Big Ears Day Two Recap, Part Two: ACME, Ståle Storløkken and Arve Henriksen, and Wilco

In The Daily Dumpster Blog by Carey Hodgesleave a COMMENT

My feet hurt and I can’t stop spontaneously recapping pieces of yesterday’s performances, which means that day two of Big Ears is in the books. Once again, I tried to squeeze in as much as possible. And, once again, I ended up reassessing my approach by mid-evening. The festival is full of scheduling challenges. It’s impossible not to feel like you’re missing out at some point. But if you let yourself get swept up in the anxiety, it takes away from being present at the performances that you are a part of. Still, I fall prey to that mind-set every year. Oh, well.

I started Friday with ACME at the Mill and Mine. The set got a late start, but once cellist Clarice Jensen took the stage for her opening solo, the room was transfixed. As light poured in through the venue’s oversized windows, audience members—some standing, some sitting—swayed along to her hypnotic, fluid strokes. The HVAC unit caused a few initial hiccups by blowing Jensen’s sheet music around, but event staff quickly shut it off. As the rest of the ensemble joined the stage, I was reminded that the atmosphere of ACME is constantly in flux. The quartet’s energy shifts by the second, making it impossible to look away.

After a quick dinner, I made the trek over to Church Street United Methodist Church for the Norwegian keyboardist Ståle Storløkken and trumpet player Arve Henriksen. The collaboration was eerie, unsettling, and totally transportive. Storløkken manned the organ with menacing crashes and distortion, while Henriksen’s trumpet lifted the dark tones with jazzy interludes. For a few minutes, I looked up at the sanctuary’s rafters and lost myself in the combination of the religious setting and music that felt like it could be a soundtrack to the end of the world.

After a pit stop at Robyn Hitchcock—a jarring, bright departure from Storløkken and Henriksen—I headed to the Mill and Mine for Jóhann Jóhannsson’s 2015 composition Drone Mass, featuring ACME and Theatre of Voices. The room was packed, so I sprawled out on the balcony. The combination of voices and deep electronic drones triggered a meditative state, with attendees clearly just trying to concentrate and take it all in.

Next, it was onto a much-needed whiskey break before posting up at the Tennessee Theatre for Michael Hurley and Wilco. I caught Hurley the previous night at the Standard, a much more intimate venue for the folksinger, whose subdued strums were at times dwarfed by the imposing stage.

I love Wilco. I’ve loved them since I first heard A.M. in high school, and seven years ago I stood outside the Tennessee Theatre to bug Jeff Tweedy for an autograph. For a festival like Big Ears, where there are so many challenging and world-class performers, a band like Wilco can feel like a safe choice. I don’t really care; they were fantastic. Their two-hour set was filled with revamped classics and, really, who doesn’t enjoy watching Nels Cline? Most folks I talked with who had seen the band over the past decade said it was the best they’ve seen them in years. I agree.

Tortoise closed off the night at The Mill and Mine with their jam heavy blend of post-rock and jazz. I danced and hugged various people, then I slept.

On to day three!

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Carey started as a lowly Metro Pulse intern in 2009, helping enter calendar listings while learning about the cruel world of independent journalism. Since then, she’s contributed arts/music writing to publications including Paste, Washington City Paper, and more. When she’s not exploring the local arts community, you can find her playing with her cats or attempting to garden.

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