#93 Bon Iver (Part II)

(To watch the first part of this Take away show : Bon Iver (part I))

We already described the magic of this party. A magic that depended on its intimacy, of course; on the acoustics; but, above all, on the reciprocity. Between each song, Justin took a few minutes to talk to us, telling us how happy they were to be there, on that particular night, with such a small crowd.

After the band entered the room by the balcony, playing “Flume”, they asked once again to be closer to the audience. We could see the sun’s rays slipping away and hear the noisy street, but we didn’t care—Justin was explaining that was how he wanted to play his songs. Perfect. That was how we wanted to listen to them.

In order not to miss a second of the show, Vincent Moon’s cameras stayed on the whole evening. It would have been a shame to miss anything, indeed: each song was a real gem. Plus, Bon Iver gave us two covers: the Bowerbirds’ "Olive Heart" and a song by John Prime. But Moon was just like everyone else on that night: he didn’t want to do the filming only. He also wanted to be thrilled, to close his eyes and sway. So he abandoned his camera. It passed from hand to hand before Vincent took it back and moved gently among the people who were sitting while Justin performed "Wolves". The band invited us to sing along with them, as they do in all of their shows...

To give you a more precise recap of the evening, we should have let a camera film the declining day, the ceiling light we switched off, the candles we put on the floor. When Sean and Mike left their chairs to let Justin sing “Skinny Love”, it was night-black.

Afterwards, there were hugs, sushi, and some joints. Then we went down in the street. Liz Green was there; we sang in front of a carousel, on sidewalks, in the middle of the road, and then in a bar, where we got drinks. We can’t show you everything, though. We have to keep some things to ourselves, just next to the conviction that we’re going to organize other parties like this one. Thank you, Bon Iver. And thanks to those who were there.

Translated by Nora