Bon Iver continued their 2011 world tour with two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. The Grade II listed building provided the perfect space for Justin and his band to captivate the fans who’d secured tickets for the West London performances.

Support was provided by Canadian Kathleen Edwards, a country singer song writer, who although perfectly pleasant to listen to, was ultimately bland, so much so in fact, that I could easily justify cigarette break and a four pound pint of Red Stripe towards the end of her set.

During Bon Iver such an action would’ve been blasphemous. Justin Vernon and his nine piece band performed one of the magical sets I’ve ever seen, with a perfectly produced sound ranging from beautiful harmonies to overwhelming cacophonies filling your ears for the duration of the performance. I was hesitant about how they’d be able to reproduce their delicately layered recordings on stage, but after striding on and going straight into a personal favourite off the new album ‘Minnesota, W1’, this pessimism was swept aside.

The sheer range of instruments is what made this concert. Justin effortlessly controlled his ensemble of superb musicians which included two drum kits, a clarinet, and a reverberating bass saxophone. His penultimate song of the night ‘Calgary’ epitomised how wonderfully accomplished the band was, who throughout the concert effortlessly switched between the two albums, as well as the 2009 EP with ease.

My only complaint was with certain members of the audience who did not appreciate the perfectly thought out set list. There was one gentleman who responded to any prolonged silence inappropriately bellowed a request for ‘Skinny Love’.

However when it cameas the opening of his encore, with his band standing behind clapping rhythmically, you realized how truly talented this man was, and how as much as Bon Iver have evolved into an accomplished band in the last couple of years, Justin is the clear driving force behind their sound.

He spent the entire evening sincerely thanking us for being there, a man clearly aware of his previous troubles of both heart break and glandular fever and thus grateful for his recent success. No Justin, the pleasure was all ours.