Distinctive melodies, dynamic instrumentation, moving falsettos, and soothing hymnals filled the air at the sold-out show at Pabst Theater last night, as Wisconsin band Volcano Choir put on a spiritually moving performance.
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. 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 since he’s such a humble man. During last night’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 Justin Vernon) covered in what looked like a fish net. On the back wall was a texturized gradient pattern that could have been both mountains or waves, depending on the lights shining on it and the projections and reflections.
But Vernon and the rest of the band have lots to be proud about, including the 2013 album Repave, an album that grows in intensity with each listen. The night opened up with Milwaukee band Hello Death, setting a slow and spooky mood. Volcano Choir then made a dynamic entrance, opening up with the song “Tiderays”, which starts off with an organ playing, transitioning into soft acoustic melodies, and builds up speed, like a tumultuous sea voyage. Another memorable song was “Alaskans”, which resonated with the repetition of lyrics “Rely, rely, rely, rely, behave, behave, behave, behave// spent all of that time not wanting to.”
A couple songs from the 2009 album Unmap were also played–“Island, IS”, “Still”, and “Youlogy”. One thing that I noticed from Vernon is that even though he is involved in different musical projects, there are still some overlapping themes in the lyrics and sounds from each project. For instance, in “Still”, Vernon chants “I’m up in the woods// I’m down on my mind // I’m building a still// To slow down the time,” reminiscent of “Woods” from Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank”, which Kanye West sampled in “Lost in the World” from “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, he kind of dabbles a little bit in each but still creates something magnificent each time.
Towards the end of the concert, the band livened things up even more with Repave songs “Acetate” and “Byegone”. “Byegone” was extremely memorable, the repetition of the lyrics “set sail!” along with the booming instrumentals and progressions. Closing with Unmap’s “Youlogy”, a soothing hymn-like song the crowd was left astonished and in awe. All in all, the entire concert was nothing short of a religious experience…aah the power of great music.
My homeboy Justin.
Check out this video on the making of the album Repave