There’s a point in ‘Flume’ where everything breaks down, just when the second chorus gets going proper. Guitar notes twang randomly, the ebow howls yonder, the percussive taps scatter aimlessly… and Justin Vernon’s wistful chorus starts up again, taking on an even stronger spirit after the spot of quiet uncertainty.
It’s pretty much the same thing for Bon Iver, which made a phenomenal Singaporean debut last week after a spot of extended hiatus — nearly 10 years since Vernon’s tremendously adored debut For Emma, Forever Ago.
For Emma of course remains as relevant and ageless today as it was in 2007, a deeply introspective look at Vernon’s painful catharsis during a three-month wintry stint in his father’s remote hunting cabin in Wisconsin. Struggling with particularly bad break-ups with both his girlfriend and his band as well as a bout of mono and liver infection, he eventually emerged from the cabin with nine recorded songs that became For Emma.
It’s an all-too frequent story heard by fans of Bon Iver — romantically mythologized and oft-repeated for its appropriately sorrowful backstory to an album that epitomises sorrow. There’s heartbreak, there’s deep solitude, there’s creative inspiration, and there’s eventual triumph over dark days — and damn did he triumph.
For Emma went on to be a critically acclaimed classic, and his success continued forever ago. Another critically acclaimed album — Bon Iver, Bon Iver — emerged in 2011, which won Vernon multiple Grammy awards. He collaborated on projects with other illustrious artist such as Brit electronic maestro James Blake and the world’s most high-profile genius/jackass Kanye West. His scant four-piece backing band grew to nine-member musical behemoth that played to thousands in numerous music festivals. Bon Iver faded away to the background in 2012, after Vernon announced a hiatus.
Despite all that raging success, Vernon never spared a thought to bringing his fragile tunes to Asia — until now. No longer tethered by exhaustion, Bon Iver made an unexpected return to the stage in last year’s Eaux Claires Music Festival, where he presented a new lineup for his live shows. This new iteration of the Bon Iver experience was exactly what dropped by at The Star Performing Arts Theatre last Friday evening.
Gone were the maximal ensemble that translated his bittersweet tunes into orchestral heights — he went instead with a troupe that focused on harmonic intensities rather than harmonic immensity. Ironically, dissonance was the word of choice when Vernon stepped on stage to monumental applause as the prickly autotune mangled his voice into a wall of deep distortion. Not that it mattered though — fans here had been waiting for a painfully long time to see Bon Iver live, and the audio wrinkles were soon creased into the opening lines of ‘Woods’.
His multiple layers of autotuned vocals already taking the crowd into euphoric silence, slowly the rest of his equally talented backing musicians filtered onto the stage. The most pronounced addition to his backing band were of course all-female Brit trio The Staves, an unexpected inclusion.
We could only stare and gape as Vernon and co. took us through a most magical evening, surpassing all our expectations of how Bon Iver would sound in a live setting.
The set sprawled through his two albums, taking longtime fans through a non-stop trip down all the songs that tore apart their emotions over the past nine years. Neither maximalist nor bare-boned, familiar, well-memorised tunes took on renewed life as well as unexpected turns, with extended instrumental solos and newfound vigour. For Emma classics were no longer brittle vignettes; Bon Iver, Bon Iver favourites somehow doubled down on its lushness.
Throughout it all, it was The Staves that became the main point of focus, even if they’re singing Vernons’ compositions. Their angelic polyphony were perfect replacements for all of Bon Iver’s previous grandeur circa 2009-2012, especially during ‘re:Stacks’ when Vernon’s delicate strums and croons took a goosebump-inducing turn when fused with the trio’s tranquil vocal melodies.
It’s hard not to note however the distinct contrast between the despondency of Vernon’s first album and how — nine years later — his shows have taken on this resplendent, life-affirming spirit. Where the likes of ‘Blindsided’, ‘ Michicant’, and ‘Lump Sum’ would have once reminded us of sadder moments, the show was instead an exuberant celebration about moving on from the gloom and treading into radiant firelight. Vernon’s in a much happier place now, and for all intents and purposes, so are we.
Of course, a return to his roots were necessary when it came to his breakout hit ‘Skinny Love’ and folks instantly knew what was coming when a solitary stool was brought out to the middle of the stage. Yet again, Vernon surpassed everything we ever expected as he literally spat out “Now I’m breaking at the britches / And at the end of all your lines” in the single most heartbreaking performance we’ve seen.
Spirits returned magnificently right after with a crowd favourite: ‘The Wolves (Act I and II)’. Contrasting with the silenced melancholy of ‘Skinny Love’, Vernon invited all to yell their pain away in the sing-along. ‘Twas then that the crowd finally got up to their feet and rushed to the stage, chanting “What might have been lost”, louder and louder until everything erupted in Vernon’s howls of raw emotion. Fireworks went off in our heads as we struck one off the bucket list — yelling together in unison to ‘The Wolves’.
As Bon Iver ended their first concert in Singapore triumphantly with ‘For Emma’, Vernon could only gaze upon the nearly sold-out crowd and hold his hands to his chest, overwhelmed by the love. He must feel like that every single show, far away from his lonely days in a cold Wisconsin cabin. The rousing applause probably rang as magnificently as it was when his fame was newfound — after all, it’s the sound of the unlocking and the lift away.
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