Big Ears Festival 2025 brought more than 40,000 music fans to Knoxville from March 27-30. Since 2009, the arts and music festival offers nearly 200 concerts, film screenings, workshops, and more at a dozen venues around Knoxville. The eclectic musical lineup spans genres from jazz and hip-hop to bluegrass and classical including Yo La Tengo, Swamp Dogg, Waxahatchee, and more.
As a veteran concert photographer, I attended all three days of the festival. You can see my full coverage for Under the Radar magazine here. Below, I’m sharing my favorite moments from Big Ears Festival 2025.
Don’t miss my Big Ears Festival guide to Knoxville, Tennessee for my favorite venues, restaurants, and attractions in town.
Yo Lo Tengo Collabs with Special Guests
Thursday evening kicked off with a rollicking set from East Coast indie rockers Yo La Tengo. Ira Kaplan alternated between serenading the crowd with favorites like “Autumn Sweater” and “I Heard You Looking” and shredding his guitar into a backbend while mesmerizing visuals played behind the band. Big Ears Festival is all about community and collaboration, so it was a fun surprise to see Georgia Hubley joined on drums by Tortoise’s John McEntire and William Tyler take the stage on guitar.
Tortoise Plays Musical Chairs
It wasn’t long before McEntire returned to the Mill and Mine stage with the rest of Tortoise for a post-rock party. Tortoise is such a fun band to experience live because the band members trade instruments throughout the show. Dan Bitney, Doug McCombs, Jeff Parker, John Herndon, and McEntire swapped between drums, keys, and vibes for an exciting, jazz-infused set that even saw one young fan moshing. While the set was full of classics from Tortoise’s decades-long career, the highlight was hearing “Organesson,” their first new song since 2016, played live for the first time.
Béla Fleck’s Eclectic Collaboration
“What’s weirder than a banjo, drums, and harp?” Antonio Sánchez asked the crowd at the Tennessee Theatre. The collaboration between Grammy winning banjoist Béla Fleck, Mexican drummer Sánchez, and Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda was the kind of genre-spanning, worldwide mashup that makes Big Ears Festival so memorable.
Kelly Moran Sounds Heavenly
Kelly Moran took us to church on Saturday afternoon with her transcendent set at St. John’s Cathedral. If her piano playing wasn’t already angelic, the New York composer was dressed in all white and played with a backdrop of stained-glass windows.
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet Grooves at the Bijou Theatre
Jeff Parker also did double duty at Big Ears, taking the stage at the Bijou Theatre with ETA IVtet on Saturday afternoon. It was the perfect setting to stretch out and just groove, as the quartet played just five long-form songs. Parker was joined by saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose, and each musician’s talent had the opportunity to shine during the minimal jazz set.
Alabaster DePlume is Poetry in Motion
Alabaster DePlume’s gorgeous saxophone could move me to tears without a word. Yet he did speak, delivering poetry slam incantations and affirmations in between his moving music. Finally hearing him play “Visit Croatia” live while wearing a “Fly or Die” shirt in honor of the late Jaimie Branch was a festival highlight for me. He summed up the Big Ears ethos when he observed, “I feel like I’m among fellow pirates.”
Emel Bangs the Drum
While I wasn’t very familiar with Emel’s music ahead of her Saturday afternoon set at Jackson Terminal, it left me breathless. The Tunisian-American singer’s powerful set was one of the most exciting of the weekend. Wearing a golden crown, Emel delivered searing lyrics supporting feminism and social justice, while playing keys and samples, and pounding a drum in a fierce and hopeful performance.
Sun Ra Arkestra Takes Us to Outer Space
Sun Ra’s legacy is alive and still blasting us off into intergalactic realms. The Afro-futurist Arkestra ensemble of about a dozen musicians transported the crowd with a blend of jazz, blues, swing, and pure joy. Rocking sparking jackets, capes, and headgear, the Arkestra sent positive vibrations throughout the universe through music and a few cartwheels.
Waxahatchee’s Stripped-Down Set
I’ve seen Waxahatchee play festivals before, but not like this. Katie Crutchfield commanded the headlining set stage at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium backed by just one musician on keys in a soulful, stripped-down set. The Alabama native’s performance included fan favorites like “Right Back to It,” “Lilacs,” and “Next to Me.” The acoustic guitar set was like hearing Waxahatchee’s alt-country unplugged, and another example of a unique Big Ears Festival experience.
Water Damage Plays One Long Song
If you had preconceptions about Water Damage’s late-night set at the Standard, bassist Nate Cross’ hat embroidered with “25 Minutes No Encore” spelled it out the agenda. More than a dozen band members filled the stage with a cacophonous repetition of one groove. The noise rock set was indeed just one song that said so much without words.
Mary Lattimore Casts a Spell
Mary Lattimore’s harp ringing through the Bijou Theater was like a meditation. The La-based harpist punctuated her compositions with personal stories that brought a smile to the crowd. “… we need to keep our eyes open. For right now, I’m happy to be in this inspiring place,” she said, crystallizing the theme behind so much of Big Ears Festival 2025.
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,’ and she has contributed to several travel guidebooks. 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.
