Day of the Dead- Eaux Claires Festival- August 13, 2016

One of the most anticipated sets of the Eaux Claires festival was the "Day of the Dead" performance. Day of the Dead, the brain child of twin brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National, is a beefy compilation of 59 tracks celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead.  The Dessner brothers invited a plethora of their musical friends to record Dead tunes, providing their own interpretation of the music.  The box set of music was released with proceeds benefiting the Red Hot Organization for AIDS research.  

With a project this large and no tour planned at this time, the Eaux Claires event was the only live performance with this eclectic ensemble.  The Dessner brothers and a few other musicians anchored a "house band," with a literal revolving door of guests coming on and off the stage, and often exchanging instruments in the process.

The result was one of the most unique sets of music I've seen with the sheer number of diverse players taking the stage at one time or another.  Below is a recap of the set with fantastic pictures thanks to Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch:

1.  "Bird Song" featuring Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy).
Big vocals and a loose swagger from the band started the show on a good note, showing the crowd the "snow and rain."

2.  "Sugaree" featuring Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent and Jenny Lewis:

Fun, upbeat take on one of the more recognizable and "classic" Dead tunes.

3.  "Brown Eyed Women" featuring Phil Cook and Bruce Hornsby

A great playful take on a loose Dead jam with great vocal trade-off between Phil and Bruce.  

4. "Black Muddy River" featuring Bruce Hornsby and Justin Vernon

Soulful, powerful, and yearning.

5.  "Uncle John's Band" featuring Lucius

Fun, upbeat rendition with bright bubbly vocals.

6.  "Shakedown Street" featuring Ruben Nielsen (of Unknown Mortal Orchestra) and the Staves
A funky disco vibe brought this tune to life with soaring harmonies from The Staves

7.  "Ruben & Charise" featuring Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy)
Oldham's vocals soared on this set highlight, punctuated by guitar precision from Bryce Dessner.

8.  "If I Had the World To Give" featuring Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy)
Lamenting, reminiscent and powerful.

9.  "Brokedown Palace" featuring Little Scream, Richard Reed Parry, Sam Amidon, & Colin Stetson
Goosebump inducing "fare the well" harmonies from a great group of vocalists, and a blistering horn solo.  Show highlight!

10.  "Cassidy" featuring Moses Sumney and Jenny Lewis

Bob Weir's classic with new life breathed into it with Moses's powerful vocals and Jenny's harmonies.

11.  "Standing on the Moon" featuring Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent

Aaron Dessner mentioned this was Jerry Garcia's favorite ballad.  Matthew Houck made Jerry proud.

12. "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad" featuring Sam Amidon
A classic Americana infused Dead tune performed with gusto thanks to Sam Amidon and is musical talents.

13. "Morning Dew" featuring Matt Beringer of The National
Deep baritone vocals and thumping drums reinvented this Dead classic to rock your bones.

14. "And We Bid You Good Night" featuring Sam Amidon and friends
A nice collaborative piece to help wind down the show.

15. "Ripple" featuring Matt Beringer, Little Scream, Richard Reed Parry
Sing-along goodness to end the set.