Justin Vernon, probably better and inappropriately known as Bon Iver, probably even better known as that guy with the beard who won a Best New Artist Grammy, is starting a new music festival. The singer-songwriter has always been deeply loyal to his hometown, and this new two-day event, dubbed the Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival, will indeed be held in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, July 17–18, 2015.
That weekend should ring a bell for Midwestern festival fanatics. Though it has not been officially announced, it is typically the weekend of our Pitchfork Music Festival, which hosted Bon Iver in 2008. According to The Current, Vernon will personally curate the acts at Eaux Claires, which plans to draw around 25,000 fans.
This could mean that the two festivals will arm wrestle for acts (and fans). After all, the audience demographic is fairly similar, and Pitchfork did help break Bon Iver. However, it more than likely means that the two festivals will have a symbiotic relationship a la Lollapalooza and the concurrent Osheaga in Montreal, which often swap many performers the first weekend every August.
One curious little potential hitch. In 2010, the most recently this stuff was made public, the Pitchfork Music Festival radius clause read:
Artist will not perform at any "festival" in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota or Missouri 14 days prior and after the Pitchfork Music Festival July 16-18, 2010.
That was four years ago. And I've noted before that radius clauses are seemingly meaningless today, as there are dozens of examples of bands "breaking" them each summer (see: OutKast headlining both Milwaukee Summerfest and Lollapalooza). So there is a chance Bon Iver sucks a little blood from Pitchfork.