A world-class event showcasing a range of exceptional musicians across the related realms of avant-garde, modern classical composition, drone, electronic music, and noise.
Big Ears Festival (held in Knoxville, Tennessee from March 28th-30th, 2014) returned after a two year hiatus to re-establish itself as a world-class event showcasing a range of exceptional musicians across the related realms of avant-garde, modern classical composition, drone, electronic music, and noise. Ensemble Signal, So Percussion and the neif-norf Project, and Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) all performed compositions by the festival’s biggest headliner, Steve Reich. John Cale and Television delighted fans of the ’70s New York rock scene, while Stephen O’Malley, Oren Ambarchi, and Body/Head (Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth with Bill Nace) explored more innovative uses for guitars. Other standout performances included Nils Frahm’s haunting piano work, Keiji Haino’s energetic noise performance, and Colin Stetson’s virtuoso sax compositions. Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never both delivered excellent and nuanced electronic sets.
Pictured in this gallery: Steve Reich, So Percussion, Laraaji, Stephen O’Malley, Colin Stetson, Body/Head, Vatican Shadow, John Cale, Tim Hecker, Helen Money, Dawn of MIDI, Oneohtrix Point Never, Wordless Music Orchestra, Jonny Greenwood, Jenny Hval, Nils Frahm, neif-norf Project, Julia Holter, Low, Television, Oren Ambarchi, Keiji Haino, Rachel Grimes, Earth, Brian Lubman, Ensemble Signal.
