A Night at the Cemetery with Bon Iver

When I bought tickets to see Bon Iver play a sunrise concert at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery a month and a half ago, I was beyond excited. How could I turn down a show like that? I knew that I might be scheduled to work, but schedules can usually be shifted and I didn't want to miss this. To my dismay, the schedule for that weekend left no one off for me to trade shifts with. Seriously, the concert of a lifetime and EVERY SINGLE instructor was scheduled to work?!?!? I searched all the options and found none, until one of the administration took pity on me and told me he would take my Sunday morning shift. The details were worked out no more than four hours before the gates to the show opened. I called Lamia (ecstatic) to tell her we were for sure going to go, danced around the house, gathered blankets and sweaters, and jumped in my car. I owe Andy big for covering my shift because the concert was amazing. This is me fueling up on caffeine on my way to pick up Lamia.

The cemetery was eerie when the gates opened at midnight. Though there were plenty of LA hipsters to keep us company.
At around two in the morning the film 'Bottle Rocket' played. As I used to do at sleep overs as a kid, I napped for most of the movie.
Despite the late night, and the fact that LA was way colder than I thought was possible, Lamia and I were excited to be there.
After a long night on the cemetery lawn, we reluctantly woke to get coffee before settling in to watch the band begin their set.
Progressively the sun showered the valley and the sky began to glow.
Until the dark was completely gone and the day was new.
The crowds were mostly blanketed and bleary, listening to the wavering falsetto of Justin Vernon.

After the show we walked around a bit; though not too much because security was leery about people staying too long, or getting too close to the grave stones.


It was an amazing show and a beautiful morning; I'm glad I didn't give up and get rid of those tickets.

Here is some footage of the show I stole from someone else on youtube because my camera battery was so low I didn't want to risk it on filming.