What an awesome venue! Truly sounds like a magical show! I was supposed to see Bon Iver in Finland in August 2020 but for obvious reasons it didn’t happen and they’re yet to come back here.
They go deeper into electronic land with the later albums… tge self titled album fr 2011 is pure indie studio rock. Later on it gets more experimental… personally I love every single album they’ve dropped!
@korpinen I hope they get to go to Finland soon. It’s one of those shows everyone should put on their bucket list!
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without meaning to derail - recommended starting point album?
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Ooh that’s a though one… I would probably start chronologically because you can also hear the evolution throughout the years. From the first EP with Justin recording everything by himself with just one mic to the full band constellation and crazy amount of gear.
So basically:
For Emma forever ago
Blood bank
Self titled (Bon Iver)
22 a million
I,I
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thanks! I think I listened to For Emma upon release, when I was too ‘noisy’ to enjoy much singer-songwriter work. That and the post-rock-ish band he was in/collaborating with. I’ll follow the timeline, knowing it’ll be the weirdo electronics that probably do most for me 
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22 a million I’d say is the most electronic weirdo phase. So if it’s that you’re after, start there. It’s a brilliant album!
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I usually love electronic weirdo stuff, but with Bon Iver, the self titled album is the sweet spot for me. It’s such a meticulous soundscape, feels like visiting an existing place through music it that makes sense. And the flow and pacing is absolutely masterful.
I respect the hell out of them for going into really weird territory afterwards, but for me something got lost. And I wasn’t that big of a fan of For Emma either. Saw them on the tour for the self titled record and at a festival for the tour of 22. I felt like the newer, synth and bass heavy sound didn’t work for the older stuff. Curious how they sound nowadays though live. Thanks for sharing your experience, @MichaalHell, I will look if there is a date around here and give it another shot. Wonderful that you had a chance to experience this! Venue looks incredible, where in Sweden is it?
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i can understand your sentiment, The self titled album was the album that really made me fall in love with Bon Iver, it came out a cpl of months before me and my wife were traveling through New Zealand and had that album on repeat. Holocene holds a special place in my heart, that instantly transports me to NZ.
I think their discography really holds up live because it changes the pacing of the show somewhat. RE:stacks and Skinny Love was incredible with just Justin and his acoustic guitar. The full band stuff is kind of “jammy” in that the songs get a kind of ebb and flow where each instrumentalist seem to space out and drift a bit from the original song… at times its almost Shoegaze in that “wall of sound” type of music which with the sound system in Dalhalla was incredible cause you could really pick out individual sounds.
one clear example was the song Wash from the self titled album which ive always felt had a 3/4 feel to it which then turns into 6/8… but Justin played the piano part in 4/4 and the band played 6/8 over that piano part which was really cool, there were bits like that sprinkled all over the show.
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Sounds really intriguing! I think the problem on the 22 tour was that it was just three people, so the sound palette was rather limited and focused on electronic sounds. it felt a bit static and cold. Sounds like nowadays it’s a bigger band again with some “real” instruments?
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Yeah i can see how that might be limiting in the sound…
as the show was now, it was basically a Sequential add . i think i saw 3 prophet X and 3 Prophet 6 a Sub 37 and what not. they´re 6 people (two drummers!!) and everybody plays multiple instruments.
So yeah its probably a lot different then from the 22 tour.
Regarding the venue, its Dalhalla outside a small town called Rättvik in Dalarna Landscape. that whole area is incredibly beautiful and is the originator of the whole Swedish red house architecture, that Sweden has become known for.
The Dalhalla site was a Lime Quarry which before that was a meteor crash site ca 65 million years ago and then people started mining lime stone from it. Years after it shut down they converted it to a concert venue, which seems like such a crazy idea tbh but it really is the best venue ive ever been to. Not sure if that says anything though 
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Absolutely love, love, love his music. I would go so far as to say I think he is one of the few people in the US still truly pushing the envelope in the ‘pop’ world. Huge, huge inspiration to me and many. The tones he gets are unreal.
Obligatory SOS post:
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/inside-track-bon-iver-22-a-million
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When I saw the 22 tour it was about 6 people with 2 drummers, wonder when he changed the lineup of the tour…
Maybe I have to be more precise: it was a festival show in June 2019, so you probably wouldn’t exactly call that the 22 tour, but that was still the latest album back then. Maybe it was a smaller band then for a few festival shows. Good to hear that they regularly have a bigger band!
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The mystery with Bon Iver, that keeps me up at night, is what happened to the song Wisconsin? That is probably my favourite song of his, and it’s only on some versions of For Emma. Anyone know why?
I was at the show in Zürich, Switzerland yesterday. To me, it was also the most beautiful concert I’ve ever been to. It felt unreal… The setlist and performance was perfect.
I’m curious what the current setup is. Anyone knows what they have on stage?
Regarding Wisconsin: Someone in the crowd held up a sign asking Justin to play Wisconsin. He said something like he doesn’t even know how to play that one anymore, and hinted to his manager that he should put it back up on. (jokingly? 
)
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Someone loves it enough to make a sign - soulmate material 4 sure 
Thanks for that. And yes, it needs to go on the setlist.
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Yea both times I’ve seen them they were amazing! But a stripped show in the right venue could be awesome…
Their live performances walking thru Paris for the first album were really good
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