Wisconsin's reigning indie-rock unit Bon Iver has announced three October concerts to try to vote out America's sitting president.
Eau Claire native Justin Vernon and his Grammy-winning band will perform in La Crosse on Oct. 5, Wausau on Oct. 7 and Appleton on Oct. 8 as part of the 46 for 46 campaign, a series of concerts in battleground states around the country aimed to support the Democratic nominee on Election Day a month later (who would be the 46th president).
"They say Wisconsin could decide it all in 2020," Vernon said in a series of tweets Monday morning announcing the concerts. "We don't take that lightly, so we're asking fans to pledge to vote."
Tickets for the three shows officially go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via boniver.com/tour, but pre-sale options will begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. for fans who make that voting pledge.
All three venues are smaller than the arenas and amphitheaters where Bon Iver typically plays these days. The La Crosse Center's South Hall, for instance, holds about 4,600 people.
It's no surprise Vernon is joining the 46 for 46 concert campaign, which also sees the likes of Lissie, Nathaniel Rateliff, Patty Griffin and Cha Wa performing in their home states (Iowa, Colorado, Maine and Louisiana, respectively). The campaign's co-founder is longtime Bon Iver co-manager Kyle Frenette, who made an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Congress from Wisconsin's 7th District in 2018 and has organized other benefit concerts for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and for Wisconsin's Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Bon Iver is touring throughout 2020, but mostly overseas. There have been murmurings that Vernon & Co. could bring back the Eaux Claires festival to Eau Claire in July after taking last year off, but there's no firm word on that yet.
