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Antony, Philip Glass, Matmos, Fennesz Play Big Ears Fennesz teams with Mark Linkous and Scott Minor of Sparklehorse for a trio performance Antony, Philip Glass, Matmos, Fennesz Play Big Ears
The Tennessee festival landscape will get a little larger next year with the inaugural Big Ears, a new fest spearheaded by one of the founders of Bonnaroo.
Big Ears is a much smaller affair than Bonnaroo, though, focusing on more experimental music and featuring "art installations, exhibitions, performance art, seminars with artists, and interactive experiences," according to a press release.
Big Ears takes place February 6-8 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Its lineup includes Antony and the Johnsons, Matmos, Philip Glass, Fennesz, Michael Gira, Negativland (doing their "live" radio show "It's All in Your Head"), and Pauline Oliveros. In addition to doing a solo set, Fennesz will also perform in a trio with Mark Linkous and Scott Minor of Sparklehorse. Posted by Dave Maher on Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 2:15pm
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Post by steveternal on Dec 20, 2008 7:38:24 GMT -5
update...
NEW ARTISTS ADDED! Big Ears is excited to announce the following additions to the line up for our inaugural festival, Feb. 6 – 8, 2009, in Knoxville, TN: Violinist and electronics composer C. Spencer Yeh will perform with his visionary Burning Star Core ensemble Electronic pioneer and hardware hacker Nicolas Collins will lead a workshop building electrical instruments from unlikely sources Master electronic party impresario Dan Deacon will be bringing his Baltimore Round Robin Avant folk gypsy Larkin Grimm will perform her spellbinding songs Internationally acclaimed woodwind virtuoso Ned Rothenberg will perform solo as well as collaborate with others San Agustin will create their power metal drone pieces Improvisational sorcerers the Shaking Ray Levis will conjure up their "old timey" avant-garde
Sounds good. And I just saw Deacon's Baltimore Round Robin show last night. It's fun, to say the very, very least.
Post by Jazzmaster on Jan 13, 2009 20:10:23 GMT -5
I bought a ticket for the festival finale show...the Sparklehorse/Fennesz collab w/Michael Gira of Swans opening. I have a really good seat- 3 rows back, on the floor, center row.
Post by luciddream5 on Jan 14, 2009 2:58:03 GMT -5
How did I not already hear about this? I must go...if anyone needs a place to crash I might have an offer. It's only a maybe though...so glad to hear of a festival in Knoxville of all places...sweeeet!
Post by Jazzmaster on Jan 14, 2009 10:15:50 GMT -5
I don't think I will be in Knoxville much before or after the show. I might meet up with some friends at UT, but I certainly won't be staying overnight. I have to get back for Monday classes.
I hope they are able to sell tickets and have success with the festival, I am worried this festival might die out.
So...stories, pictures, etc. Who went, what shows did you go to, and how were they? I only attended the Sparklehorse/Fennesz collaboration yesterday. Pics (horrible quality, and blurry) to come soon as well as my thoughts on the show.
Well obviously I can't tell you about that, but I will go ahead and give an account of last night's festivities. But I do know that Matmos had some venue issues...they apparently got banned from the venue they were supposed to play in.
The informal nature of the whole event took me somewhat by surprise. It was a very laid-back kind of atmosphere for a show...barely any venue staff on hand, people just lounging around and hanging out before the show and during sets, no real seating arrangements...even though the show wasn't general admission ticketing. Artists and festival organizers were strolling around and talking to people. Ashley Capps was just hanging out with people before the doors opened. Michael Gira was strolling through crowds of people with a cowboy hat on. Mark Linkous would randomly pop out at various spots in the theater...from box seats, to the balcony, soundboard, etc. It was definitely an unusual concert experience, especially in addition to the kind of the music being played.
The music started two hours late unfortunately. Larkin Grimm played the first set. She also had a lot to do with the music being delayed due to an excessive sound check of some absurd instruments. The problem with a Festival/Event like Big Ears is the fact that while you have a lot of excellent, talented musicians who play avant-garde and experimental music...you also have people like Larkin Grimm who don't have anything to offer. She was a classic case of a musician trying too hard. In this case, trying to hard to make clever music, to write cryptic songs, to make experimental music. Experimental and obtuse music just for the sake of being experimental and obtuse. Not impressed whatsoever...but then again I didn't come to see her anyway.
Michael Gira played next, and he played an exclusively acoustic set. Some unreleased stuff, some of his solo stuff, and a few Swans songs. Pretty intense performance overall. I enjoyed it even though I'm not a big fan of Gira or Swans. The crowd loved Gira- and he ended up passing the remainder of a half-handle of whiskey around that he had been drinking onstage.
I was more than ready for Sparklehorse and Fennesz though. It was a sublime performance. Fennesz was fantastic, he complemented Mark Linkous and Scott Minor really well. Fennesz is know for being more of a powerbook kind of an artist, but he played a good deal of guitar last night. Fennesz did an extremely impressive job, and really made Linkous' songs better. Plus it's always a thrill for me to see a musician play a Fender Jazzmaster live. The whole set was textured, atmospheric, and at times almost like a wall of sound. The setlist was excellent, albeit somewhat short...but they did play long versions songs. Highlights included "Homecoming Queen," "Tears on Fresh Fruit," and especially the set closer "Sad and Beautiful World."
Some horrible pictures due to no-flash photography:
I kind of wish I had spent the weekend there and attended more shows and events. They had all kinds of worships, activities, interactive stuff, art exhibits, etc. I hope the festival continues next year...Ashley Capps certainly seemed excited about it so I am pretty optimistic it will be back.
Negativeland did there It's all in your head radio show. It was pretty cool, they actually requested you ear a blindfold through the show to enhance your experience. It was very much about religion and the pointlessness of fanaticism. The part where they were pretending to shave a chimpanzee to prove the truth of evolution was priceless.
Edit
Did anyone see Terry Gross? she was in town for the festival.
Last Edit: Feb 10, 2009 11:15:17 GMT -5 by Deleted - Back to Top
Post by Jazzmaster on Feb 10, 2009 12:59:25 GMT -5
Yeh Ashley Capps curated the Festival. He has been wanting to do something like this for a while now. I think it's more of a side thing than something that would influence Bonnaroo...I doubt any Big Ears artists are going to play Bonnaroo.
Lerxst, Michael Gira said The Necks show at Big Ears was one of the best he had seen in years.
