I remember driving 4 hours from Sioux Falls, SD to Fargo, ND late 2007 to see Bon Iver perform in a tiny, dark bar that was half full. I had decided to go after reading a short write-up that detailed what a grease fire his life had become, and how that led to the creation of the album For Emma, Forever Ago.

A third of the crowd was watching sports on two TVs behind the bar; another third was shooting pool or interacting with friends. So it was me and 30 other people, standing there, taking it all in. I never will forget that performance. It was like catching Pacino doing community theater before he landed roles in Scarface or The Godfather. You knew things would never be the same. They couldn’t be.

A year and a half later, Bon Iver is an indie icon. The band has toured relentlessly and with good reason, decided to make October 11^th’s performance at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee its last. For awhile.

Radio Milwaukee broadcast the performance and is now streaming Bon Iver Live at the Riverside here.

P.S.  For those of you Bon Iver super fans (like me) who think you’ve heard all his songs, you haven’t. He covers The Outfield (I’m serious) during this set.

Months ago, I told you about Fun, or, the new incarnation of The Format.

First, a little background: Fun is fronted by Nate Reuss, former lead singer of the now defunct band The Format. If you lived in Phoenix in the mid 2000’s and were dialed into local music, you had them on repeat and often muttered “These guys are ridiculously amazing. Seriously.” They were the one of the hottest things to come out of AZ, besides, you know, the fucking sun.

Well, the band is knee-deep in its kickoff tour. I caught them in Houston when they opened for Manchester Orchestra (Audrye Sessions was also on the bill).

In between stops, Fun sat down for a studio performance at Paste. “The Gambler” is a pretty ( “I swear when I grow up,  I won’t just buy you a rose / I will buy the flower shop”), haunting (”We moved to Arizona to save our only son”) song that is amongst my list of top singles for 2009.

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