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Big Ears Festival


BFrank

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Had an outstanding time. Our first time to Big Ears, and not the last.

Almost impossible to schedule a day without missing something great.

Happy to see kh1958, charlesp, randyhersom, BFrank, jeffcrom and others.

Made a bunch of new friends and spent time with some old friends.

I see Randy mentioned The Thing (Paal Nilssnen-Love, Mats Gustafsson and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten) who had a great show Friday night.

Ashley Capps does a great job.

Couple of music fans below.

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6 hours ago, Aggie87 said:

Impressive set of shows there, Buzz!

How were Hidalgo & Ribot?  Interesting pairing - I enjoy Ribot's Prosthetic Cubans albums.  Curious if they played Lobos material or more traditional stuff.

I would have loved to have seen every show you saw on Friday as well (Saturday too for that matter), though I'm unfamiliar with Nest Egg.  

 

Yeah, it was nuts! Actually Hidalgo & Ribot weren't as interesting as I hoped. Mostly more traditional stuff and not bad, but compared to the shows I saw later, not as interesting. I missed Ceramic Dog a day or two after, though.

I think you would have liked a LOT of the shows AGGGGGGGG. I didn't get to see much of Nest Egg, unfortunately, but if they come this way I'll definitely see them again. Rockers, for SURE!

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Based on today's line-up announcement, it looks like a trip to this festival is also worthwhile in 2019.

Lineup as of Sept. 25, 2018:

Acme

Alvin Lucier

Avishai Cohen Quartet

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan

Bill Frisell and the Mesmerists featuring Tony Scheer

Kenny Wollesen and the films of Bill Morrison

Brooklyn Rider

Carl Stone

Carla Bley Trios with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow

Carla Kihlstedt

Clarice Jensen + Jonathan Turner: For This From That Will Be Filled

Coupler

Dejohnette Coltrane Garrison

Derek Gripper

Dragnet Girl with live score by Coupler

Evan Parker/Matt Wright Trance Map+

Ever Present Orchestra featuring Stephen O’Malley and Oren Ambarchi perform the works of Alvin Lucier,

Harold Budd

International Contemporary Ensemble

Irreversible Entanglements

Jerusalem In My Heart

Jlin

Joan La Barbara

Joan La Barbara performs works by Alvin Lucier

Joan La Barbara: Voice is the Original Instrument

Joep Beving

Kara-Lis Coverdale

Kayhan Kalhor & Brooklyn Rider

Kim Kashkashian

Lonnie Holley

Lonnie Holley and The Messthetics

Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl

Mathias Eick Quintet

Matt Wilson’s Honey & Salt

Mercury Rev

Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble Cellular Songs Concert

Nief-Norf

Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin

Nils Frahm

Peter Gregson

Rachel Grimes: The Way Forth

Rafio Bhatia: Breaking English

Ralph Towner

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi

Richard Thompson: Killed In Action

Roomful Of Teeth

Schlippenbach Trio

Shai Maestro Trio

Sons of Kemet

Spiritualized

Sun Of Goldfinger

The Art Ensemble Of Chicago

The Comet Is Coming

The Messthetics

The Nashville Ballet: Lucy Negro Redux choreography by Paul Westerling with music by Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi and poetry by Caroline Randall

Theo Bleckmann: Berlin - Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile

Theo Bleckmann: Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush

Thumbscrew

Tim Berne's Snakeoil

Triptych: On the work of Robert Mapplethorpe, featuring Roomful Of Teeth, composed by Bryce Dressner, Libretto by Korde Arrington Tuttle, featuring the work of Patti Smith & Essex Hemphill, directed by Daniel Fish

Wadada Leo Smith solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk

Wadada Leo Smith's NDA, performing "Divine Love" with Bobby Naughton and Dwight Andrews

 

Edited by kh1958
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A general admission pass for the whole festival is $225.

Flights from Dallas are currently about $500. Unfortunately, Southwest does not fly to Knoxville, so American Airlines is the only nonstop option. Aadvantage tickets from  Dallas are not reasonable  (60,000 miles).

The hotels will vary--the one I booked is $159 a night (excluding taxes). If you stay in the downtown area you can walk to all the venues. I use expedia.com  for hotels.

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Hell, I can drive to Knoxville...the festival is how many nights? Lodging looks like it's going to be the big variable, lodging and, of course, time.

I want to do this before all the old people die. Already I see fewer of them booked this year than last. I want to hear the old folks, the middle-aged, and the new kids. I want to experience the whole famn damily.

Might end up being a retirement present to myself, but that's still 2-3 years off...

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The festival begins Thursday evening, and is an all day affair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Last year, I flew in Thursday afternoon and returned Sunday afternoon (the last flight leaves at 4:40), so I missed most of Sunday, but it was enough.

They are not finished announcing the line-up.

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I went this year - it was AMAZING. And next year looks as good, or maybe BETTER. If you can afford to get the VIP pass, it's worth it. You get priority entrance to the venues and some of them have reserved, close-up seating, too.

You won't be sorry any way you get there. It's very well run, and Knoxville is a nice, walkable small city.

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I'm very likely for Friday and Saturday, would love to add Sunday if I can.  Having stood out in a cold rain last year while VIP ticket holders walked by to see Jason Moran and Milford Graves, I'll give some thought to the upgrade.  I did get to see the end of that set, but missed a lot.

The amount of musical options available makes it a whirlwind experience.  If you plan to meet up with anyone there, best to arrange for text messaging in advance.  I did meet Chuck Nessa and his wife but missed connecting with the other two Organissimo attendees.

 

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22 minutes ago, randyhersom said:

I'm very likely for Friday and Saturday, would love to add Sunday if I can.  Having stood out in a cold rain last year while VIP ticket holders walked by to see Jason Moran and Milford Graves, I'll give some thought to the upgrade.  I did get to see the end of that set, but missed a lot.

The amount of musical options available makes it a whirlwind experience.  If you plan to meet up with anyone there, best to arrange for text messaging in advance.  I did meet Chuck Nessa and his wife but missed connecting with the other two Organissimo attendees.

 

Yes to that. We hope to attend this year too. I can't afford to miss the ECM celebration with Roscoe, Wadada, etc. Unfortunately Hal Russell and Lester Bowie have passed. (Snark intended).

I do admire the work.

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On 12/6/2018 at 5:02 PM, randyhersom said:

I'm very likely for Friday and Saturday, would love to add Sunday if I can.  Having stood out in a cold rain last year while VIP ticket holders walked by to see Jason Moran and Milford Graves, I'll give some thought to the upgrade.  I did get to see the end of that set, but missed a lot.

The amount of musical options available makes it a whirlwind experience.  If you plan to meet up with anyone there, best to arrange for text messaging in advance.  I did meet Chuck Nessa and his wife but missed connecting with the other two Organissimo attendees.

 

Randy, if you can afford the VIP it's definitely worth it. As you said, the priority seating makes a BIG difference. There are also some bonuses like a Sunday Brunch and some other goodies.

We'll have to make another attempt to meet up - Nessa, too!

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2 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Thrilled that The Schlippenbach Trio is Playing @ Roulette in Brooklyn on Monday 3/25/19. First time I’ll be seeing the great pianist since 2003. Would love it Paul Lovens could have travelled but Paul Lytton is just a different kind of great. 

oh, wonderful! I don't think I've seen him since around that time either.

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I'm planning on going to Big Ears for the first time this year. I'm just attending Saturday and Sunday. I am going to buy a Saturday Premier pass and a Sunday General Admission pass because there are more must-sees for me on Saturday and I am guessing that Sunday may be less packed. Is this a good strategy?

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