2009

This weekend,

while in Chicago

I went back in time

to Brooklyn, 2009

with my friend Adam.

I didn't want to go 

at first.

It was a benefit concert

for an earthquake in Haiti.

Somewhere Suzanne invited me.

Wyatt Cenac was funny. 

Then came Britt Daniel (of Spoon) 

with White Rabbits frontman Stephen Patterson. 

Janeane Garofalo came next - 

made a ton of jokes about the L train 

and hipsters which the crowd took very warmly to. 

St Vincent went on 

and sounded like the lovely thing she is. 

Someone yelled while she was setting up 'show us your bush!', 

in which she replied, 'that is the strangest thing 

someone has ever said to me...on or off stage’. 

Annie's set included a National and a Nico cover. 

Adorable. 

Following her was Zach Galifianakis,

hungover from the fame of The Hangover,

who everyone was undeniably waiting for. 

It really looked like he just rolled out of bed, 

picked up some papers from a table 

and walked on stage totally winging his whole act...hilarious. 

And he went hard, scolding the hipster crowd

about the neighborhood and chastising them

for 'doing everything.'

Alas came Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). 

His voice sounded just as amazing as it does on the record,

For Emma, Forever Ago. 

The room was at its most quiet during "Flume”. 

Justin covered John Prine.

Unreal. 

But it didn't end there. 
An impromptu supergroup called Songer Singwriter 
featuring Annie, Justin, and Brad from Megafaun  
closed the night off right with a set of four covers:
Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tom Petty's "Face in the Crowd",
and Annie Lennox's "Why". 
Each of those final covers was better than the next. 
To quote one of my own Tweets, 

"Sounds like Sonic Youth playing a Dolly Parton song. Sick!".