Photo: Megan Stewart
Anais Mitchell announces to her audience “This is my first time in Scotland - thanks for giving us Scotch Whiskey, that was very kind!”. The Vermont girl joins Bon Iver for the final night of their UK tour with her folk immersed tunes and tales of love and devotion. Opening with ‘Changer’ her vocal style is similar to Joanna Newsom and her performance mirrors Martha Wainwright as she stomps her feet and raises her leg while plucking away on her acoustic guitar. ‘Cosmic American’ and ‘Out of Pawn’ follow and continue lyrically/vocally on the same principal. Anais also plays two tracks from ‘Hadestown’ her folk-opera, based on the Greek Myth. ‘Why Do We build a Wall’ and ‘Wedding Bands’, shows her diversity in song writing. Closing her set with ‘Your Fonder Heart’ she sings “Way over yonder I'm waiting and wondering/Whether your fonder heart lies”, her romantic ode fills the air as she finishes a dreamy set.
As the crowd thickens in anticipation, the four piece that is Bon Iver graces the Queens Hall stage. The set is opened with ‘Flume’ which has an initial solo intro before the rest of the band join in with Justin Vernon’s gorgeous vocal. As a happy Scot shouts “play that funky music wild boy”, Justin chuckles as they move into ‘Lump Sum’. The band have now got a traditional set-up, mostly sitting as they perform giving them a humble and genuine persona. Justin asks the audience “You guys wanna sing with us?”, when the crowd scream immediately he replies: “Fuck! I thought as much, but its only polite to ask...” ‘Wolves (Act 1 & 2)’ is the track in question, and as the band sing “with the wild wolves around you...” the drums crash down like thunder. The crowd sing over Justin’s vocal like a sea that’s building into a storm of crashing waves. The song is so intense by the end its almost devotional and religious as the crowd and band just let go, singing their hearts out.
The band flow through spectacular versions of 'Blindsided' and ‘Skinny Love’ that take on a bluesy feel in comparisons to the album versions. ‘Creature Fear’ has a wonderful instrumental piece which sees the band get lost as they play; they clearly aren’t afraid to express themselves as Justin gets right down to his amp as he lets rip on his guitar. A solo performance from Justin on ‘Re: Stacks' finishes the set all too quickly. Fortunately, the band return for an encore where they play ‘Blood Bank’ a new song armed with lovely four-way harmonies over increased sonics. The tune shows that there is so much more to come from Bon Iver. Next, a performance of Talk Talk's ‘I Believe in You’ sang by Sean Carey who plays drums with one hand and keyboards with his other, is an ambitious track to cover. Yet they pull it of perfectly, indeed Sean’s vocal is an excellent choice and re-creates a fantastic tune. The spell-binding set is closed with the latest single ‘For Emma’ - as the crowd sing along it's clear no one is ready for home.
We already knew that Bon Iver's music speaks volumes, but with the passion displayed tonight, they're a truly brilliant live force.
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