There is just no other way around it: I couldn't have handled listening to Bon Iver as a moody adolescent. My 16-year-old self just couldn't handle it.
Those gut-aching and heart-wrenching feelings evoked from listening to the band are credited to Justin Vernon, who goes by nom de plume Bon Iver. He is a falsetto-voiced scruffy lad who has managed to earn both critical acclaim and an almost cult-like following in the four years since his 2007 debut, For Emma, Forever Ago.
But that album wasn't just great, it was a fully-involved emotional experience for many listeners. Its overwrought yet sparse arrangements cemented its place as one of the biggest break-up albums of the 2000s.
Admittedly, those songs just about brought me to tears many times, and 2007 was a really happy year for me.
So I'm thankful that Bon Iver didn't exist when this reporter, at age 16, had her first break-up. I mean, Sarah McLachlan's ‘I Will Remember You' was sad enough, thank you very much. The haunting melodies and aching soulfulness of Bon Iver would have left me in my room for days, morose and definitely not going downstairs for dinner.
So, flash forward to 2011. It's now been four years since Vernon became somewhat of an indie phenomenon, including a somewhat unusual collaboration with Kanye West. He continues to flex his songwriting prowess, as perfect in its sparse minimalism as his moving falsetto.
He also continues to make men and women alike a little misty-eyed.
While his latest release has added horns and a little more sparkle, there's something that Vernon's music continues to deliver: moving and touching pieces, full of soul.
There were more than a few sniffles at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on Sunday night as Vernon delivered new tracks from Bon Iver's self-titled sophomore effort.
While Vernon used to come off as shy and awkward, he now commands confidence, leading arrangements with a spectacular nine-piece band.
His trademark sound is layered with depth thanks to a strings and horn section that includes trombones, French horns, trumpets and a few saxophones thrown in for good measure. And that's not even touching on the two drums sets and synthesizers.
But some of the best moments in the show came when Vernon was all by himself. Without the pomp of the brass section, the pared down honesty of singing over simple guitar strumming were the same moments when you could hear a pin drop in the Orpheum. A girl sitting behind me even whispered "Oh my God."
There were parts of songs that wandered dangerously into jam band territory. On more than one occasion I found myself making a mental grocery list during some musical vibrations reminiscent of Pink Floyd. But those moments were few and far between and, to be fair, I really could use a good grocery shop.
I was also pleasantly surprised that a few turns in the evening veered into some legitimate rock-out moments. If Vernon's wailing guitar solo in ‘Blood Bank' could talk it would surely say "see, I'm not just a big emotional guy."
In the end though, Bon Iver's music is hopeful, not discontented, and leaves most listeners nodding and surely knowing that this is the most beautiful and moving musical experience they'll likely bear witness to this year.
I can't remember being to a show in recent years where so much of the audience appeared to be in a transfixed state of absolute bliss. Thank God I'm not 16 anymore.
