Bon Iver, Bon Iver in Concert.

this is not a review, it's just another blog post.
if you don't know Bon Iver's music, i don't know what to tell you.  keep reading? 
or, watch this.
"Skinny Love" live on Jools Holland
or, this.
La Blogotheque's take on "For Emma, Forever Ago"

it began in June.  i had just been hired to teach, and i was in the library in Hillsdale finishing unfinished business.  Brian called me.

“Bon Iver is in concert in Phoenix in September.”

we got tickets.  four of them, total. 

fast forward to last Wednesday.  Brian wasn’t going to be one of the four; it just couldn’t work out.  he mailed me the tickets.  they didn’t arrive. 

Thursday, the day of the concert, also Guatemala's Independence Day.  Brian, from Dallas, had been working on a solution.  the four — Lauren, Alison, me, and Jon — had been working on work. 

Brian came through, of course, and emailed me a link to print the tickets.  just a few hours later i got another text from him:

“I will be at the phx airport at 330.  I would like to go to a bon iver and fleet foxes concert with my besties.  Can someone pick me up? This is not a joke.  Dreams come true”


..gotta love him.

Lauren ended up being “someone”.  so, a few hours later i find myself packed into Al’s Hyundai Sonata with five  (Tom supplying the fifth) of my favorite people, driving to a concert of one of my favorite artists. 

afterward, Stefany asked me to sum up the experience in one word.  after too much thought, i went with “fulfilling.” 

it started in the car.  we weren’t teachers.  i didn’t have to write two tests before my first class.  it was the perfect release.  those moments where you don’t have a care in the world get rarer and rarer, and this one was long overdue, by my count. 

Jon scalped a ticket.  Tom got in.  Michele and Laura had purchased tickets independently, so we were all there, but the seats were all spread out. 

funny thing with me and concerts — i always go with friends, but i often get lost within my own experience.  it happened again.

a long time ago i decided that if a concert had a general admission area/floor, then i would be there, in the front.  the experience simply cannot be matched.  many people hate the idea of fighting for every inch against masses of sweaty people who will do anything to get closer.  i love it.

i’ve been in mosh-pits where blood was spilled.  i’ve crowd-surfed.  i’ve gotten drum sticks, guitar picks, set lists, and the occasional autograph.  don’t try to tell me it’s better to be anywhere else but the very front.

the problem is getting there. 

i use various approaches, including stealth, force, and trickeration.  i really tried to get someone to come with me, but they weren’t quite up for it, this time.  i’ll admit, it was harder than i expected to get past security.  long story short, i faked my way to the front row of the assigned seats, waited a few minutes, and then jumped the railing when the lights dimmed between songs.  i ran into the crowd and never looked back.  this was during the Fleet Foxes show, and by the time Bon Iver came on stage, i had made friends in the front row. 

i think i will have a post later discussing my approach to morality, if anyone’s interested.  for now, try to abate your concern..

the concert was awesome, naturally.  i don’t have the right words to describe it right now, unfortunately.  Justin Vernon looked like Ian Moss.  During “Blood Bank” the whole set was drowned in red light.  it was not the best concert of all-time, but it was what i wanted, and what i needed.  there were times where i just closed my eyes and swayed and tried to take everything in, tried futilely to comprehend what anything meant.  one did i did determine is that "Beth/Rest" is not a joke, as has been proposed by the Golden sisters.  for me, the highlight was probably during "Wolves", when they had the crowd sing "What might have been lost" over and over.  it grew louder and louder, and i just knew that each person singing had a different experience they were dwelling on as they yelled the words all the way to a crescendo-ing scream.  i'm sure it wasn't a highlight unique to me — there's a reason they chose that section of that song at that point..   two things could have made it better: more songs from “For Emma, Forever Ago”, and any sort of encore.  you have to do an encore, Justin!  no one is above the law of encores.  

well, here's the set list ;-P

he played "Skinny Love" lastly, and i left the theatre with the words stuck in my head.


"now all your love is wasted, then who the hell am i?..."