The sun smiled on Knoxville, Tennessee Thursday as music fans began descending on the city for Big Ears Festival. The four-day music festival, running since 2009, attracts more than 40,000 people with its eclectic music and arts lineup. This year’s festival presents nearly 200 concerts, talks, workshops, film screenings, residencies, and more from March 21-24. With a stacked lineup of events occurring at more than a dozen venues across Knoxville, Big Ears is a choose-your-own arts adventure.
We started day one of the festival by running into Thurston Moore outside of Jackson Terminal. Attendees were eager to get Big Ears going. The festival’s first event, Workshop: Blacktronika – Afrofuturism in Electronic Music, was at capacity. Next door at Mil & Mine, a line stretched down the block awaiting Henry Threadgill’s Very Very Circus. From R&B to experimental electronic to post-hardcore, Big Ears offered a musical journey on day one.
Read the Day Two Recap
Read the Day Three Recap
Read the Day Four Recap
Zsela
Zsela’s minimalist performance was the perfect way to settle into the festival. Accompanied by just a guitar player, her haunting vocals filled Jackson Terminal. Zsela’s sound is mesmerizing, with low vocal tones that vibrate through the room punctuated with sharp inflections. “This is my first time in Knoxville and Tennessee,” she said. “My dad (Marc Anthony Thompson of Chocolate Genius) is playing tomorrow, and my mom is right here.” We named Zsela one of our Six Artists to Watch at Big Ears Festival, and you should expect to see her on a stage near you very soon.
Mary Halvorson
Guitarist Mary Halvorson proved that jazz could rock the Tennessee Theatre. “It’s an honor to be back at Big Ears,” she greeted the crowd after starting the set with “The Gate” and “The Tower” from her latest album Cloudward. The six-piece band then launched into her 2022 release Amaryllis. The set ranged from a cacophony of drums (Tomas Fujiwara), bass (Nick Dunston), and guitar mellowing to mournful horns (including Jacob Garchik on trombone) and the lightest touch of snare and vibraphone. Adam O’Farrill ripped on the trumpet and watching Patricia Brennan’s passionate vibraphone playing was a highlight of the set. There were few empty seats in the grand room, built in 1928, and the band’s rock and folk spin on jazz blew the top off of the decorative roof.
Tyondai Braxton
King Britt introduced Tyondai Braxton at the Standard as part of the Blacktronika – Afrofuturism in Electronic Music series that Britt is curating at Big Ears this year. While Braxton has focused on his own electronic music since 2010, he is also known as the frontman of the experimental rock group Battles.
In a room lit only by the tangle of cables wired to his modular synthesizer, Braxton led attendees on an unpredictable sonic odyssey. Tranquil droning transformed to thunder and screeches like a rusty playground merry-go-round. Thumping made the brick and wood room feel like the inside of a pounding heart and the sound of swelling wave was surely about to crash on the crowd. Braxton arranged beeps and boops to recall the sound of galloping horses on the prairie giving way to serene landscapes. At least that’s what we felt. From Gen Z to folks walking with a cane, Braxton took everyone in the diverse crowd on their own journey.
Secret Chiefs 3
If you have the opportunity to see Secret Chiefs 3 live, don’t pass it up. It is a very good time that’s even better felt in person. What is it? Experimental prog with Indian, metal, Persian, and surf rock influences. It’s an ensemble of eight or so talented musicians having a blast and swapping instruments from song to song. Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle leads the charge, along with his Bungle bandmates Trevor Dunn on bass and Danny Heifetz on drums. The set started with “Dolorus Stroke” from 2001’s Book M, covered John Carpenter’s “Personae: Halloween” from their latest release HORRORTHON, and closed with 2007’s “Labyrinth of Light.” Every member of the avant-garde band had a smile plastered to their face during the hour-long set, so it was no surprise when the chanting audience coaxed them back to the stage for an encore with “Shoel.”
Unwound
Some fans have been waiting two decades to see Unwound live. The post-hardcore band’s 90-minute set delivered an esoteric exploration of their seven-album catalog. The set kicked off with “Message Received” and continued to draw heavily from 1996’s Repetition throughout. “Corpse Pose” was next, with the entire crowd from grey-haired die-hards to twentysomethings chanting along with the four-piece band. After disbanding in 2002, original members Sarah Lund, Justin Trosper reunited Unwound in 2023 to tour in memory of their original bassist Vern Rumsey. Joining them were Jared Warren on bass and Scott Seckington on guitar.
Lund wished a “Happy 30th birthday to our second album New Plastic Ideas,” released on the same date in 1994. The band followed up with three songs from the album, “Hexenzsene,” “Usual Dosage,” and “Arboretum.”
Although it was Unwound’s first time playing Knoxville, Lund had visited previously. “I was here in 1982 for the World’s Fair,” she shared. “Was anyone else here for that? Was anyone else born?” The band dove into “Look A Ghost” from Leaves Turn Inside You, their last album in 2001.
Unwound closed with “For Your Entertainment,” fading the evening into a fuzz of reverb, scratching guitar, and the light chime of bells. “We love you,” mouthed Justine Trosper before exiting the stage. Lund grabbed a vase of flowers that sat onstage throughout the performance and threw them out to the audience. The crowd wanted to give Unwound its flowers, and the band returned the favor.
Jessica Mlinaric founded Urban Explorer in 2010 to inspire curious travelers by highlighting history, culture, and hidden gems in Chicago and beyond. She is the author of ‘Secret Chicago’ and ‘Chicago Scavenger.’ Jessica has visited 20+ countries and 30+ U.S. states. She has more than 16 years of experience as a marketing strategist and works as a freelance writer and photographer.
