#93 Bon Iver (Part I)
We first suggested this idea just like we used to, hoping it would work because we so loved the artist. We just suggested that Bon Iver could play a private show, a Pocket Party in an apartment. We didn’t really know if we could trust that it would ever happen until one moment in May, when Nora and I met Justin for an interview in a small backyard. At the end of it, we mentioned what was on our minds. He immediately responded that this is kinda what he dreams of: that his album is meant to be played in front of small crowds, and that he was looking forward to it.
We, too, were looking forward to it, and God knows how hard it all was. We had to reschedule everything at the last minute; there was another gig in competition with ours; Canal+ stole our initial date. But when you have faith, you end up under the porch of a building in Abbesses on a rainy Monday with Justin, Sean, Mike, and their tour manager, bonnets, and gear, waiting for the caretaker to come back and give you the keys to the Buxes’ apartment.
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
We emptied the living room for the Pocket Party, and then spent an hour or so wandering with Bon Iver. Over the course of the afternoon, we thought over the best way to play—plain acoustic, without any amp. We brought them a melodica, a Glockenspiel; there was also Ethel’s little toy piano. Justin talked about walking among the audience, occupying the space. Then Vincent Moon arrived, and we left him alone with the band in the apartment. We had to go buy some beer.
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
What you can see in these first videos, and what we understood that evening, is how thoroughly Bon Iver is now a band. How important young Mike, Justin’s student, and Sean, who went to Justin after a show and offered to accompany him, are in setting up the songs. Justin comes in to counterpoint Sean’s voice at the end of the first half of "Lump Sum", and Sean is the leader, even though he looks to Justin for approval and quickly defers to him before any major maelstrom.
Flash back, however, to earlier in the day as they worked out their set. They first tried working with voices only, after Sean had talked about Grizzly Bear’s Take Away Show, about their a cappella performance of "Knife" in the streets. Justin asked his two pals to try the same thing on "For Emma". A ritornello on two octaves for Sean and Mike, accompanied by snapping for the rhythm: that would be just enough...
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
Réal : Vincent Moon
Tourné à Paris
Time does fly: thirty people were already waiting in the courtyard when we returned from our little shopping excursion. We couldn’t let them come up—we weren’t ready: Moon and Bon Iver were still shooting "For Emma" in Ethel’s bedroom. In the end, the band came to them... The three guys just popped in without us expecting them, and started singing this newborn version of "For Emma". It was a divine surprise. The band had already disappeared into the streets, but we were still flabbergasted. We had to make the audience come up and prepare for the show. But this is another story... And other videos...
Translated by Nora



Bon Iver
Reply to this message
17 June 2008, by Albert (Barcelona)
Bon Iver
Reply to this message
17 June 2008, by casey
Bon Iver
Where is the clip from the startpage, where they sit in a room and all the people around them? Seems so fantastic!!!!
greetz from belgium
Reply to this message
17 June 2008, by Bart
RE : Bon Iver
Reply to this message
17 June 2008, by Chryde
Bon Iver
Reply to this message
18 June 2008, by Julia
Bon Iver
Reply to this message
18 June 2008, by Mathias
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
20 June 2008, by mark d
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
30 July 2008, by JM
Bon Iver (Part I)
I don’t forget too much/But what a fall this was/I just tripped into the door/Nothing short of a little drunk /I felt wild in my skin/I had shot myself in the end...
what song is this? Google doesn’t help at all!
Reply to this message
21 June 2008, by Brent
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
1 August 2008, by kon
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
23 September 2008, by un courageux anonyme
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
sorry. the song is actually called "drunkmare," and it is indeed by ticonderoga. it’s on the album "ticonderoga".
the bowerbirds are a totally different band. both are on emusic and other download venues. both are worth checking out. bowerbirds have a song called ticonderoga but it’s vastly different.
these videos make me wish i were talented enough to be in the ensemblé.
Reply to this message
26 October 2008, by mrg
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
13 March 2009, by un courageux anonyme
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
22 June 2008, by batmandela
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
2 July 2008, by Behrndtz
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
10 July 2008, by paste
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
19 July 2008, by un courageux anonyme
Trivia!
Reply to this message
2 August 2008, by JHM
Bon Iver (Part I)
Thank so much for the beauty.... That´s what music is all about: SOUL!!!!!
Keep the GREAT work Mr Vincent Moon!
Reply to this message
5 August 2008, by Paulo Silva -Porto- Portugal
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
15 August 2008, by un courageux anonyme
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
16 November 2008, by J
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
22 November 2008, by pjryan3
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
22 December 2008, by un courageux anonyme
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
4 February 2009, by ryan
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
9 February 2009, by Dan Glover
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
12 February 2009, by mary catheirne
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
4 April 2009, by tim devlin
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
20 April 2009, by un courageux anonyme
RE : Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
2 September 2009, by jen
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
30 April 2009, by Rivas
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
25 May 2009, by un courageux anonyme
Bon Iver (Part I)
WOW. bon iver is amazing. and so is this site.
p/s: I would love to see creature fear too!
Reply to this message
29 May 2009, by un courageux anonyme
Bon Iver (Part I)
Reply to this message
9 February, by Brandon St. Germaine