Volcano Choir shows versatility of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon
By Kristina Busch
Distinctive melodies, dynamic instrumentation, moving falsettos, and soothing hymnals filled the air as Wisconsin natives Volcano Choir put on a spiritually moving performance at a sold-out show at the Pabst Theater on Saturday, Sept. 28 .
The band is led by vocalist Justin Vernon and is comprised of 5 other collaborative minds, including Milwaukee residents Chris Rosenau,
Daniel Spack, and Jon Mueller. Thomas Winceck and Jim Schoenecker
round out the sextet. The members are current and former members of
Milwaukee band Collection of Colonies of Bees and All Tiny Creatures.
Vernon won two Grammys last year for Bon Iver (another one of his
projects is The Shouting Matches), and actually felt a little conflicted during his acceptance speech for the award due to his humility. During Saturday’s show I also got a sense of humbleness from Rosenau, who had a heartwarming stage presence and thanked everyone (including his and other band members' friends and family) for making it out to the show.
Volcano Choir had an interesting set up: Justin performed behind a podium (or pulpit since it is safe for me to say that I worship him) covered in what looked like a fish net. On the back wall was a texturized gradient pattern that portrated both mountains or waves, depending on the lighting and the resulting projections and reflections.
Vernon and the rest of the band have much to be proud of, including their new album Repave, which grows in intensity with each listen. The night opened up with a slow and spooky mood thanks to local band Hello Death. Volcano Choir then made a dynamic entrance, opening up with the song "Tiderays", which starts off with an organ, transitions into soft acoustic melodies, and then builds up in speed like a tumultuous sea voyage. Another memorable song was "Alaskans", which resonated with the sound of "Rely, rely, rely, rely, behave, behave, behave, behave// spent all of that time not wanting to."
"Island, IS", "Still", and "Youlogy"songs from Volcano Choir’s 2009 album, Unmap. were also played. Though Vernon is involved in different musical projects, I noticed that there are still overlapping themes in the lyrics and sounds between them. For instance "Still", where he chants "I'm up in the woods// I'm down on my mind // I'm building a still// To slow down the time," is reminiscent of "Woods" from Bon Iver's "Blood Bank", which Kanye West sampled in "Lost in the World" from his 2010 album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Volcano Choir also played a couple new songs, called "Valleyinare" and "The Agreement". Vernon introduced the songs as new and said "we're not quite sure where they'll fit yet". Since he's involved in different music projects, Vernon kind of dabbles a little bit in each but still creates something magnificent each time.
Towards the end of the show, the band livened things up even more with Repave songs "Acetate" and "Byegone". "Byegone" was extremely memorable, with the repeating call of "set sail!" along with the booming instrumentals and progressions. Closing with Unmap's "Youlogy", a soothing hymn-like song, Volcano Choir left the crowd in awe. All in all, the entire concert was nothing short of a religious experience... aah the power of great music.
Repave