Date: March 5, 2008
Venue: Soundscapes

The mood was a casual one as I strode into Soundscapes at about 3:30 this afternoon. There weren’t nearly as many people there as I expected, but I suppose short notice, a night’s worth of snow and a 4pm start-time kept a few hopefuls from coming down to check out Bon Iver’s in-store performance. That said, there was still a sizable crowd by the time the Wisconsin songwriter was ready to go.

Unencumbered by a large amount of set-up save for a few guitars and a kick drum, Justin Vernon—the main man behind the ghostly folk sounds of Bon Iver—sat poised to play mere moments after walking through the door. Allowing some time for his guitars to acclimatize to the warm record store, he regaled the growing audience with tales of the havoc that a sudden change in temperature can wreak on a guitars’ tuning. A few minutes later and those who ditched work early (ie, me) were treated with a solo acoustic set of songs from the critically-acclaimed and highly commendable For Emma, Forever Ago.

Kicking things off with album standout, “Skinny Love,” I was immediately struck by the versatility of Vernon’s voice. Alternating from a gruff snarl to a delicate falsetto at the drop of a dime, his vocals were as much an instrument as the classical guitar in his lap. In a comparison that is both complimentary and accurate, Vernon has often been likened to TV On the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe—a notion that I definitely second. Of course, expecting loads of vocal processing gear to duplicate the ghostly sound on For Emma…, I was impressed to see nothing more than a confident and adventurous vocalist in front of a good ol’ Shure 58.

In town as the opening act for Black Mountain’s sold out (damn!) show at Lee’s Palace tonight, you could tell that Vernon was enjoying the chance to warm up in such a relaxed atmosphere. You could also tell that he’s gotten used to performing with a few others on stage, as he constantly caught himself saying “we” during his surprisingly funny between song banter. Of course, heralding his Laser Disc collection (which supposedly features such stalwarts as F/X 2 and Ghostbusters) and admitting having gotten the glaze from a Tim Hortons donut on his guitar helped personalize things a little—just in case the intimate performance wasn’t enough.

—

As usual, here are a few photographs I took during the show:

Seeing as I gave away “Skinny Love” yesterday, I wasn’t going to post another song, but For Emma, Forever Ago is just so damn good:

Bon Iver - Flume

Check out Bon Iver’s Myspace to hear more of a record that you really just ought to own.