CONTEST: Win Tix To See Bon Iver @ The Mann

Bon Iver mainman Justin Vernon is in full possession of the most heartbreakingly beautiful falsetto to emanate from a hairy guy in blue jeans and flannel since Neil Young woke up in a burned-out basement with a full moon in his eyes. At the risk of sounding like the 21st century equivalent of the guy who booed Dylan at Newport for going electric, I should disclose up front that I am not a fan of the super-dense seven-layer cake of sound of Bon Iver’s self-titled second album, though not for lack of trying. For me, the beatific, naked-bulb bedroom folk of 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago remains definitive proof that less is more. But the chance to sit under the stars on a warm September night as his spooky-sad music takes wing on the post-summer wind renders all that moot and we are more than happy to let bygones be bygones. He’s playing The Mann on Sunday with his overly large band and we have a pair of tickets to give away to the seventh lucky Phawker reader to sign up for our email newsletter list. You can do so at the bottom of the masthead to right of this post. Good luck and godspeed!