When it was announced that Bon Iver would play a sunrise set at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles I booked a flight pronto. The event ended up being one of the coolest musical experiences I’ve ever taken part in.

We arrived to Hollywood Forever a little after midnight. Armed with sleeping bags, pillows, beers, and various food essentials to help us make it to the 6am set time. When we walked in there was a huge projection screen on the mausoleum that was the only source of light in amongst the darkness and a source for our pre-show entertainment throughout the rest of the morning.

Once we had sleeping bags situated I took a quick stroll through the cemetery grounds, passing the Johnny Ramone gravestone along the way. I took advantage of some of the free coffee and pastries and headed back to settle in with my friends.

At the conclusion of the first Bon Iver DJ Set (which included songs from The Rosebuds, Rolling Stones, The Bad Plus, Captain & Tannille & Dr. John), the projection screen showed Bottle Rocket while I slipped in and out of sleep to the adventures of Luke and Owen Wilson. Another DJ set followed which was paired with Planet Earth (Jungles). Watching this roll across the mausoleum wall, paired with music from Sam Cooke, Paul Westerberg and Sade made quite the experience.

Around 5:30 the sound of Buddhist Monks filled the darkness, blessing the stage and audience. It was the such and incredibly cool experience to be laying down listening to the collective chants knowing that in only a few more minutes one of my favorite bands would be playing as the sun began to rise.

The sun never really rose yesterday morning, but it’s light reached through and allowed everyone to slowly see their surroundings for the past 6 hours. Anyone who’s seen Bon Iver perform live can appreciate the songs that make up For Emma, Forever Ago become larger and more rounded out. The album is thus the blueprint for a much bigger live performance. Megafaun joined the stage at one point during the set for a collective performance of their song “Worried Mind” which became the first sing-a-long of the morning. After playing nearly the entire Bon Iver catalog, the band launched into “Wolves” which, as you can probably expect, still elicits goosebumps at the recollection of the audience participation during the “what might have been lost” part.

Bon Iver front man Justin Vernon thanked everyone for coming and stated that he hoped they could do this again some day, then, a few short moments later, he said perhaps it would be best to never do anything like this again. Regardless of whether there is ever another sunrise performance at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the memory of this one will live forever with me and the couple thousand people who witnessed something that I definitely know these words could never truly capture.

Bon Iver DJ Set 1:

The Roaches – “Quitting Time” // The Rosebuds – “Blue Bird” // New Buffalo – “Emotional Champ” // Rolling Stones – “No Use In Crying” // Don Williams – “Say It Again” // D’Angelo – “Feel Like Making Love” // Wax Stag – “Short Road” // Slim Harpo – “I’m A King Bee” // Mississippi Fred McDowell – “Shake ‘Em On Down” // Bonnie Raitt – “Nick of Time” // AA Bondy – “I Can See The Pines Are Dancing” // James Booker – “On The Sunny Side of the Street” // Tammy Wynette – “Apartment #9″ // Aimee Mann – “How Am I Different” // The Bad Plus – “Flim” // Amateur Love – “Jailbreak!” // Captain & Tennille – “Muskrat Love” // Bill Callahan – “Jim Cain” // Julietta Venegas – “Algo Esta Cambiando (Live)” // Mahalia Jackson – “Didn’t It Rain” // Dirty Projectors – “No Intention” // Nina Simone – “Seems I’m Never Tired Of Loving You” // Dr. John – “Me – You = Loneliness” // Yo La Tengo – “Black Flowers”

Bon Iver DJ Set 2:

Arthur Russell – “A Little Lost” // Sam Cooke – “Steal Away” // Ibrahim Ferrer – “Boliviana” // Staple Singers – “Uncloudy Day” // Innocence Mission – “I Haven’t Seen This Day Before” // Vienna Boys Choir – “In Dulci Jubilo” // Lucinda Williams – “Minneapolis” // Paul Westerberg – “We May Well Be The Ones” // Sade – “By Your Side” // Judee Still – “The Kiss”

Update: Stereogum has photos + videos
Update 2: More reviews (with great photos) at Brooklyn Vegan + L.A. Weekly + Indie Muse