical tour would start.
The excitement combined with nerves was palatable. Touring behind the amazingly successful Bon Iver, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, the Justin Vernon-led Bon Iver is one of the most buzzed about bands of the moment. With reviews and profiles, they’ve been written up everywhere, and they’ve hit many of the late night shows.
Thursday came and went, and Friday hit. Proclaimed “Bon Iver Day” by Mayor Tom Barrett, the Riverside quickly filled as The Rosebuds played through tracks old and new. A nice complement to Bon Iver.
The Rosebuds exited, the proclamation was presented by Justin Vernon’s godfather Assistant City Attorney Tom Gartner, and Bon Iver took the stage. I haven’t seen a crowd this excited in years, if ever. Every Wisconsin reference resulted in screeches, and there were more than a few screams of “I love you, Justin!” So it’s going to be this kind of crowd, eh?
But Bon Iver should be pleased. The crowd ate up every last word Vernon said and sang. They laughed at every joke and sang along when prompted. And with good reason.
Bon Iver killed it.
Despite a catalog full of peaceful, sleepy, rather slow songs, Bon Iver put on an intense hour-and-a-half set. This isn’t some fireside singalong, and it’s not just a dude with a guitar. This is a goddamn rock show.
The first three songs — “Perth,” “Minnesota, WI” and “Towers” – were played with take-your-breath-away renditions. The horns. The drums. The strings. Goodness.
After that dip into Bon Iver, they took it back to For Emma, Forever Ago with “Flume,” and away the evening went. “Calgary” was a powerful highlight, as was “Holocone” and their cover of Bjork’s “Who is it,” complete with beatboxing. Synth-heavy, uncomfortably ’80s number “Beth/Rest” closed out the set.
“Skinny Love,” the first song of the three-song encore brought the crowd to its feet, where they stayed for the remainder of the show. And Vernon got his “Wolves” singalong. It was nothing short of a fantastic evening.
Vernon, you’ve done Wisconsin proud.
For more photos, click HERE.
