Bon Iver

"We are going to try to play as hard as possible." And boy did they. I want to give Bon Iver his/their own and immediate post because hands down that was the Best. Live. Show. I. Have. Ever. Been. To. Period.

After just the first song (Perth) I declared, "well that just paid for my entire ticket" but then they kept going and going and going!! Just like you want a concert to be: an experience you can't get by listening to the album at home. Every song sounded better than their album versions. More creative. A fuller sound. Brilliant, earth-shattering, goose-bump-giving, moving songs. And there's something so cool about watching each instrument on stage. I think all of his band members are percussionists somehow. Even the saxophonist, trumpeter, trombonist, keyboardist, all of them! There were three drum sets!


Most sets are just exactly one hour at Roskilde, but in the 11pm time slot, with nothing at that specific stage till 1:30am, they gave Bon Iver a full 90 minutes and even with a full bladder (thanks to my new favorite all natural (tea leaves) energy drink fueling me for the 1:30am act) I was soooo thankful! I had a great spot for his show which only in hindsight I realized I had waited four and a half hours for! I came back from a short nap in time to catch the end of some crap metal band (Refused?) to get a great spot at the front of the main viewing area for the next act, M83, only to have to sit tight for another two hours after them forBon Iver. I had planned to leave to go see Bruce for an hour, but it became clear that no one around me was moving after M83 ended. Like no one budged. It fact, people started moving in closer around me at the front railing. So I stayed put and it was totally worth it. And I'm very glad I didn't queue for the "pit" (the area closest to the stage) because I watched more than five dozen people pulled out of the back of the pit in front of me as they allowed that viewing area to become way, way too crowded.


So I guess I really don't know how to make you all feel how I felt watching the show. Maybe just take my word for it, but it was such an unbelievably amazing performance that I would love all of you, even you dad, to be able to see him. I think he appeals to everyone and his live music is so powerful and moving. Plus dad, you know your daughters have excellent taste in music :)

And with such amazing talent, Bon Iver was so modest, polite, humble. He had the entire area to the exit gate of the festival site packed full of people wanting to listen and he kept giving the praise to everyone but himself.

So I can check "seeing a favorite band in a foreign country" off my bucket list! And still I vow to see him again and again whenever I humanly can!


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