what might have been lost
The other night I was talking to my friend Mundi about seeing Bon Iver this Saturday in Denver, and as I told her about this moment above (the last time I saw him), I realized that my face was glowing from recalling what felt like magic.
Under the cypress trees of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, I saw Bon Iver for the first time at Outside Lands ’08, and on “The Wolves (Act I and II)” he invited the crowd to sing along with him — “What might have been lost.” This video is otherwise largely unremarkable but for the way it captures that moment around the 2:30 mark when (almost) everyone in the audience started singing wholeheartedly. For an acoustic song, he gets furiously powerful at the end, and I cannot wait to see it on Saturday. For Emma is still an album I think I will be listening to for, well, maybe the rest of my life.
I’m just newly committed to Outside Lands again this summer as well (thanks Southwest super air sale!) and am excited about many artists in the lineup, including The National, The Avett Brothers, M.I.A., Blind Pilot, The Dead Weather, Lucinda Williams, and The Beastie Boys (I think last time I saw them looked like this). Oh, and…Tom Jones? Bring extra panties, I suppose.
Single day tickets and passes are now available.
Name: Heather Browne
One of my favorite concert memories was also the sing-a-long of The Wolves. We caught Bon Iver at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill (where Megafaun opened up for him, a reunion of sorts) the night before For Emma was released in February 2008. I’ve still never seen a crowd so completely absorbed by the music.
Here are some videos from that night: http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:188373
Nolan — July 9, 2009 @ 6:03 am
I’m headed to San Fran for Outside Lands this year too. It will be my first time there, but the line up is great.
uwmryan — July 9, 2009 @ 7:06 am
first of all, i remember my wife and i walking right behind, and ultimately standing right next to, nels cline [whom my wife calls "the masturbating guitarist" for his prodigious use of the whammy bar] for the whole bon iver/ outside lands experience. he appeared super nice [i didn't talk to him] and was just as into the set as everyone else around. pretty freaking cool.
on to the bon iver set. it was, next to radiohead and wilco, probably the set i was looking the most forward to of the whole weekend, and it didn’t disappoint. “the wolves” certainly was a highlight. and my wife sarah has had a major crush on justin vernon [only her crush on sam beam is bigger] ever since.
glad to hear you’re going to make it back this year, heather– are you going to check out a certain friday night headliner? hope to see you there.
~lee.
lee. — July 9, 2009 @ 9:35 am
AND PEARL JAM!!!!
But I know what you’re saying about Bon Iver and the Wolves Act I and II. I didn’t have many expectations for Bon Iver’s set this year at Sasquatch! but after they finished I was convinced I saw the best set of the entire festival – and my fondest memory was when they did Wolves, with the sun just set, and full side-stage crowd singing along. Sometimes I close my eyes and I relive that moment because it was one of the strongest, most vivid concert memories of my life.
Peace
Bart Mihailovich — July 9, 2009 @ 9:49 am
I had a very similar spine-tingling experience when I saw Bon Iver for the first time at Sasquatch in May. It’s not every day you get to hear everyone singing along wholeheartedly like that. Here is a vid of “Wolves” with great sound quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFzTAs3WD-w
Megan Forsyth — July 9, 2009 @ 9:50 am
lee, i have magical powers of comment editing. true story. did i do it right?
and no, no bootleg that i’ve seen but i haven’t looked….wilco, bon iver and radiohead – those were all three amazing sets.
browneheather — July 9, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
seriously…you’re not even going to mention PJ? Are you still that mad at them?
smikalis — July 10, 2009 @ 9:58 pm