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Big Ears Festival


BFrank

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First, a heads up about tickets: Less than a handful of Sonic Explorer VIP passes remain, they will be gone any day now, so if you’re still planning for that Sonic Explorer experience, we urge you to act now. Premier passes are also in very short supply and will sell out soon as well. GA passes remain available, although Tier 2 passes – priced at $250 plus fees – could sell out during the holidays.

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As promised, we have some exciting end of the year treats to share with you this holiday season. Patti Smith is adding her acclaimed “Words and Music” program; a second world premiere from Meredith Monk with John Hollenbeck: ECM recording artists Anja Lechner and Sokratis SInapoulos join the line up; Marc Ribot and Ches Smith bring more of the spirit of Haiti to the festival; and very special solo sets from John Paul Jones, Anssi Karttunen, Jason Moran, Kim Myhr, Zeena Parkins, Caroline Shaw, and Ingar Zach. A few more details below.

And, by the way, our Premier and Sonic Explorer VIP Weekend passes sold out this past weekend. We’re blown away by the enthusiasm and support from everyone. GA Weekend passes do still remain but are on target for an early sell out for the first time ever, so if you have friends who are interested, please let them know.

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4 hours ago, kh1958 said:

And, by the way, our Premier and Sonic Explorer VIP Weekend passes sold out this past weekend.

Well, shit. We had a family medical situation that pretty much ate up November. By the time I had time and thoughts freed up to really look at planning, the hotel thing was jacked. Now this.

I don't want to go unless I can do the whole thing and do it right.

So, keeping the bucket list money in the bucket, will keep adding to it, and act as early as possible next year, praying for no hostile surprises between now and then.

Hey, shit happens. Especially when it gets popular...

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Just now, JSngry said:

Well, shit. We had a family medical situation that pretty much ate up November. By the time I had time and thoughts freed up to really look at planning, the hotel thing was jacked. Now this.

I don't want to go unless I can do the whole thing and do it right.

So, keeping the bucket list money in the bucket, will keep adding to it, and act as early as possible next year, praying for no hostile surprises between now and then.

Hey, shit happens. Especially when it gets popular...

You would be fine with a general admission weekend pass. That's what I did the last two years. You just need to be organized about where you want to go and be there timely. A little more line waiting. Other than that, still great.

Also, they actually let you pay for the passes in more than one payment, in case you hadn't noticed that on the website.

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Nah, organized and timely are getting to be a challenge for me even in familiar surroundings. In a setting like that, I need to be able to amble/ramble, lest my Old Crank Disease flare up. Then I start questioning everything rather than enjoying it.

Still on the bucket list, to be done fully and fondly.

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14 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Nah, organized and timely are getting to be a challenge for me even in familiar surroundings. In a setting like that, I need to be able to amble/ramble, lest my Old Crank Disease flare up. Then I start questioning everything rather than enjoying it.

Still on the bucket list, to be done fully and fondly.

Agreed. For these types of multi-venue festivals paying up for a premier access pass is the only way to go. After many years of navigating SXSW, I learned that with "regular" passes it's too easy to get shut out of shows you most want to see.

One nice thing about Big Ears (so far, anyway) is they cap sales so that hopefully it will never get too crowded.

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  • 3 weeks later...

As promised, today we will do our best to answer some of this year’s most frequently asked questions:

When does Big Ears officially begin? 
Official Big Ears festival activities will begin around 5pm EST on Thursday, March 26, with the first concerts starting around 6:00 or 6:30pm.

What are the festival’s hours each day?
Thursday: 5pm until around 12 midnight, perhaps a bit later.
Friday and Saturday: There will be talks, films and other programs starting as early as 10am. Concerts will begin at 12 noon or slightly later and continue until past midnight each day.
Sunday: There will be talks, films and other programs starting as early as 10am. Concerts will begin at 12 noon and will end around 10pm.

When will the daily concert lineups for the festival be announced?
On Tuesday, January 14, we will announce the artists / programs for each day of the festival, with the understanding that there are still a handful of surprises to come that will be added to the program. The specific venues and performance times will be announced in mid-late February.

Are some artists playing more than once during the festival?
Yes. Patti Smith, John Paul Jones, Anthony Braxton, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, Andrew Cyrille, Marc Ribot, Peter Brötzmann, Jason Moran, Myra Melford, The Necks, Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Ensemble Dal Niente with Ken Vandermark, Sarah Davachi and others are presenting different performances spanning two or more days of the festival.

Has there been a decision as to whether to sell single day passes this year?  
Yes, we are going to release a limited number of General Admission passes for each day of the festival, although – due to overall festival sales – the quantities for each day will be more limited than in previous years. Also, we will not be offering a Premier or Sonic Explorer option for the single day passes. Details about General Admission single day passes – including their on sale date - will be announced in our newsletter shortly after the January 14 daily lineups are announced.

What is still to be announced for the 2020 festival?
A series of conversations, discussions and panels with artists and writers; the Big Ears Film program; details and some unannounced programs by artists already announced for the festival; some new artists who may be added to program; workshops, installations, and more.

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4 hours ago, kh1958 said:

The Big Ears website now shows the line-up day by day.

For Anthony Braxton fanatics, he is performing on three consecutive days (Friday/Saturday/Sunday).

Having never seen him, I plan on seeing at least one of his appearances. Hope fully more, but there's so much good music I'm sure there will be the usual juggling act with the schedule.

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16 minutes ago, BFrank said:

Having never seen him, I plan on seeing at least one of his appearances. Hope fully more, but there's so much good music I'm sure there will be the usual juggling act with the schedule.

I saw him once years ago at the original Knitting Factory (a real dump of a club), in a quartet setting.

Friday looks like the most potentially conflict ridden day for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...
26 minutes ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Can't make it this year - we have to be in San Francisco for Roscoe Mitchell's Jazz Master induction/celebration. We just can't make both. I do expect to see BFrank in SF! He seems to be unavoidable. ;-)

Unavoidable? Mandatory, Chuck! :g

Yes, I'll be at Big Ears, too. The only other breakfast place I found is OliBea. Unfortunately it's very small and there's always a line.

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  • 1 month later...

I looked back at my emails from Big Ears, and the last reference to the detailed line-up announcement was in the January 14 email: "The detailed schedule outlining performance times and venues for all shows will be announced later, most likely in late February or early March."

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