(all photos by Keith Klenowski)
MusicNOW 2010 wrapped up last night to another sold out crowd at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati. The night was certainly one to remember and afterwards, quite a few people told me it was their favorite MusicNOW concert in it’s five year history. While I’m not quite ready to agree yet, (memories of Sufjan, Kronos, Grizzly Bear and Andrew Bird come to mind) it might end up going down as the best, and even if it does not, it was an amazing night of music.

It seems like every year MusicNOW introduces me to a new artist that makes me appreciate what the festival represents even more. And honestly, that is saying something for someone that listens to music for a living. Last night that discovery was Colin Stetson, who has supported the likes of Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV On The Radio and more during his career. All those artists wanted Colin to enhance their performances with his amazing ability on saxophone, but I don’t know if it is possible to appreciate his skill fully unless you see him solo.

Stetson rotated between two saxes and a clarinet and displayed his impressive skills on each during his set. Not only did it sound perfectly brilliant, but I think we were all taken back by how this guy was breathing after every song. I’m not sure if we even can grasp how difficult it probably is to get his breathing technique down on top of making the music sound so good. Thank you MusicNOW, for introducing me to Colin.

The night then made way for the festival headliner Justin Vernon, best known for his work as the frontman to Bon Iver. His set was nothing short of a three ring circus of experimentation, covers, new material and special guests. This is what MusicNOW is about after all. Among the tunes Justin played were a beautiful Sharon Van Etten cover of a song “Love More” which is said has been among his biggest influences in the past year. I nearly jumped out of my seat during the next cover tune, as Justin and Bryce and Aaron Dessner launched into a Tom Petty song, “Crawling Back To You.” As an unabashed Petty fan, this was one of the highlights of the evening for me.

Annie Clark joined Justin on stage not long after for the song they did together on the Twilight Soundtrack, “Roslyn.” Neither seemed to proud of the album it ended up on, but did share a kinship for the song itself, and if their stage chemistry was any indication, this will not be the last track they work on together. Aaron, Bryce and Colin Stetson were on stage for a good portion of the night with Justin as well, contributing to songs like “Big Red Machine” a track Justin wrote for the Dark Was The Night Compilation last year. Aaron told the story of the song and I felt like cheering when, as suspected, he said that he and his brothers love for the 1970′s Reds was the inspiration behind the song title.

Not too many Bon Iver songs were present, understandably since Justin is done touring that album and moving forward now. However, the biggest songs on For Emma, Forever Ago were present. “Emma” was the closer to the set, and a few songs before that Justin did an amazing version of “RE: Stacks” on piano that chilled the crowd. But none of the evenings festivities might match the encore, when Vernon sat at the front of the stage by himself and did an open air, unmiked version of “Skinny Love” to close out the festival.

His intensity and emotion during this song summed up the week for me. After all, it takes alot of emotion and passion to do what artists like Bryce, Justin, Colin, Annie, Joanna and others do. And they channel those things into their music day after day. I hope that, despite the rigors of travel and concert after concert, MusicNOW can act as a refreshing spring for them, and if this week is any indication it did.

Here is to five more years of MusicNOW in Cincinnati, the first five have been quite a ride.

Justin Vernon’s setlist here.