2025 Big Ears Festival, Day 1: Thursday, March 27

By Sarah Grosser

It is said that if you look up FOMO (noun: “The fear of missing out”) in the dictionary, there is a logo of the Big Ears Festival right next to it. The most commonly recurring topic of conversation amongst festival attendees is that there are simply too many fantastic options, and each choice results in missing out on not just one equally fantastic show, but multiple. Over 200 performances are scheduled over four days, along with movies, talks, gallery exhibits, secret shows, late night jams, and more. The music performances generally start around noon, while the ancillary activity happens in the morning.

With judicious planning, it is reasonably easy to see five to six full performances per day with brief breaks for food. If you are willing to duck out early and/or arrive late, then you can pack in much, much more. There are always multiple performances overlapping, so the real difficulty is deciding what shows to miss. This year was no different, as I had to skip many shows that would have been "must see" at most any other festival. Among the more well-known artists: Beth Gibbons (singer from Portishead), Beak> (the rest of the band Portishead), Anohni, Tindersticks, Sun Ra Arkestra, and Arooj Aftab, to name just a few.

The musical performances happen in about fifteen venues spread out in downtown Knoxville, with the furthest travel times being about twenty-five minutes on foot, or only a few minutes by electric scooter. Amongst these are plenty of excellent food options and breweries to keep the concert-goer fueled up. There are so many possibilities that wait times for food or drink is rarely an issue, unless you’re going for the local handmade biscuits at Matt’s. Having said that, the 1.5 hour wait was worth it for the gorgeously melty chipotle cream cheese on a delicious garlic and cheddar biscuit.

Before seeing any music, we trekked over to the Knoxville Museum of Art for Pangrok Sulap Live Printmaking. A large intricate wood-cut was resting on the table, inked up, and ready to go. A team carried the plate onto the ground, gently rolling out curtain material over the top, onto which the print would be printed. Guests were invited to take off their shoes and dance over the covered surface, directing their energy into the artwork and creating the pressure required for a nice, dark print. This dancing was accompanied by guitar and singing/chanting, and folks of all ages removed their shoes and had a go. The only rule was "no pirouettes!" When the song was complete, the print was lifted to reveal a wonderful detailed landscape with fun little creatures and symbols amongst the linework. There were also some hidden icons like the Big Ears logo. A fun, original way to get into the communal spirit of the festival.

Kramer at the First Presbyterian Church Sanctuary 

 

Kramer. Photo by Taryn Ferro.

The lights are dimmed, illuminating stained glass windows. Kramer comes out in a HOWL cap and starts tremoloing the piano, craned over it. The reverberations create a drone-like effect with a darkly ethereal quality. There is a pleasant intensity to Kramer's persistent melody. It sounds like he is using a looper or some kind of heavy delay. It's quite pretty, and the cathedral is a wonderful setting for this ambient, beatless soundscape.

The first two pews are dedicated VIP seats but people are coming and going throughout the show, so it's not always favorable to sit right up front if you plan on skipping the end of the show to catch the start of another. This coming-and-going sounds annoying on paper, but you get used to it as it occurs at almost every show, and it never seems to phase the musicians, who understand the necessity of the frequent shuffling.

Some of the higher pitched delaying tones become a bit stressful for a delicate sensitive ear and a couple of people bail on the journey. I resorted to concert earplugs to help filter some of the harsher tones, but it does become tinnitus inducing. Shahzad Ismaily materialises out of nowhere in his onesie, carrying two enormous coffees. With his hood pulled up over his head, he sits at the piano with Kramer. They are both deeply entranced. The idea of what they are doing is lovely but the glissandos and arpeggios are swallowed by the piercing frequencies.

Thankfully, this does relent after a while, and gives way to some more gentle droning melodies. Some give a standing ovation and are overheard commenting that the performance was brilliant in the way they manipulated the sound in the whole room. Perhaps I was sitting in a bad spot?

Charles Lloyd: Homage to Zakir Hussain at the Tennessee Theatre

 

Charles Lloyd. Photo by Andy Feliu

Charles Lloyd- saxophone, piano, flute, oboe

Bill Frisell- guitar

Ganavya- vocals

Eric Harland- drums

Harish Raghavan- bass

After a gorgeous little square slice of pizza with succulent peppers and the perfect crispy base, it's off to the Tennessee Theatre for Charles Lloyd's homage to the recently deceased Zakir Hussein. The enormous theatre is spectacularly opulent. Warm lighting highlights the excessive decorations, curtains, lattices, patterns, flags, and giant urns line the walls. The smell of fresh popcorn is wonderfully enticing. From the front row of the balcony, one can peer out and see the people below reviewing their schedules on the Big Ears app.

Grammy Award winning musician Zakir Hussain was an Indiantabla player and composer who tragically succumbed to illness in late 2024 at the age of 73. Hussain was scheduled to perform at this year’s Big Ears with Lloyd as part of the Sangam Trio in a show dedicated to Lloyd’s recently departed musical teacher. His sudden passing was a deep personal loss for Lloyd.

The lights are lowered and the unmistakable sound of Bill Frisell's guitar meets Lloyd's soft saxophone, joined by subtle percussion and the singer Ganavya in traditional Indian attire. Her voice is pure and smooth. Lloyd switches between sax and piano. Behind them, a big screen displays a painting of a fish, a hand, and a fruit bowl with an ancestral linework. It's a contrast to the opulent architecture around it.

The voice and sax are a powerful duet- both mesh together purposefully, as if one was born to perform with the other. It's no wonder that almost every seat was filled. All the while, a constant, light tabla tap pitter-patters away. This is just a subtle nod to Zakir, but it fills the space with his essence. Twenty minutes floats effortlessly by and it feels like five.

Harish Raghavan’s double-bass is bowed along to the second piece which is a more haunting hymn- the singer's deep emotions are on full display. She is fantastic. Lloyd is on instrument number three, a flute. Ravenous Frisell fans can be spotted from a mile away sneaking a little recording on their camera-phones during his solos.

All in all, a sensitive and moving tribute for a fallen friend.

Alan Sparhawk at the Jackson Terminal

 

Alan Sparhawk. Photo by Billie Wheeler

The Jackson Terminal is a typical standing concert shed located up the top end of town. With lovely high ceilings, it has an open feel to it which is nicer than a small club, but still retaining a warm, intimate vibe. For Alan Sparhawk, the venue is half full, but those who are present are deeply engaged. Some people are hugging. If Sparhawk’s name is not immediately familiar, perhaps he is better recognised as the male singer from the band Low. Of course there is a certain unspoken space onstage that was once reserved for the other singer in that band, Sparhawk’s wife, Mimi Parker, who tragically passed away in 2022. Tonight, Sparkhawk would be joined by his son Cyrus Sparhawk on bass, and Fred Pollard on the drums. In true Big Ears tradition, Shahzad Ismaily would also be joining the group on a number of instruments: bass, banjo, and Moog. This would be the second of twelve performances that Ismaily attended all weekend. When asked how he managed to make it to each venue on time he responded: “I ran!… I was running!!”

Sparhawk bared all… in overalls, no shirt, and a shaggy grown out hairdo. A raw, eccentric look for a man with a voice so majestic and deep with feeling. It resonated peacefully through the hall for the more sparse and ethereal songs, but jabbed with spiked anger and disgust during others. The crowd joined him in the final chant of his newest unreleased song: “No more darkness / No more darkness.” With a contented look on his face, Sparhawk blew a kiss to the sky, which was met with a jubilant, enthusiastic cheer.

As the band was leaving the stage and packing up for the next artists, the frontman took an exit down the front stage stairs. A fan with a rather apparent scent of alcohol burst past to greet the singer as he descended. “AYYY! ALAN!!” He went in for the big hug. Alan let him. “Huge fan, man - I loved your new album… yeah… I forgot what it was called.” Sparhawk smiled and thanked him. Obviously the fan had made the decision to approach his hero before he had decided what to say, and with nothing particularly original prepared, he continued. “Wow! … I’m so drunk hey!” Sparhawk smiled and nodded in agreement, allowing the man to keep rambling. “Well!... That was a lot better than I thought it was gonna be!” I couldn’t contain my laughter at this point, and Sparhawk laughed as well, responding: “HAH!... Well - I could say the same!” A couple of fans rushed in for a quick selfie. He smiled at everyone as the little queue began to form.

Axiom 5 at the Bijou Theatre

 

Axiom 5. Photo by Cora Wagoner.

Jon Irabagon- saxophone
Uri Caine- piano
Mark Helias- bass
Barry Altschul- drums

In any other city, the Bijou might be heralded as quite a grande theater, but just down the road from the Tennessee Theatre, this smaller-sized sister can’t really compete with those dangling chandeliers, gold trim, and enormous ceiling. While the venue is somewhat overshadowed by the Spanish-Moorish opulence uptown, it is still highly charming with its Classical-Revival style. A remarkable setting for some far-out free jazz - which, at this point in the evening, this reporter is really itching for! The playhouse is peppered with patrons, which is understandable, given the complexity and busyness of the music. We do love a dose of that squonkiness that not everybody can stand.

It’s a largely improvised set and the crowd is transfixed on the adventurous quartet. Some parts are met with chuckles when interesting musical decisions are made, or comical facial expressions exchanged. The band explores a full spectrum of tempos, moods, experimentations, and grooves: a wild, free-for-all with the occasional quiet passage. For some songs it seemed as if drummer Barry Altschul never wanted it to end, and concluded at least two jams with a drum solo fade-out. Uri Caine, wearing some kind of a poncho, smashed confidently away at the keys of the Steinway with vigour while the equally confident Mark Helias went rogue on upright bass. Filipino-American Jon Irabagon was up front on the sax bringing a wonderful bright tone and energy to complete the solid quartet.

Amidst all of the beauty and prettiness of the first day of the festival, it's so satisfying to soak up some gritty, unfiltered late-night jams, courtesy of a more than capable group of jazz legends, and legends in the making. Pure fun, if you're into this kinda shit.

Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez - BEAT Trio at the Tennessee Theatre

 

BEAT Trio. Photo by Taryn Ferro.

Béla Fleck- banjo

Edmar Castañeda- harp

Antonio Sánchez- drums

This show is packed. I did not get to see very much of this performance as I had already had the great privilege of witnessing the band’s debut performance at The Blue Note in New York, this past autumn. I knew from that experience that this show was going to be well loved, and my colleagues confirmed it to be true. Apparently Antonio Sánchez made a public statement about the current American political situation, which was met with applause. He was not the only artist to stand up for justice this weekend, as a number of artists bravely used their platform to announce their disgust.

This trio of banjo, harp, and drums sounds unconventional on paper, but magical in the real world. Sultry, upbeat, with a strong Latin flair. This music is gloriously joyous. It's such a happy vibe. How can anyone dislike this?

Darkside at the Mill & Mine

 

Darkside. Photo by Andy Feliu

Nicolás Jaar - electronics / vocals
Dave Harrington - guitar / effects

Tlacael Esparza - drums

The final chapter for many is the rave over at Mill & Mine, headlined by DARKSIDE – a live band with an electronic feel. But this is no doof-doof party music. This set is thoughtful and varied, with a twist of psychedelia. The venue is a very large, wide shed complete with rotating ceiling fans that create spinning silhouettes in the dark. Partygoers raise their hands as they dance towards the lights onstage. Although the general demographic of this festival tends towards a more mature audience, the atmosphere is energetic, even though for some of us (my 38 year old self included) 1:30 am is way past our bedtime.

 ---

Read: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4