Mamiffer and PLANET were a nice ramp-up, but Sun Ra Arkestra really kicked off Big Ears for me this year. I was ready to go to space with them but didn’t expect they’d hang so close to the earth as the ship powered up, with joyous and fairly traditional jazz punctuated by ascending strangeness. It was also an unexpectedly smooth transition to Wolf Eyes, who I was surprised to enjoy more than anything else I saw at day one (with the exception of the tail end of JS Bowman’s set at the pilot light!) They’re too abrasive for me on record, but it works tremendously as heavy, inviting psych onstage.
People were grumbling about Yo La Tengo (and the beer line wasn’t helping things) as they launched into an extended, mostly formless jam with special guests, but those people are maybe at the wrong festival? It wasn’t too interesting but I’m not going to begrudge them the opportunity to get weird with it, especially since they’ll be playing again with Lambchop.
And capping off a night of defied expectations was Andy Stott, who embraced his late-nite duties with a relentlessly upbeat set, received rapturously by a conspicuously young, sweaty crowd.
Nick Huinker is fortunate to have spent the past 15 years living and covering Knoxville’s near-constant DIY music renaissance. Once a year he does his best to return the cultural favor as producer of the Knoxville Horror Film Fest; most of the rest of the time he’s of limited use.
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