SnowGhost Music

I think I have a new favorite band. I feel like I should call up my former favorite band and tell them about this developing situation, only I don’t really know who I would call. Sure, I’ve still got my favorite albums and songs that I never get sick of hearing, but if someone came up to me one week ago and asked me who or what my favorite band is, I would’ve been stumped. The weird part about this is that I didn’t realize I felt this way until I went and saw my new favorite band this past Sunday night in my new favorite music venue. I thought to myself, ‘Greg, this is your new favorite band. They must be because you are behaving as if this show was a sensual massage being administered by no less than 3 highly trained and highly attractive massage specialists, and you’re alternating between getting lost in the sensation and worrying that it might be over in the near future.’ And then I though to myself, ‘Well, Greg, who exactly was your favorite band before, and should you feel like you’re cheating on that band right now?’ My answer to my own question was, ‘Shut up, me. Who cares who was your favorite band? You’re at an incredible show right now, so pay attention, dipshit!’

It was the mental equivalent of slapping myself, and it worked, because from then on, I simply sat back and enjoyed the fine performance by Bon Iver. You might recall a semi-recent blog in which I raved about said band playing an incredible show at an incredible venue mere minutes away from my small town home. Cliff Note of that blog: wow, I had no idea that a great one-man album could be such a great sounding, dynamic 4-man live show. So this time I actually had expectations, but the previous show was so good, better than any YouTube or website video I’d come across, that I was fully prepared for this new show to be good, but not that good. Yet even with these rather ambiguous expectations, I can now say that Bon Iver is my new favorite band and this was the finest performance I’d seen since… I don’t even know. Not bad for a band with only one full album and a four song EP only available on vinyl (nice!) at shows.

Part of what made the experience so great was the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. I’ve spent plenty of time in the Boston area, but I’d never actually been to the theatre district before. I didn’t even know it existed. That’s because I like plays but I hate musicals, and I never go to either. But the Wilbur has been around since 1914, and apparently they occasionally put up some pretty good shows, though most of their productions involve comedians. It is a small place with a deep stage, a standing floor section, a mezzanine and a balcony. I had seats in the middle of the mezzanine, in just about the perfect spot. The show was a sellout, but it was comfortably crowded, and most of the fans were in their spots exactly at eight when the opening act got started. I’d never heard or seen the Tallest Man in the World perform, and I still wasn’t sure I had after he left the stage, as the diminutive Swede never really introduced himself. I really liked what I saw though, and the appreciative crowd seemed to agree.

The Tallest Man played a number of open-tuned acoustic guitars through a vox amp, and it actually sounded incredible aside from the standard amp buzz. ‘This is a good sign,’ I told myself as I correctly assumed that if the opening guy sounded this good, then Bon Iver would sound fantastic. A few songs into the set, Justin Vernon, leader of my new favorite band, admitted that the Wilbur was the perfect place to play. And I thought that they were the perfect band to play in it. All of the songs I’d heard 4 months earlier sounded a bit different, but in a good way. I’m sure this is because, being my new favorite band, Bon Iver are so pumped to be so good that they just get together and make their songs more awesome with each performance. At least this is what it sounded like to me. They played 3 new songs from the EP to go along with the seven they played from the big album, plus the cover they threw in. It wasn’t until Vernon started singing about Josie being on a vacation far away that I realized they were playing Your Love by The Outfield. They actually made it into a beautiful song, though the original version has been in my head ever since.

But as I realized that they were running out of songs, I knew that the night would soon be over, and I tried my best not to panic, even after Vernon warned us that they probably wouldn’t be back for a while. After watching these guys play multiple instruments, sing perfect 4-man harmonies, involve the audience in theatre shaking sing alongs, and just generally blow my mind and exceed my every expectation, I was fully satisfied. They would not be losing my love tonight, even if they only played for one hour and thirteen minutes. Bon Iver is my new favorite band, and until some other band can put on a show like this, I will know exactly what to say when somebody actually asks me who my favorite band is. As far as my favorite color, I’m not so sure, but it probably sounds like Bon Iver.