The Eaux Claires Experience
By: Cari Monroe

My first thought while sitting down to write this series was “Eaux Claires. Ahhhhh”. So much happened in such a short amount of time it was difficult for me to process, let alone write about. Eaux Claires is a 2-day music festival located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and it attracts 20,000 people nation-wide. Curated by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, it is no surprise to learn most acts are good friends of his. Nearly all the artists gave a warm shout out to Justin, expressing their love for him and for the festival. While most acts could be considered Indie/Alternative, other genres were not left untouched. Rapper Vince Staples drew a large crowd, and the Japanese metal duo Senyawy could be found through the woods making a rare US appearance. On one corner you could find a slew of people rocking out to their favorite band, on another you could take a quiet hike through the woods to see countless nature-inspired art instillations. This festival truly had it all, and a friend of mine had described herself as a “different person” on our drive home. Where else would you have to essentially perform a scavenger hunt to see S. Carey perform a very intimate secret show on a small handmade wooden stage in the middle of the woods? “That is quite possibly the strangest things I’ve ever heard”, said a friend when I explained to her what the band was doing, but as I was sitting in the woodchips 5 feet away from S. Carey, I understood the thought behind the mystery and why this will always be the festival I’ll be attending every year. Nowhere else could you find that excitement mixed with pure serenity and joy, and the only thing that made me leave the grounds on Sunday morning was knowing that it would be there next year, bigger and better than ever before.

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The Staves & Y-Music

This was my first time seeing the Staves live, and my mouth immediately fell open hearing their heavenly harmonies. They opened with an a capella version of “Hopeless” and the crowd, myself included, was mesmerized. The set was composed of a blend of orchestral contemporary music and the Staves three part flowing vocal harmonies.
Vernon asked them to put together all new music—some were pieces Y-Music had never released and the Staves jokingly mentioned they “wrote over” – with a laugh from the crowd—and others were Staves music that the brilliant Y-Music composed instrumental music for. Either way, this music “didn’t exist 10 days ago”. If that pure musical talent doesn’t awe you I don’t know what will.

 

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James Blake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Holly Dockendorf

 

The only expectation I had going into James Blake’s set was that it was going to be great. I knew most of “The Colour in Anything”, but had no idea how Blake performed live, or even what he really looked like. Let me tell you, while there’s no running around or crazy stage shenanigans, Blake combines his pure musical talent with high-energy buildups to create an experience that is like nothing else (although it did help that it was raining the entire set; sounds like an inconvenience, but trust me, it made everything much more real and awe-inspiring).

 

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Vince Staples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Holly Dockendorf

 

Vince Staples was by far my favorite surprise of the weekend. It was just by coincidence (a beer coincidence, actually) that we were by his stage as his set began.
Staples is one of those artists where you don’t need to know any of his songs or any of the words to jam out. His energy running around stage was infectious, and his banter with his DJ was highly entertaining. “Sorry for cursing and moving rapidly on this stage, I understand this is not that type of festival”, he mentioned at one point. He was not exactly wrong, but his extremely fun set was exactly the re-energizer everyone needed after several slower, more emotional performances.

 

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Bon Iver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Holly Dockendorf

 

This was the set everyone worldwide was waiting for. I was still reeling from front row rain filled James Blake set, and only had a meager ten minutes to prepare my mind, body, and soul for a life changing Bon Iver set.

As soon as he started playing, my mouth dropped open (are you sensing a trend?). I’ll have to wait until September 30th when the album comes out to give you my full musical opinion of the new music, but for now, I will say “22, A Million” still has the trademark Bon Iver sound, but with a new and interesting vibe.
Some songs are so full of instrumentals it’s difficult to distinguish everything, but together help to create a very full, well-rounded sound that build up so huge it shakes you to your core. There are also others that are so raw and emotional it’s hard not to get knocked with all the feelings.
The production of the set was incredible, with the banners and the lights and the people; there were 8 saxophone players on stage for a majority of the set, along with an appearance from the Staves and Bruce Hornsby. So much happened during his set that I barely remember the specifics; all I remember was a feeling of comfort and community and love.
One of my favorite quotes is, “people don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel”, and that’s a great summarizer for this Bon Iver performance.

 

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Francis and the Lights

 

Francis’ set was intensely entertaining; it seemed like he never stopped prancing around stage in a way that looked like half dancing and half being possessed by something not of this earth. Most of the songs sounded pretty much the same to me, but it’s hard to say whether that’s because it was my first time hearing everything or because he really does lack musical variety.

 

 

Video by: Holly Dockendorf