Big Ears Festival 2010 [Knoxville, TN]

New year, new thread.

Info via tipsa mothra

For Immediate Release November 17, 2009

Big Ears Festival Returns in 2010
March 26-27-28

Composer Terry Riley Confirmed As Artist In Residence

KNOXVILLE, TN. The BIG EARS FESTIVAL is proud to announce another weekend of visionary
music, exploratory art, and southern hospitality for March 26, 27, and 28 in historic Knoxville, Tennessee.
This time, BIG EARS is especially proud to host the legendary American composer TERRY RILEY as
Artist in Residence for the weekend with a series of concerts throughout the weekend celebrating Riley’s
75th Birthday year. In addition, the weekend will feature an exciting array of artists and performers from
the worlds of rock, jazz, classical, and avant-garde music along with installations, exhibitions, interactive
experiences, talks, and workshops.

One of the most influential musicians and composers of the past century, TERRY RILEY’s impact and
influence on contemporary music and art cannot be overstated. In 1964, his revolutionary composition, In
C, launched the Minimalist movement in music and his influence is still heard today in the work of Philip
Glass, Steve Reich, John Adams and other classical composers. His subsequent early works, A Rainbow
in Curved Air and Poppy Nogood, with their kaleidoscopic, psychedelic atmospheres, sent waves across
the musical worlds of the 1960s, strongly reflected in the music of The Who, Pink Floyd, and other rock
bands of the time. That influence continues today in the music of Radiohead and Animal Collective and
even The National and Bon Iver. It’s no surprise that TERRY RILEY was recently selected by the
London Times as one of the “1000 Makers of the 20th Century.”

“It’s a tremendous honor to have Terry Riley participate in our festival this year. It’s a dream come true.”
says Big Ears founder, Ashley Capps, also a creator and producer of the renown Bonnaroo Music and Arts
Festival.

RILEY himself will perform in several different concerts of his work during the weekend, with a variety
of musicians. Also, the Calder String Quartet will present a program of his work. And a sure highlight of
the weekend will come when many of the artists performing during the weekend join together for an
unforgettable performance of In C, “one of the definitive masterpieces of the 20th Century.”
Additions to the BIG EARS line up along with ticketing information will be released in early December.

:-D

I know I keep waffling on getting to this but I might actually be able to now since it falls right on a long break weekend for me.

i think i'll be there. there's a possibility i'll even be living in knoxville by that point.

Start charging inflated rates for ILXors to crash at your place.

Cool, just made my reservation for the St. Oliver.

I was thinking St. Oliver, but I'll probably opt for a place with a pool.

No drowning zings, plz

some rumored possible acts: magnetic fields/stephin merritt, dirty projectors, joanna newsome.

someone who i'm friends with heard AnCo and Dirty Projjies

obv, i can hear all that shit in brooklyn and/or my RSS feed, so i'm hoping its more stuff like the Necks and Pauline Oliveros

i heard AnCo fell through.

and yeah, haven't heard anything at all about the composition/jazz/improv side of things.

heard a rumor about dark ambient/black metal <3

Hmmm. Clues/hints?

i think that is the biggest hint i can give atm!

i want to cover big ears for a fancy magazine or website

someone should mail me a really awesome camera and let me interview all these really fancy and intellectual people in a nardwuar or heehaw stylee

just saying

anyways yes, black metal

anyone heard anything?

pretty sure i heard something about guitars

tr00 or false?

no idea!!

WTF?

I didn't even know people in Tennessee wore shoes!? LOL

If you think Merriweather Post Pavillion is the best AnCo album, you might be a redneck

but seriously I live in TN and am looking forward to attending this

grrreeaaat

the initial lineup is up ....

looks like someone's trying to sell a few more tickets this year:

The initial Big Ears line up for March includes Vampire Weekend, Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent, Andrew WK, The Ex, Gang Gang Dance, Clogs, 802 Tour (Nico Muhly / Doveman / Sam Amidon with Nadia Sirota), The xx , Javelin, DJ/Rupture (solo), DJ/Rupture and Andy Moor, My Brightest Diamond, the Calder Quartet, Gyan Riley, and jj.

Too bad there's not a big festival in Austin the week before where all those bands could play

I was thinking St. Oliver, but I'll probably opt for a place with a pool staying in brooklyn

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, November 17, 2009 3:13 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i could make a case for gang gang dance and joanna newsom, but ... sheesh.

Like, honestly, can't have one cool thing in America that doesn't just end up having to pander to Gorilla Vs Bear readers?

sounds like this is moving closer to just being an indie festival? I'm not making a judgement on that, gotta sell tickets to put it on, after all

I mean, yeah, I don't blame the guy at all

vw (and indie pop ilk) stick out pretty embarassingly on this bill. and i've heard they cost a pretty penny; a couple years ago they wouldn't play pop montreal cause they couldn't be promised however much they requested. and that was shortly after their debut, only.

what happened to the metal?

what was the difference in the initial lineup and the actual lineup last year

well last year was Phillip Glass right?

vampire weekend is the only one that really stands out too much, I think of them as a pop group (nothing wrong with that) but they just don't have the "visionary" or "exploratory" vibe per se

but overall I have no problem with it

actually come to think of it, Bonaroo has changed a lot over time, started out with the jam band thing

of course I'm forgetting this is just the initial lineup, for all I know Jesus Christ could end up playing the festival

pretty gross about vamp wknd and a couple other things on there like wtf, but itll improve

i complained on knoxblab that it was just another indie festival and AC said and i quote: "There's quite a bit more to be revealed in the coming weeks."

so

Sounds more like a threat.

haha i know

"THESE guys we're adding got a 7.4 for their 'haunting lyrical ruminations!'"

"argh no"

Any weekend where I can see Terry Riley, Gang Gang Dance, The Ex and Joanna Newsom is on a pretty damn good track already. I am looking forward to the rest of the line up.

i complained on knoxblab that it was just another indie festival and AC said and i quote: "There's quite a bit more to be revealed in the coming weeks."

Maybe indie rock at Big Ears should be like jam bands at Bonnaroo, where there's enough of it to actually draw ticket sales, but still enough alternate awesomeness that you can avoid it all together.

definitely true that at bonnaroo if you want to find some of the best stuff of the weekend you just look for who's counter-programmed to the big hippie bands.

so should i buy my ticket now?

weekend passes almost sold out, yo

who told you this?

official big ears email

The initial allotment of Big Ears "Inner Ear" Weekend Festival passes - at the amazing price of $199.50 + service fees - is nearly gone. Once this allotment is sold out, the price for the weekend pass will increase to $249.50, also in a limited allotment.

buying now, ty!

see you there ;)

i'm pitching it to some mags, so we'll see

just bought inner ear pass tbh gonna be watching a lot of shows.

This is getting too big -- there are a lot of simultaneous shows and tough decisions to be made.

guys i can't go bc of relocating crap - if anyone would like to purchase an inner ear pass, perhaps at reduced price, let me know!

tomorrow! i haven't sorted out my full weekend schedule yet, but man so much stuff i want to get to.

I won't be there :(

We're in Loudon tonight, will roll on into Knoxville tomorrow. Looking forward to the shows!

Hi I'm in the Tennessee theatre! They have free WiFi you can steal from their dressing room!! Wmc are you there? Curtis is a big fat liar btw as he's sitting next to me right now

lol @ "big fat liar" since curtis is tiny

i am sitting at java watching the AMPient set and about to go to Ahleuchatistas with Roxy at 5:00. Later: Roxy's band and Liturgy @ Pilot Light.

Ken, I saw you leaving the men's room as I was going in! The state of my bladder wouldn't let me stop and say hi. I'll be at Ahleuchatistas at 5, probably New Brutalism/Konk Pack later. Def. going to In C, but I might try to hang around for the metal at the Pilot Light as long as I can.

Konk Pack were fucking awesome last night in Baltimore- if you are going to Big Ears, do not miss them!

Omg did you meet Kevin green?

heard dj rupture got kicked out of newsom for talking lol

We would have got kicked out of dj rupture for talking if more than 15 ppl were there

i left joanna newsom after about 4 songs so i could go hear the last 3 songs of roxy's band's set (and then liturgy after). it was a good trade.left vamp weekend after a few songs to go see konk pack, also a good trade.

left terry riley/bang on a can "in c" after about 15 mins. to go see gang gang dance. don't know if that was a good trade or not, but ggd were pretty great.

LOVED konk pack.

I saw a tad of DJ Rupture and then saw him later talking really loud just before New Brutalism. I guess that is just what he does. Maybe he is used to talking over his loud music.

New Brutalism was awesome, as they always are, and I was happy to be able to use my sister's "artist" pass to get in for free. I also saw Konk Pack and Argentinum Astrum last night before heading home completely exhausted.

I listened to the entire Gang Gang Dance set while laying in bed. The venue has placed speakers outside and the sound bounces off of my skylight across the street. I was glad to hear it and still be in the comfort of my own home - a perk of living the Old City but I imagine it will not be so great when it is Fear Factory and other bullshit later this summer.

maybe DJ rupture was trying to introduce an added spoken-word element to the music like he does in his sets

DJ Rupture is really cute.

so tired, but it's been a fantastic festival. konk pack was great, and it was great meeting up with Ken/Curtis/Nijoli/Roxy yesterday.

Tim Hecker, "Music for Airports," Shaking Ray Levis + Shelley Hirsch, Calder Quartet again and T. Riley again today. Will probably skip My Brightest Diamond and the National.

WmC - it was great meeting you yesterday, as well!

We are at Java listening to the AMPient morning set. Adrian Belew is supposed to show up and join them.

ah, was he the secret special guest? Too bad it wasn't Basinski, but I could see Belew adding an interesting layer.

i was hoping basinksi, too. belew has not showed yet so that may be during their afternoon set, which i have to miss.

to justify my press pass i blogged some shit about last night. at least seeing vampire weekend (for a few songs, anyway) helped me figure out more about why i don't like them.

home again, home again

hey my band was in the new york times

pretty badaaaaace

nico muhly + doveman were the best thing at big ears btw

WmC, what energy boost regimen did you decide on?

Nibbling throughout the day instead of eating any really big meals helped a lot.

Saturday, I drank half a 5-Hr Energy about 10 pm, drank most of the rest of it about midnight before the Terry Riley show. Worked really well, I was alert though In C, which finished about 2:30. Surrounded by snoozers ::cough kenc cough:: Didn't have any trouble getting to sleep.

hey my band was in the new york times

not just in the times, but in the times as a "fantastic doom-metal band."

all the write-ups are pretty rapturous. which probably just means it's being set up for the inevitable "big ears ain't what it used to be" complaints in a year or two. still a pretty cool thing for knoxville. and shuttling all over the place saturday really made me appreciate having the bijou and tennessee. there are a lot of cities without one theater as nice as either of those, never mind two.

btw, favorite discovery of the festival for me = Sam Amidon

Congrats on NYT rave, Roxy!

i thought this was supposed to be an experimental music festival. they've got a lot more "rock" acts this time out, like the balance has definitively shifted from one thing to the other.

rock can be experimental

xpost we should have mentioned that one time or a dozen in this thread

i know

i'm not complaining, i'm just noting what seems to be a big shift in the kind of music that dominates this festival

oh, has it already been mentioned? sorry. didn't read the whole thread.

yeah, n/a, i love experimental rock musicians like the national and jj pushing my boundaries of what music can be

I think the overall quantity of experimental/improv/musique actuelle held steady if not grew from last year to this; as a percentage of the whole festival, obv it went way down. No problem, I had plenty of non-rock to listen to the whole weekend.

i was jus thinking, if Capps wants to support these avant artists so bad, and its obvious that the "indie kid" crossover sells more tickets than noisegeek crossover, how hard would it be to create like an OUTER LIMITS stage at bonnaroo, like kind of off the beaten path in a tucked away corner of Rooville, where d00ds could chillax with a beer in the sun and listen to Merzbow or Tim Hecker or Burning Star Core or Jon Hassell or Glenn Branca whatevs on like the biggest, baddest, loudest soundsystem they ever played on?

especially since like 80% of twentysomething artfuckos are reformed jamband arthur mag compost pile duderoos

was going to ask you how the whole "trying to be less of a dick" thing was working out for you, whiney, but nm

i'm serious about out limits stage at bonnaroo. i love bonnaroo.

as an old person who hates roughing it, I wouldn't go to Bonnaroo no matter how many Merzbows or Heckers or Evan Parkers showed up. I'm glad for Big Ears personally.

btw, roxy might have made the nyt, but nijoli and ken c get a lil shoutout in this week's metro pulse, stay tuned. (there are high heels involved.)

Aw. <3 I can't wait to see it!

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs377.snc3/24125_395532666400_549466400_4307549_2869222_n.jpg

l-r: wMc, ken c, roxymuzak, nijoli, curtis stephens

BEFAP 2010

<3<3

It's coming back:

http://www.bigearsfestival.com/.

March 28-30. Nothing yet on lineup.

Cool! Might try to clear my work calendar for that.