so who is this "Emma" girl anyways?

I have been meaning to write about the weekend of September 25-27 - also known as the weekend Bon Iver took Los Angeles by storm.

So let's recap for a second, shall we?

On Friday, September 25th, a group of us were lucky enough to catch their sold out show at the Wiltern. I had seen them at Sasquatch back in May, and like then they didn't fail to deliver a stellar performance.

We got there just in time to catch 2 songs from the opener Megafaun. Listening to a few snippets online before hand I really wasn't expecting much. However, my general rule when it comes to music artists is that it really takes a live show to either solidify whether or not I am completely in love with them or not (I suppose with the exception of Passion Pit whose live show really leaves something to be desired). By the end of their set I wanted to be hanging out with them at some dive bar watching a Lakers' game.... and I don't even like the Lakers.

Bon Iver came out to a very receptive crowd to whom they played songs from both their LP For Emma, Forever Ago as well as selected tunes from their Blook Bank EP.

At the end of the show Megafaun came out and joined the boys of Bon Iver for two very sweet songs. The first, a Loudon Wainwright III cover "The Swimming Song", was a swinging tune with the lead vocals jumping around the stage. For the second and final song of the encore, the band of folk brothers offered up an acoustic version of Megafaun's "Worried Mind". Here's a little visual treat thanks to my friend Debbie.

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, Justin Vernon (the heart and soul behind Bon Iver) thought that a sunrise show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery would be the appropriate way to cap off their For Emma, Forever Ago tour.

Uh, totally!

I was in Seattle during the concert but I had a number of friends that were lucky enough to experience the magic of music at dawn. How nuts!

Thanks to Debbie (the eternal Bon Iver fan), again, here is "Wolves (Act 1 & 2)":

Bon Iver - Sunrise Show from Debbie Formoso on Vimeo.

If you ever have the pleasure of catching these boys on tour, I highly recommend you get as close to the stage as possible. That, and when Justin asks you to sing during "Wolves" you best belt "What might have been lost" as loud as you can!