Concert Review: Bon Iver Is The Wizard Of Oz At King’s Theatre

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Bon Iver is currently on tour for the album 22, A Million, and I was AMAZED at how ornate their concert is. Frankly, I do not know what I was expecting. It is like when you go to a movie with no idea of its plot or emotional goals, and you come out enthralled and proudly proclaiming “its the best film you have ever seen”. Of course, as a a person who delusionally swears she was in a cupboard in the cabin where Justin Vernon, i.e. Bon Iver’s frontman, wrote my spirit song Woods, I knew I was going to walk away with the “feels”!

When you ask Ivers, i.e. what I lovingly call fans of Bon Iver, why they love this band, somehow the word “feeling” will be brought up. I do not know how Justin Vernon does it or whether he fully intends it, but Bon Iver strikes for the time and space continuum of our lives that loops into our minds the repetitiveness of our emotions. We have all felt sad. angry. happy, confused, and every basic label that encompasses the vast details of our sentiments. Yet, Justin Vernon’s lyrics find the same, connecting thread that links why we always feel the same sort of melancholy or joy despite changing situations. I know I am sounding like an episode of Super Soul Sunday on Own, but, in some ways, that is what Bon Iver is to people.Vernon may not try to give life advice, but his musical therapy comes in companionship like, “Wow, Justin, you have felt the same thing as ME!”. And in the concert,Vernon stands in the middle of the stage like a modern Wizard of Oz, where the most beautiful orchestration of lights and visuals  display across the golden threaded theatre and hearts of his listeners.

I just want to give a personal “shout-out” to the “light-guy” on Bon Iver’s tour. You are a genius! If there is a secret, Oscar ceremony for light designers and technicians, please give this person, who I have no idea what is his or HER name, the highest awards. While 22, A Million has had Ivers torn, in terms of its favor compared to Bon Iver’s other works, the show makes the album look like a spiritual vision quest after a hit of peyote. This drug has been used by shamans to induce mind-bending looks into one’s soul, and according to believers, the afterlife. Shamans Bon Iver took viewers to the after-life and then some other, dimension plane I call The Bon Ivery Coast. It is here where I learned Bon Iverism, a language I can only describe in giphys:

via GIPHY    When Bon Iver played 33 “GOD”, and I had a “Come To Jesus” moment on how small
                       I am in this universe.

via GIPHY    When My Third Eye Was Opened During “Moonwater” Without My Permission, and
                       I felt interconnected with my inner stardust.

via GIPHY  When Justin Vernon says the “deepest”thing you have ever heard, and you feel like you    
                      have to call  Earth and inform it on said wisdom.

via GIPHY   When mid-song you realize you have no idea who you are as a person, and thus how to
                      define your relationships with others. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN BON IVER!

via GIPHY   When you hear Bon Iver’s songs like “Creeks” and later “Circle”, and you think “Maybe, the whole point of life….. is that there is no point, and that is why its so special. Make your point!”.

When Justin Vernon’s lyrics suddenly drudge up every emotional rejection you have ever received!  

via GIPHY                         #thestruggleisreal #childhoodconfidential

via GIPHY  When the concert ends, and you realize “Its going to be okay! I am doing my best!”.                               Catharsis! 


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