Bon Iver dazzles drenched Hinterland crowd on first day of Iowa music festival
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Livie Augustine drove nearly six hours from Minneapolis to Chicago only to travel another five hours to Iowa.
The 21-year-old picked up three of her friends — Jill Hunter, Em Sheldon and Kara Bailey — in the Windy City for a chance to see their favorite band, Wallows on Sunday at Hinterland Music Festival in the small town of St. Charles.
Nearly every summer since 2015, thousands like Augustine descend on a hill in Madison County about 30 minutes outside downtown Des Moines to see a handful of music's biggest stars.
"It's a new experience for me just because I've been camping with my parents, but it's been kind of on the glamping side, so we've just been sweaty," Augustine said before calling the Iowa rain Friday night "nice."
Hinterland kicked off its 2023 set with a slew of acts Friday, as a few rain showers forced concertgoers to trudge through mud and mush to take in bands such as alt-blues band Houndsmouth and the energetic duo Sylvan Esso.
The music three-day festival extends through Sunday, Aug. 6.
Bon Iver finds its groove on night one
A rainbow for the thousands-strong audience was a nighttime headlining set by Grammy favorite Bon Iver, the genre-blending band featuring frontman Justin Vernon. The lead singer has become a global sensation after being enlisted for superstar collaborations alongside Taylor Swift and rappers such as Kanye West, now known as Ye.
More: Photos: See Bon Iver, Sylvan Esso and Houndmouth at Hinterland Music Festival
The band began Friday night's set with a spiritual performance of "Heavenly Father," the mid-2010's track that serves as one of Bon Iver's earliest singles. They rolled into "666 ʇ," the electronic-tinged song off the band's 2016 effort while "22, A Million" wowed the crowd.
Vernon's sound on "Towers" was a rugged reminder in the rolling hills of Madison County of the lead vocalist's rural upbringing in the western Wisconsin college town of Eau Claire. Crowd favorites "U (Man Like)," "Jelmore," "10 d E A T h b R E a s T" and "715 - CREEKS" followed.
"Hey, Ma," the Grammy-nominated song for Record of the Year in 2020, struck a chord with "Hinterlanders" before enchanting concertgoers with the folksy "Faith." The woodsy "Blood Bank" brought claps and cheers from the festivalgoers.
Bon Iver, who first catapulted to mainstream music fame with "For Emma, Forever Ago," in 2008, brought magic to Hinterland with "Calgary" and a guitar strumming rendition of "Skinny Love," the streaming sensation.
A slow burn finale began with "33 'GOD.'" Then, Vernon proclaimed, "This song's called 'Sh—iest Day in American history," before the band played the saxophone-infused "Sh'Diah" followed by "Perth."
"Thank y'all so much .... thank you, guys," Vernon said.
Some Hinterlanders drove home after Bon Iver's set closed. Others, like Kara and Jillian, went back to their tents. Saturday, many woke up to do it all again, anticipating performances from Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan.
Also on tap are the Teskey Brothers and Angel Olson. The afternoon slate of music begins at 3:15 p.m. with Koo Koo Kanga Roo.
Sunday's final-day lineup features Maggie Rogers as the headliner.
Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Instagram or reach out at jstahl@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Grammy favorites Bon Iver bring calm to rainy day one of Hinterland
