The United Palace Theatre is a gorgeous old movie house in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan that was converted into a concert hall in the late-1960s to avoid demolition. The high ceilings, the balconies, the chandeliers and the intricately carved walls are all painted gold; dark-red, floral carpeting paves the floors. Compared to the Northern Wisconsin cabin where Justin Vernon now infamously recorded For Emma, For Ever Ago – his first album under the moniker Bon Iver back in 2008– the theatre isn’t just a palace, it’s the Taj Mahal.
As Bon Iver’s reputation grows, so too do the venues, the ticket prices, and, more surprisingly, the size of the band. What began as a solo project has morphed into a nine-piece ensemble equipped with two drummers, countless rotating electric and acoustic guitars, a few reed instruments, a French horn, a violin and a number of keyboards and computer screens, all playing for a sold-out crowd at the Palace.
The first half of the band’s set was dedicated to songs off of their recently released, self-titled album, opening with the record’s premier track, “Perth.” The size of the band and the massive layering of harmonies dampened Vernon’s breathy falsetto a bit, and while the record came out almost two months ago the songs don’t stick in your head quite like the old numbers. The arrangements, especially live, mask Vernon’s melodies, and it’s clear that Bon Iver is no longer the work of just one bearded, slightly reclusive man.
After a cover of the Bjork’s “Who Is It” (complete with beat boxing supplied by one of the band members) and a few cuts from the Blood Bank EP, Vernon was left alone on stage to perform a haunting solo rendition of “Re: Stacks,” the first song of the evening from For Emma, For Ever Ago. The set was concluded with a horn-heavy version of the song “For Emma” to screams and cheers from the audience.
The band came back out for an encore of more crowd favorites like “Wolves (Act I and II),” for which Vernon urged the crowd to sing the lyrics “What might have been lost,” over and over again with him and then, eventually, to “just start screaming.” For the finale, Vernon sat down with an open-tuned, acoustic guitar to sing “Skinny Love,” his band mates all standing in a semi-circle behind him, empty handed for the first time that night. To an emphatic standing ovation, off the stage walked Bon Iver – the man, the band, the orchestra. Whatever it was, it sounded good.
