Big Ears Festival

This was our second year at Big Ears. There is nothing else like this in America for diversity of musical entertainment. Everything from Bach to Bluegrass with constant left turns all the way. You may not like or even enjoy every performance but you will be challenged to open your mind and experience music on the highest level of commitment and honesty.

Big Ears represents the radical fringe of music, whether it's made by venerated free jazz masters from Chicago, Appalachian pickers and fiddlers, avant-garde chamber music from NYC, or Scandinavian concert halls. If standing around in a dark room watching a Japanese woman who never looks up & never changes expression poke furtively at her laptop while bizarre electronic sounds pour from the speakers isn't your idea of fun, this festival is NOT for you! But if you don't mind spending 4 days racing between a half-dozen separate venues in downtown Knoxville, while hearing full concert sets by artists who are probably not coming to your home town anytime soon, give it a try. This was my 2nd year, and by the time I was finished, I'd heard 28 shows & was equally exhausted & exhilarated.

One of the best festivals on the planet. The best in modern jazz, classical, electronic and experimental music.

Amost all the performances I attended (9) were excellent and it is hard to give favorites. I did like the venues where I did not have to stand, though they were also the ones with the best beer and eats! Having Kronos as the anchor group was a great idea.

I would love to see any or all of these artists in the future; Bjork, Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens, that Harold Budd gets another chance to come, and Beirut. Didn't get a chance to see anyone at the Square Room, but that's okay since they censored an act a couple of years ago during Big Ears. Kronos put out a great effort for this weekend, and that was much appreciated. Bought many cd's of artists that I had not heard of before, and that's the great opportunity of Big Ears, discovery. Thank you Mr. Capps, and your organization for bringing a world class event to our doorstep; not once, but many times.

My favorite music festival. Great variety of artists.

AMAZING WEEKEND!!! Nothing spared during this unique event. Definitely an event I will be sure to attend each year! And we will bring friends! Absolutely loved!

No matter how much you think you know about the artists at this festival, you WILL be surprised (in a great way). A huge variety of out-of-the-mainstream music, with lots of multi-media works. Beautiful venues. Thanks for bringing this corner of culture to Knoxville!

Big Ears is a smorgasbord of sounds that follows different threads of experimental music. In one day you can go from electronic, symphonic, industrial and folk. The festival is not for everyone but a delight for the adventurous .

Although, I had to be pulled away on Sunday due to my wife being admitted to the hospital, I got to partake in the first 2 days of Big Ears 2015. After attending the full weekend in 2014, I decided Big Ears was my favorite festival In comparison to 2014, I feel like Big Ears fell a little shy, but it still was top notch

I bought tickets to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary and my husband's birthday.....he is a musician and I was thrilled to watch him absorbed and smiling during the acts we were able to experience. I hope we can attend next year and plan to buy music from the Bad + and the Tuneyards. Great to have something so wonderful right in your backyard! Thanks to Andy Capps et al....for all their hard work!

Without a doubt, this was the best music festival my husband and I have ever attended. Fantastic, eclectic mix of performers \u2014 and every one was great. The venues were wonderful and within walking distance of each other. People around Knoxville couldn't have been more charming. We now plan to go every year.

If you want a real experience, then you need to be here next year! There were so many great artists that we could not get to them all, but the ones we saw were phenomenal! It's an emersion in light, sound, and education. Knoxville is phenomenal as well. Lots to see and do, great food and people.

One of the best weekends of my half century life. Highly recommended!

A very urbane experience. There are four good symphonies in our region: the Knoxville, the Nashville, the Asheville, and Symphony of the Mountains (Tri-Cities). Additionally, there exists a wealth of country music of all varieties, folk rock and Americana. However, to my knowledge, there are no presentations wholly dedicated to the cutting edge of several genres of art and music. One day of Big Ears was not enough. It will be 3 days for me next year.

Congrats to the staff of the 2015 Big Ears Festival. This was our 1st year...can't wait for the next. This was a very well organized event. Very easy to get around. All the shows we attended but 2 started promptly on time. The entire city of Knoxville, TN was a pleasure. We had time to venture out to the Ijams Nature Center as well as the Botanical Gardens. . We loved the mix of performances. Some we were familiar with others were a new experience for us. It's always great to be turned on to something different. The Bad Plus was an exciting first show...Swans ended the festival for us with a killer performance. Ran into Laurie Anderson walking down the street and Jim Jarmusch (SQURL) came and stood in front of us for 3 shows in a row on Sunday! The only complaint is a typical one for every festival full of great artists, having to choice between which show to attend. We were sad to have to miss Nels Cline's performance w/ the Kronos Quartet on the last night.

This festival was a great opportunity to see a variety of artists and genres all in one weekend.

Love Big Ears - you will be challenged, and hear jaw-dropping performances, get to connect directly with artists as they wander the streets of Knoxville. Highly recommend.

It is pretty much impossible to find so much great music in one place, and the absence of a specific genre allows for the discovery of music that might otherwise be missed.

Arto Lindsay was amazing! and Milford Graves unforgettable! Great selection of music!! Last year was great, but this year astonishing!!!

I love this event because I never know the group playing, so I sample. If I like the music, I stay. If It doesn't get to me, I can leave and sample another group. I always find great surprises, then look them up and get their music. All the venues are wonderful, but I especially like the churches. The acoustics add to the music.

Exceptionally well-curated festival of avant garde music in multiple genres; was pleased this year to see poetry and film and discussions woven into the program. Unlike any other festival in North America and richly rewarding for anyone with informed and serious passion for music or the arts more generally.

The city was very clean, friendly, and reasonably priced. The people were on the young side, artistic, and cool. I didn't see anyone drunk, or yelling or littering, which was nice being from N.Y. and 38. There were a lot of great places to eat and drink that weren't too crowded or overpriced. The downside (or upside) you can still pretty much smoke anywhere you want including inside bars and restaurants, and people do. As for the music, it was just ok. A lot of avant-garde/experimental music along with some pretty good blue grass. The local stuff was cool, and there were a few gems mixed in that I'm glad I saw (like percussion dancing). Also, the venues were very cool, like seeing Bela Fleck in a pretty amazing cathedral. Not sure if I'll go again, but I'm glad I went. Just his take. P.S. There weren't many camera photos taking place, which i really appreciated, Kudos Knoxville!

Once again, an amazing and talented cross section of artists and genres. Thanks so much

Simply amazing festival. Sounds from across the spectrum from ones you know to ones you'll be glad you now know. Lovely venues, great part of the city and the best people. Best part, hearing things you did not know existed.....

Fantastic festival! Wonderful, eclectic mix of styles and genres. This is one festival I am anxious to go to again. All the shows I saw were excellent. Good venues, good sound, polite and friendly staffers...nothing but good things to say. The only fault in it is so many people start leaving concerts early because they don't want to miss the next awesome act!

If you love music, stay away from every other fest except for this one!

I saw 23 concerts in 72 hours, pretty much 23 different types of music, ranging from great to once in a lifetime spectacular, I'll go to this festival every year. Knoxville was a great place, nice people, good prices, easy to walk everywhere, lots of bars & restaurants.

Favorites: Unremembered, Nils Olstead, Magnetic Fields, Drone Mass, and Deathprod

I have attended 4 years of Big Ears. I'm usually not a big fan of most of the artists before I attend, but there is such a great variety of interesting music that I leave the festival with a new appreciation. It broadens horizons. My only gripes are with avoidable technical issues. Venues have unnecessarily loud doors and in the Square Room the kitchen staff can be heard loudly. Considering many of Big Ears' performances are quiet and subtle, some of these issues are too distracting to enjoy the music. Mill & Mine is a beautiful space, but any show with rock instruments turns into a muddy mess. Blonde Redhead had a string section that was inaudible, as well as the vocals. It just gets way too boomy. But as a whole, the festival is amazing and Knoxville should be proud to host it.

Every performance was incredible and the venues had great sound.

A perfect adventure into music. The options are endless in both venues and genres. My first Big Ears festival but definitely not my last. Highly recommend!

I've never been to an event quite like this. Whle the talent was great, what set it apart was the connection between performers and fans, who often as not were the same people. Any conversation was likely to include an unusually deep knowledge of, and appreciation for, the performers on the stage, and then trading business cards when you discovered both your bands had recorded with one of the people mounting the stage at that moment. Really a positive, passionate vibe about the event.

Knoxville is a very friendly, walkable city and all the venues are right in the downtown area. I was there for one day but plan to stay for at least two days next year. For me, the ECM artists were a big draw. I really enjoyed seeing the Nils Økland Band on Friday afternoon. Other highlights include Gyan Riley, Arve Henrickson and Ståle Storløkken, Jóhann Jóhannsson & the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Theatre of Voices, and Carla Bley, Steve Swallow and Andy Sheppard. Can t wait to see the line-up for next year.

Best and most unique music festival ever. Well run and something for everyone.

My first Big Ears, but not the last! I went to hear Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson and Kiasmos - and they didn't disappoint. But I also discovered John Luther Adams, Nico Muhly and the Necks. With friendly attendees, well-managed crowds and convenient venues, Knoxville hit one out of the ballpark. Food choices are limited, but that's changing. If you haven't already, GO GO GO.

I very much enjoyed my time in Knoxville at big Ears ! The music and experience was wonderful. I enjoyed walking around and experiencing the city also.

Big Ears is a music festival located yearly in Knoxville Tn . The music ranges from classical to metal and mostly has elements of the experimental and is generally non mainstream . Both years have been fascinating experiences , the festival not only includes music but a lot of cutting edge film work as well. The cities downtown is fun , the resturants good ,walkability is great and it is well organized and mostly on time. Overall it a wonderful festival , that will give you plenty invigorate your musical and visual realms . Just go .

I purchased the 3-day pass and then, after much effort, bought tickets to two of the additional events at the Tennessee Theater. The performances deserve all of the praise that is being given them in both the national and local press. HOWEVER, the ticketing was a mess. After I purchased by 3-day pass online I could not, as instructed, use the web site to purchase additional tickets for the add-on events. Finally called AC Entertainment directly and they directed me to the Tennessee Theater box office. People there were very helpful but as it turned out but still wound up without a ticket to one of the events I wanted to attend. When the tickets arrived (via email) it was hard to spot them among all of the notices that kept pouring in from Big Ears. And, when I finally did get my tickets to the add on events, they had no time printed on them. This considerably complicated matters as the schedules that appeared in the News-Sentinel and Mercury and online were sometimes different. I has to call the Tennessee Theater box office again on the day of the performances and ask what I was seeing and when. Not only did I spend a lot of time trying to get my tickets but I also spent what seemed to me unnecessary time standing in line to get my bracelet. (Fortunately it was warm and Market Sq. Mall was lively). The long line snaked around and finally into a cramped space where people at 4 computers were handing out bracelets and sorting out all manner of ticketing problems. There should have been designated lines for those of us who had already printed out our tickets and other lines for those who had more complicated requests. Big Ears was great but the organization of ticketing and of letting people know what tickets they need, how to buy them, how to print them, and when to use them needs a lot more work. My enjoyment of the performances is still tinged with irritation at the lack of efficiency in organization.

BIG EARS is such a wonderful opportunity to listen outside the box - experiencing sights and sounds on the cutting edge. It's almost a sensory overload. I would suggest that extra time be scheduled between acts so that we don't have to walk out on one performer in order to attend another. That does not respect either the performers or the audience.

big ears 2016 had so many great concerts i could not catch all of them! the ones i caught were fantastic - knoxville symphony doing john luther adams' piece, maya beiser's solo concert, laurie anderson doing everything - her film, q & a, stepping in for tony conrad with faust, lou reed's drones with l.a. improvising on top, and her concert with philip glass,eighth blackbird doing bryce dessner's murder ballads,sam amidon's voice,nico muhly's compositions, the gloaming,anthony braxton,vijay iyer & wadada leo smith, and the funky,engaging kasami washington - what a great year!

Sunn O))) Just OMG! Over and over.. Thank you Big Ears for crushing mine. It was so worth it....

A perfect fit of quirky music and scruffy city. We bought a Saturday day pass and a separate ticket to the Laurie Anderson & Phillip Glass event. We started at 11 in the morning and ended at 11 at night and enjoyed all the artists, some weirder than others but that's the point! The venues were improved from previous years, with a couple of larger rooms, including an old church and a newly rehabbed, re-purposed event space in the Old City. The standards are the Tennessee Theater and the Bijou Theater -- just seeing one performance in each is worth the price of admission. They are both exquisite historic venues with perfect sound. The only negative thing I can say is that the festival may be getting too successful. Many of the shows filled quickly and went to one-in-one-out status, which I don't remember much of in previous years. We missed a couple of acts that we really wanted to see because of that. On the whole, though, highly recommend to anyone with an open mind.

excellent variety of performers, pleasant venues with good sound systems, overall a terrific weekend of music.

awesome music... awesome theater...very entertaining,,loved it!!