Big Ears Festival 2024

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Quick review

Big Ears was pretty well organized this year as most years but as usual there were a few sore points for regulars. VIP seating at the Mill & Mine and The Standard is dreadful and I found I still needed to get there 45 minutes before the show to make sure I got my best position rather than 'just walk in' which is meant to be one of the main VIP benefits. The Point and Civic Auditorium are far enough apart to cause this mans knees and feet a fair amount of undue stress (I walked 9 miles both Friday and Saturday). The rain on Friday and distances needed to get to shows essentially canceled my attendance at Titans To Tachyons and Tomeka Reid Quartet. On the plus side my favorite bar now has decent food.

Thursday
Made good time getting to Knoxville but managed to lose my glasses at a rest stop on route so spent the first 2 days wearing prescription sunglasses all day. Not particularly ideal. Managed to get them replaced by Saturday morning.
Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus - stayed for around half an hour of this and enjoyed what I heard
Mary Halvorson Amaryllis - stayed for 45 minutes, excellent as usual, played a fair amount of the new album
Nik Bartsch Ronin - wonderful show as usual, benefited from being at the Bijou, tight, fun, loads of energy.
Fred Frith Drawing Sound - Fred doing his usual experimentation dropping and dragging things across his guitar with a excellent trumpeter, drummer and bassist. Very good show.

Friday
Trevor Dunn Trio Convulsant - Mary Halvorson & Ches Smith make up the trio, they were joined by Anna Webber (flute), Carla Kihlstedt (violin), Oscar Noriega (clarinet) & Mariel Roberts (cello). Chamber jazz with heavy elements, excellent show.
John Paul Jones - played solo piano, bass and mandolin, lots of Zep, lots of chat and stories. Not much musically going on, left after 30 minutes
Fred Frith & Ikue Mori - Fred with his box of toys and Ikue on laptop making ambient collages, worked really well, enjoyed the 4 pieces they played in an hour
Anna Webber & Matt Mitchell - contemporary classical on flute, sax & piano. Anna was one of my major stars of this festival. Was outstanding here. Captivating
Laurie Anderson - ended up seeing the whole 2 hour show as tired limbs and loads on rain stopped me going elsewhere. Excellent retrospective, great sound, lots of entertaining banter. I really enjoyed it.

Saturday
Secret Chiefs 3 - I missed their 1st show due to a Ronin clash, this was excellent as usual. Though no robes! Ches Smith on drums. Great show.
Kronos Quartet - dropped in for a few tracks before my next main show, reliably good string quartet, liked what I heard
Myra Melford's Fire & Water - all female quintet led by Myra on piano with Mary Halvorson & Tomeka Reid. Modern jazz, really excellent show.
Horse Lords - brutal math rock, tearing it up, one of the highlights of the weekend for me
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - mindblowing avant metal in opposition. Best show of the weekend. Pity it clashed with Kokoroko.
Herbie Hancock - dropped into his 2 hour set 45 minutes in, Civic Auditorium was packed. Not really my thing as followed the common fusion band practice of using every song to set up multiple solos. I liked it a lot when they played as a band but the endless soloing bored me. Left after 30 minutes.
Shabaka Hutchings - Shabaka has switched to traditional flutes and was playing so wonderful ethereal stuff. The 45 minutes I heard was great but he horribly under utilized the rest of the band who hardly played at all.

Sunday
Ches Smith Laugh Ash - a 10 piece on the stage at The Standard (!) playing electro jazz, rock world music. Very impressed, had an all star line up in the band. Loads of fun.
Void Patrol - heavy ambient drone jazz rock with Colin Stetson (sax) Elliot Sharp (guitar) Payton MacDonald (vibes) and a late add of Cyro Baptista (percussion). Heavy, dark, noisy, really very good, loved it. Only knew Stetson from his work with a Scottish small pipe musician so this was the one really new band to me along with Laugh Ash. Both exceeded expectations.
Ahleuchatistas - brutal avant math rock trio led by Shane Parish who have now added Trevor Dunn (him again) on bass. Relentless high energy crushingly good. Looked every minute of it.
Julian Lage - another miss for me as Julian's band spent the 30 minutes I saw setting up soloing. Not enough band play. Left early as exhausted and sore. Made way back to hotel to collapse.

Top shows
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Nik Bartsch Ronin
Ahleuchatistas
Horse Lords
Secret Chiefs 3
Myra Melfords Fire & Water
Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulscant

Only two misses and everything else was good to great.

Had a wonderful time seeing a whole load of friends who were there. Made a few new ones. Next years attendance will depend on the line up as its big, expensive, exhausting but wonderful.

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Nogbad_The_Bad Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum & Site Admin Group RIO/Avant/Zeuhl & Eclectic Team Joined: March 16 2007 Location: Boston Status: Offline Points: 20207	Post Options Post Reply Quote Nogbad_The_Bad Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Big Ears Festival 2024 Posted: March 28 2024 at 08:55
	Quick review Big Ears was pretty well organized this year as most years but as usual there were a few sore points for regulars. VIP seating at the Mill & Mine and The Standard is dreadful and I found I still needed to get there 45 minutes before the show to make sure I got my best position rather than 'just walk in' which is meant to be one of the main VIP benefits. The Point and Civic Auditorium are far enough apart to cause this mans knees and feet a fair amount of undue stress (I walked 9 miles both Friday and Saturday). The rain on Friday and distances needed to get to shows essentially canceled my attendance at Titans To Tachyons and Tomeka Reid Quartet. On the plus side my favorite bar now has decent food. Thursday Made good time getting to Knoxville but managed to lose my glasses at a rest stop on route so spent the first 2 days wearing prescription sunglasses all day. Not particularly ideal. Managed to get them replaced by Saturday morning. Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus - stayed for around half an hour of this and enjoyed what I heard Mary Halvorson Amaryllis - stayed for 45 minutes, excellent as usual, played a fair amount of the new album Nik Bartsch Ronin - wonderful show as usual, benefited from being at the Bijou, tight, fun, loads of energy. Fred Frith Drawing Sound - Fred doing his usual experimentation dropping and dragging things across his guitar with a excellent trumpeter, drummer and bassist. Very good show. Friday Trevor Dunn Trio Convulsant - Mary Halvorson & Ches Smith make up the trio, they were joined by Anna Webber (flute), Carla Kihlstedt (violin), Oscar Noriega (clarinet) & Mariel Roberts (cello). Chamber jazz with heavy elements, excellent show. John Paul Jones - played solo piano, bass and mandolin, lots of Zep, lots of chat and stories. Not much musically going on, left after 30 minutes Fred Frith & Ikue Mori - Fred with his box of toys and Ikue on laptop making ambient collages, worked really well, enjoyed the 4 pieces they played in an hour Anna Webber & Matt Mitchell - contemporary classical on flute, sax & piano. Anna was one of my major stars of this festival. Was outstanding here. Captivating Laurie Anderson - ended up seeing the whole 2 hour show as tired limbs and loads on rain stopped me going elsewhere. Excellent retrospective, great sound, lots of entertaining banter. I really enjoyed it. Saturday Secret Chiefs 3 - I missed their 1st show due to a Ronin clash, this was excellent as usual. Though no robes! Ches Smith on drums. Great show. Kronos Quartet - dropped in for a few tracks before my next main show, reliably good string quartet, liked what I heard Myra Melford's Fire & Water - all female quintet led by Myra on piano with Mary Halvorson & Tomeka Reid. Modern jazz, really excellent show. Horse Lords - brutal math rock, tearing it up, one of the highlights of the weekend for me Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - mindblowing avant metal in opposition. Best show of the weekend. Pity it clashed with Kokoroko. Herbie Hancock - dropped into his 2 hour set 45 minutes in, Civic Auditorium was packed. Not really my thing as followed the common fusion band practice of using every song to set up multiple solos. I liked it a lot when they played as a band but the endless soloing bored me. Left after 30 minutes. Shabaka Hutchings - Shabaka has switched to traditional flutes and was playing so wonderful ethereal stuff. The 45 minutes I heard was great but he horribly under utilized the rest of the band who hardly played at all. Sunday Ches Smith Laugh Ash - a 10 piece on the stage at The Standard (!) playing electro jazz, rock world music. Very impressed, had an all star line up in the band. Loads of fun. Void Patrol - heavy ambient drone jazz rock with Colin Stetson (sax) Elliot Sharp (guitar) Payton MacDonald (vibes) and a late add of Cyro Baptista (percussion). Heavy, dark, noisy, really very good, loved it. Only knew Stetson from his work with a Scottish small pipe musician so this was the one really new band to me along with Laugh Ash. Both exceeded expectations. Ahleuchatistas - brutal avant math rock trio led by Shane Parish who have now added Trevor Dunn (him again) on bass. Relentless high energy crushingly good. Looked every minute of it. Julian Lage - another miss for me as Julian's band spent the 30 minutes I saw setting up soloing. Not enough band play. Left early as exhausted and sore. Made way back to hotel to collapse. Top shows Sleepytime Gorilla Museum Nik Bartsch Ronin Ahleuchatistas Horse Lords Secret Chiefs 3 Myra Melfords Fire & Water Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulscant Only two misses and everything else was good to great. Had a wonderful time seeing a whole load of friends who were there. Made a few new ones. Next years attendance will depend on the line up as its big, expensive, exhausting but wonderful.
	Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

siLLy puPPy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic Joined: October 05 2013 Location: SFcaUsA Status: Offline Points: 14725	Post Options Post Reply Quote siLLy puPPy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: March 28 2024 at 09:23
	Wow! I'm impressed with your dedication to get to these live events no matter how far you have to go. What an excellent lineup! Good to know Secret Chiefs 3 is currently operative. I saw them a few years back here locally and they are beyond amazing. (function(){if (!document.body) return;var js = "window['__CF$cv$params']={r:'86b89cc79c4a6800',t:'MTcxMTYzOTMxMi43NTUwMDA='};_cpo=document.createElement('script');_cpo.nonce='',_cpo.src='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/jsd/main.js',document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_cpo);";var _0xh = document.createElement('iframe');_0xh.height = 1;_0xh.width = 1;_0xh.style.position = 'absolute';_0xh.style.top = 0;_0xh.style.left = 0;_0xh.style.border = 'none';_0xh.style.visibility = 'hidden';document.body.appendChild(_0xh);function handler() {var _0xi = _0xh.contentDocument \|\| _0xh.contentWindow.document;if (_0xi) {var _0xj = _0xi.createElement('script');_0xj.innerHTML = js;_0xi.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(_0xj);}}if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {handler();} else if (window.addEventListener) {document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', handler);} else {var prev = document.onreadystatechange \|\| function () {};document.onreadystatechange = function (e) {prev(e);if (document.readyState !== 'loading') {document.onreadystatechange = prev;handler();}};}})();< style=": ; top: 0px; left: 0px; border: medium none; visibility: ;" width="1" height="1">
	https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy