UPDATE: The leaked lineup below was confirmed Thursday, when tickets went on sale. Two-day passes are available now in a limited quantity at the advance price of $159 for general-admission, or $325 for VIP access, which includes food and drinks. Read more about the festival's lofty goals for Year "Troix" here.
Unless there are a lot of fakes going around, the lineup for Wisconsin's third annual Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival appears to have been leaked one day before it was to be announced. The rumored lineup going around features an impressive array of older favorites such as Paul Simon, Wilco and John Prine, indie faves Feist and Spank Rock, and hot young things such as Chance the Rapper, Danny Brown, Sylvan Esso and Francis & the Lights.
Moved up to earlier in the summer this year, June 16-17 (the weekend after Bonnaroo in Tennessee), this year's festival only lists its resident host Justin Vernon's main act, Bon Iver, as a "presenter" for Chicago songwriting legend Prine's set -- billed as "Bon Iver Presents John Prine & the American Songbook." Prine heads up a Chicago-centric lineup that also includes Chance the Rapper, who put on a sunny set last summer at Rock the Garden, where Bon Iver is already scheduled to perform this year a month after Eaux Claires, July 22, outside Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
The other big thing out of Chitown, Wilco, will apparently settle in for the weekend. In addition to a regular Wilco set, the leaked flyers list a variety of other performances by the band's members, including Tweedy (frontman Jeff Tweedy with son Spencer), the Autumn Defense (bassist John Stirrrat with multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone), and drummer Glenn Kotche with Bon Iver drummer S. Carey.
Justin Vernon will also perform with his festival's co-host, Aaron Dessner of the National, and Aaron's brother/bandmate Bryce, as Big Red Machine. Another of Vernon's heroes (along with Prine), Paul Simon is listed performing with yMusic, the New York-based neo-classical ensemble that has been a fixture at Eaux Claires and are featured on Simon's new record. Perhaps the biggest surprise on the lineup is Feist, who has rarely performed in recent years.
Attendance was down but the good vibes persisted last summer at Eaux Claires, which fell on the same weekend in August as the more dance-centric Summer Set Music & Camping Fest an hour away in nearby Somerset, Wis. This year, Eaux Claires was moved up to the June weekend when Rock the Garden is typically held (moved amid ongoing construction on the Walker's grounds).
Here's the preliminary EC '17 lineup, as it appears on flyers that were apparently sent out to early ticket buyers. Look for the official announcement with ticket info at noon Thursday via EauxClaires.com. The daily lineups won't be announced until later.
- The Autumn Defense
- Big Red Machine
- Bon Iver Presents John Prine and the American Songbook
- Chance the Rapper
- Collections of Colonies of Bees
- Cup
- Danny Brown
- Feist
- Francis and the Lights
- Happy Apple
- Julieta Venegas
- Mountain Man
- Mouse On Mars
- Music for the Long Emergency
- Paul Simon with yMusic
- Perfume Genius
- Quindar
- S. Carey & Glenn Kotche
- Spank Rock
- S-T-A-R-G-A-Z-E
- Sylan Esso
- This Is the Kit
- Tweedy
- Velvet Negroni
- Wilco
- Zebulon Pike
