A previous Yukon Kornelius gig

Yukon Kornelius is an extreme sports-themed band featuring Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard, Guster guitarist Adam Gardner, Barenaked Ladies singer Ed Robertson and N.E.R.D. multi-instrumentalist Eric Fawcett. The ensemble performs a few times a year, usually in ski/snowboard towns and always with some special guests. On Saturday night, the band took the stage at Vail, Co’s Ford Park as part of the Snow Daze festival. After opening their set with such songs as Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” Guster’s “Happier” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” both Lettuce/Dave Matthews Band trumpeter Rashawn Ross and O.A.R. saxophonist Jerry DePizzo emerged for a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” Ross then left the stage as O.A.R. lead singer Marc Roberge appeared on the Commodores’ “Night Shift.” Soon after, DJ Logic joined the core Yukon Kornelius band for a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.”

The collaborations continued near the end of Yukon Kornelius’ performance. First, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready sat in on a version of Blur’s “Song 2” featuring some rare lead vocals from Lessard. Then Fuel singer Brett Scallions joined McCready and Yukon Kornelius for both The Kinks’ “Destroyer” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” (Lessard, McCready and Scallions play in the cover-heavy side band 1,2,3 GO!:). McCready remained onstage for a take on The Doors’ “Touch Me.”

Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider took the stage next, leading Yukon Kornelius through “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “I Wanna Rock.” For their encore Yukon Kornelius brought out Dave Matthews Band fiddler Boyd Tinsley for DMB’s “Halloween” as well as alpine ski champ Lindsey Vonn to play cowbell on AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”