BIG EARS 2022: Zorn, Shabaka, Low, Arooj Aftab, Annette Peacock, Dawn Richard, Nubya Garcia, L'Rain, Damon Locks, Lido Pimienta, more more more!

So what’s the deal is the Tennessee Amphitheater outdoors? If so, they must be really confident it’ll be nice in late March. I was there in 2018 and it was quite chilly that year. Unusually chilly, I was told. The weather was nicer in 2019 but I remember at least one cold rainy day that would definitely put a damper on anything outdoors.

I know we have more than a month to go, but apart from Ron Miles, no one else has backed out yet.

The Amphitheater is outdoors, and yeah ... hoping for decent weather. It's covered, but not heated. (The weekend that would have been Big Ears 2020 was, naturally, the nicest weather that weekend has had since Big Ears started.)

Georgia Ann Muldrow has also backed out btw. She is not playing indoor shows right now.

https://t.co/fBGNnrfKpy pic.twitter.com/1WvuTB7JgV

— Big Ears Festival (@BigEarsFestival) February 25, 2022

App dropped with map!

liking these tweaks to the schedule.

There is one (1) Actual Noise Show popping off at the Pilot Light with Recovered Media, but it’s happening the same time as the 79ers…. >:(

That whole lineup of NOLA/Haiti stuff at the Amphitheater from 3:30 to 10 on Friday solidly kicks ass.

Some enterprising food truck needs to pull up with some goat in creole sauce & oxtail stew

Sell-out officially declared. First one, I think. Or maybe the 2020 was going to be sold out just before it canceled.

x-post--
I follow Sporty's Brass Band from New Orleans on IG and they frequently do some awesome late night IG lives from clubs there.

Yea, that Friday NOLA and Haitian lineup looks pretty cool

So who's all going?

me

i'll be there!

btw if you're like me and don't have a big monitor i recommend using the downloadable / printable schedule - the schedule on the site is too big for my laptop screen and i almost entirely missed half the venues as a result

same same.

the app is actually pretty useful and good. has a (to me) more digestible schedule and map and whatnot.

biggest toss ups for me personally right now:

• Sparks or Fennesz?
• Is it worth it to go to the Standard and Mill & Mine? (The Mill & Mine is uncomfortable and out-of-the-way, and the shows I'd want to see at the Standard = big crowds in a small space)
• Do I go see another Zorn thing Sunday night or do I fuck off early to watch the On Cinema Oscar Special like a fuckin' nerd?

Standard and Mill & Mine aren’t really that far!

yeah you're right - I'll probably end up over there for Nubya Garcia and Natural Information Society, but I think I'll have to pass on Jeff Parker unfortunately

There's also a free trolley that runs from Gay St. to the Old City. So you could get on at the Bijou Theater (or TN Theater) and ride it to the Old City and only have to walk one block to the Mill & Mine.
https://katbus.com/178/Free-Trolley

There was a guy in 2019 ferrying people by golf cart for a fee.

Sad news: https://denverite.com/2022/03/09/jazz-legend-and-colorado-music-hall-of-famer-ron-miles-has-died/

The schedule noted he was ill, and his band was already scheduled to perform his music without him - https://bigearsfestival.org/festival-schedule/?eventId%5Bundefined%5D=9dd2d534-40ab-47a5-9177-10b40d86edcd

Yeah that show is going to take on a lot of added weight. (Probably bigger crowd than otherwise too.)

flight/work means i'm gonna miss basically all of sunday :(

quit

Sunday the most skippable day for me, not a Zorn fan so much. All the great stuff for me is frontloaded on Thursday and Friday, often conflicting when there is more than one performance.

Sorry gbx

i'm a zorn guy :(

but i'm looking forward to lots of the other stuff :)

Woo I’m here and excited

And I think they adjusted the times for sparks and low so there is a chance I can see complete sets by both

Welcome to Knoxville everyone! (Or welcome back for return visitors.) Super excited this weekend is finally here.

Wow!

I wonder how accurate these “scheduled” numbers on the app are. Like, do most ppl use the app? I’m still worried about getting shut out of places, even though I prob shouldn’t be bc there are always three great bands playing at any given time. Truly an embarrassment of riches.

I imagine some people schedule shows they're considering going to but may not actually attend. I also imagine many people aren't using the app at all or aren't using the schedule feature. So who knows how accurate the numbers really are.

I do know venues often reach capacity and it becomes one in / one out with the people waiting in line outside. So if there's a show you really feel like you can't miss, try to get there early.

In line for tickets and wanted to make the joke “I’m the pudgy middle aged white guy with glasses”.

Yeah, the numbers on the app are some signal but certainly not definitive. My rule of thumb is, if you REALLY want to see something, particularly at a smaller venue (The Standard and the Bijou are the two that get packed out the most), get there 40 mins early no matter what else you have to miss to do it. Or just accept that you're taking a chance on not getting in.

I can't remember the Tennessee Theatre ever being shut out, but it could happen with Patti Smith's Friday show e.g.

Also here's my unsolicited food/drink recommendations in and around downtown:

--A Dopo pizza (just a few blocks north of Mill and Mine)
-- Potchke Deli (just opened, good bialys, whitefish, pickles, etc)
-- the Marble City Market (a food hall basically next to Mill and Mine on the next block)
-- Kaizen (good Asian fusion)
-- Public House (hipster beer/wine/cocktails place, basically behind the Mill and Mine, nice back patio)
-- Emilia (good sit-down Italian place on Market Square)
-- J.C. Holdway (Southern fine dining type place, this is the one that gets national write-ups etc)
-- KoPita on Gay Street and Yassin's on Church Avenue both have good Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food — KoPita is Israeli, Yassin's is Syrian
-- Good Golly Tamale in the Old City (cheap and delicious tamales, both vegetarian and non)
-- Fin2 in the Old City (pretty good ramen etc)
-- Tern Club (tropical bar on Gay Street, really good rum-based cocktails if that's your thing)
-- Brother Wolf (Italian amaro bar in the Old City -- it's attached to Osteria Stella, which is a respectable Italian restaurant, but the bar is the best reason to stop in)
-- And then there are a bunch of easy places like Barley's in the Old City and the Downtown Grill and Brewing Co. on Gay Street that have your basic comfort food pub menus (Barley's pizza is quite passable)

Very cool; thanks!

Oh should add that Potchke Deli is also close to Mill and Mine, basically around the corner from the Marble City Market.

Also, Suttree's on Gay Street is a good beer bar, big rotating selection of local/national microbrews.

I shared a $75 ribeye at JC Holdway last night and it was awesome

Also here's my unsolicited food/drink recommendations in and around downtown:

--A Dopo pizza (just a few blocks north of Mill and Mine)
-- Potchke Deli (just opened, good bialys, whitefish, pickles, etc)
-- the Marble City Market (a food hall basically next to Mill and Mine on the next block)
-- Kaizen (good Asian fusion)
-- Public House (hipster beer/wine/cocktails place, basically behind the Mill and Mine, nice back patio)
-- Emilia (good sit-down Italian place on Market Square)
-- J.C. Holdway (Southern fine dining type place, this is the one that gets national write-ups etc)
-- KoPita on Gay Street and Yassin's on Church Avenue both have good Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food — KoPita is Israeli, Yassin's is Syrian
-- Good Golly Tamale in the Old City (cheap and delicious tamales, both vegetarian and non)
-- Fin2 in the Old City (pretty good ramen etc)
-- Tern Club (tropical bar on Gay Street, really good rum-based cocktails if that's your thing)
-- Brother Wolf (Italian amaro bar in the Old City -- it's attached to Osteria Stella, which is a respectable Italian restaurant, but the bar is the best reason to stop in)
-- And then there are a bunch of easy places like Barley's in the Old City and the Downtown Grill and Brewing Co. on Gay Street that have your basic comfort food pub menus (Barley's pizza is quite passable)

Stock and Barrel’s food is just ok but it has a good whiskey/bourbon selection

Are your guys’ Big Ears apps running fast? I can’t see anything happening before 7pm

Apparently there’s something a little buggy with the app right now. I’d go with website/printed schedule for the moment.

Lol apparently the app is the wrong time zone. Being worked on!

Big Ears relocated to Greenwich, UK

They completely nuked the app XD

It was good while it lasted. Glad I screenshotted that shit.

“Good: After a brief technical kerfuffle our app & schedule is back up & running. Bad: all saved personal schedules were lost. Good: You can now devise a fresh new path through the festival.”