Watch Bon Iver give ‘PDLIF’ its live debut

Bon Iver released a new single called ‘PDLIF’ last year, and last night (October 22) they performed it live for the very first time – you can watch below.

• READ MORE: Bon Iver – ‘i, i’ review

Justin Vernon and co. gave the track (short for ‘Please Don’t Live In Fear’) its live debut at first of two special shows at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.

The gigs have been put on in celebration of the 10th anniversary of their second album, ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’. Titled Sincerely grateful, an ad for the shows describes them as a “unique performance designed for the L-ISA Sound System”.

While the main focus of the shows is their second LP, the setlist for last night’s show spanned 24 songs, and it included the live debut of ‘PDLIF’.

You can watch Bon Iver perform ‘PDLIF’ below:

In a review of ‘PDLIF’, NME‘s Hannah Mylrea said: “Like ‘i,i’, ‘PDLIF’ incorporates elements of Bon Iver’s previous albums. The whirring electronic production that permeated ’22, A Million’ is apparent, while the slow-burning structure and relaxed tempo hark back to ‘Beth/Rest’ (from ‘Bon Iver’). And there’s the ringing piano, that was a staple of ‘i,i’, which acts as a powerful accompaniment to the positive lyrics.

The review added: “It’s understandably a scary time at the moment; but on ‘PDLIF’ Justin Vernon aims to relieve the collective unease of the nation. It’s natural to feel nervous – but let Bon Iver soothe you, if only for three minutes.”

You can see the full setlist from last night’s show below:

‘Perth’
‘Minnesota, WI’
‘Towers’
‘715 – CREEKS’
‘Heavenly Father’
‘666 ʇ’
‘Hinnom, TX’
‘Wash.’
‘PDLIF’ (Live Debut)
‘U (Man Like)’
‘Jelmore’
‘Michicant’
’33 “GOD”’
‘Blood Bank’
‘____45_____’
‘Naeem’
‘re: Stacks’
‘Holocene’
‘Calgary’
‘Lisbon, OH’
‘Beth/Rest’

ENCORE:
‘Skinny Love’
‘Flume’
‘The Wolves (Act I and II)’

Meanwhile, Bon Iver recently shared live versions of ‘Beth/Rest’ and ‘Babys’, pulled from a fan-revered session they performed at London’s AIR Studios-owned Lyndhurst Hall.

The session in question took place in 2011, the same year they minted their semi-eponymous sophomore album ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’. It saw the band perform three songs from that record – ‘Beth/Rest’, ‘Hinnom, TX’ and ‘Wash.’ – as well as ‘Babys’ from their 2009 EP ‘Blood Bank’, and a cover of the Bonnie Raitt song ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’.

The post Watch Bon Iver give ‘PDLIF’ its live debut appeared first on NME.