Jeremy's Indie Music: Bon Iver, Manchester O2 Apollo, 19th October 2011 7.5/10

Note: click on a picture for a slide show.

This evening could hardly have started more auspiciously: I had the best seat in the house, on the front row near the centre of the stage, and my levels of anticipation were immense, since I was about to hear the first UK performance of one of the year's best albums. I may have written about this venue's hostility to its customers before, but this wasn't going to affect my enjoyment tonight. Before I express my personal feelings, you should note that the UK newspaper with the music coverage I respect most gave this gig a rapturous four star review.

The support act Kathleen Edwards from Ottawa had been unknown to me until I listened to her third album Asking for Flowers in preparation for this concert. She sang sensitively, and played the guitar and violin beautifully. She embodies an air of authenticity and honesty, and her folk-based music set a tender, restful tone (despite the fact certain audience members around me appeared not to be more interested in having a conversation than listening to her). She also talked and sung in Wapusk about the polar habitat of Hudson Bay, an area of close to my heart and subject of my other blog, which led a friend to email me: 'see, you can combine your passions'.

Bon Iver's self titled album had up to this point been a private experience for me: I'd got lost in the music in some amazing natural settings; just me and Justin Vernon. Tonight was anything but intimate: the backing band of nine multi instrumentalists seemed extravagant, as did the lighting rig. We were a long way from that cabin in Wisconsin where the lonesome lament to lost love, For Emma, Forever Ago was recorded. The new album represents a significant departure from such minimalist beauty: with looser song structures, richer textures, and use of electronics. It was meticulously constructed in the studio, and whilst the album still feels like an individual's conception, this was not the case in Manchester.

Tonight was a collaborative project, brilliantly executed (with musicians of the calibre of Colin Stetson), but emotionally closer to a classical orchestral concert than the finest rock gigs. I found myself in complete admiration, but I didn't lose myself; great live music should be liberating, involving, and utterly absorbing. To my surprise, since I prefer his new album, it was the older material which felt more direct, and when I sensed Justin Vernon himself was able to relax more, having shed the responsibility of directing a large ensemble (Re: stacks being the best example of this freedom). He talked to the audience little through the near two hour set, and whilst there was one successful sing-along in What Might Have Been Lost, we sat for the most part still in rapt concentration, detached from those on stage. The standout performance from the new album was Calgary, and it was towards the end that the set really started to come to life, with Skinny Love and Wolves (act I and II).

I talked about Dallas Green's journey in my review earlier this week, and Justin Vernon's also travelled a long way, this folk singer even collaborating with Kayne West on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The new album was released to universal acclaim, but it's a studio creation. Live, too much complexity has been added: I'm pleased for his success, but this tour might actually have benefited from tighter budgetary constraints (sparing us the strobe light show in Creature Fear). Justin Vernon's soulful falsetto voice remains, and the band made a gorgeous, sometimes ethereal swell of sound. But Adele and Arcade Fire have shown me recently that the finest live music experiences can take me well beyond the realm of the comfortable spectator from my past classical concert going life. Bon Iver is still a cause for celebration though: I've a feeling like mine, Justin Vernon's journey has only just started, and I'm excited where it might lead him, and me.