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After almost ten years, Well Iver‘s Pure Water The music festival returns to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, this year, reintroducing the intersection of art, music and nature in the Northwoods area.
With the support of Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon and The NationalAaron Dessner, the festival is a symbol of solidarity with people in the Chippewa Valley of the state, and this year’s list includes performances by Vernon and Dessner as well. Aimee Mann, Dijon and Fred Again. This year brings a new location to Carson Park. “Central Park in New York and Carson Park are two of the best places I know,” Vernon told locals this spring. “Then we are lucky.”
Kevin Morby came out of the festival this week as he and Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee welcomed their first child, he was replaced by an artist called “Bon”. It didn’t take much to figure out that it could be Vernon, who tonight arrives at the baseball stadium just before 7pm to perform a solo set that opens with a cover of Morby’s Die Young.
Vernon’s performance enters a long journey through Bon Iver’s records, weaving the delicate beauty of Re:stacks from 2007’s debut For Emma, Forever Ago. aside from Beach Baby’s success. As the sky turns golden, a rendering of Speyside from last year Sand, Fable The album hits Carson Park, cutting through the festival’s noise and risk. It’s a home game that brings tears to the eyes of many Eau Claire residents and former Bon Iver fans.
After many talks from Aaron Dessner and Fred Again, Vernon returns to the stage at 9 pm as “Bon Dylan”, a celebration of Bob Dylan’s great work in history. With Vernon now sporting a polka-dotted shirt and tall hat in a nod to Dylan, the folk legend’s catalog was revived by a group of Vernon’s midwestern collaborators in a set that drew on classic favorites like 1963’s Don’t Think Double, It’s Upled in the Track All Right to Blood fan 1997’s Not Dark Yet.
The play was set up by Vernon based on Dylan’s raw, nosy personality and the artist’s humility among his peers on stage. Many of Vernon’s musicians also sport their “Dylan” hats – leaving you to wonder who Vernon would welcome to appear.
JT Bates (who played on Taylor Swift’s Folklore) provides a steady, heart-pounding tone on drums, while Bon Iver band member Ben Lester contributes his own unique twist on steel guitar. Courtland Pickens, also of the Minneapolis choir Popular MPLSand JP Brooks focuses on the solos on Dylan’s 1981 Shot of Love, while Phil Cook cuts the harmonica.
Longtime collaborator and lead singer of Bon Iver S Carey – also thought of lightly as the “Sean Iver” of the evening – takes the microphone to deliver a rendition of Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You alongside Lay Lady Lay, a duo from the Nashville Skyline era. Meanwhile, a Wisconsin songwriter Monica Martin guests on a beautiful duet of Spanish Leather Shoes and Vernon.
Vernon and his band ended the night with Dylan’s timeless song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. At a time when it becomes a song of thousands of energies, it is Well Iver the frontman’s face lights up with a big smile as he looks at the crowd. Whether you’ve come to Eaux Claires just for the Bon or you’re drawn to Bon Dylan’s band, Carson Park is transformed into a stage of dreams tonight, where collective unity trumps individual fame.
