In The Year of the Plague

Canadian indie band Wolf Parade, among others, have cancelled their European tour out of concern about the coronavirus pandemic, and Austin's SXSW festival has already been cancelled.  Today, in this Year of the Plague (kudos to Frank Zappa for his as-ever prescient soundtrack for this outbreak), the press is reporting that LA's Coachella festival will likely be postponed to October out of coronavirus concerns.

Italy is on lockdown, Harvard is not resuming classes after spring break ends next week, and the Dow Jones fell by over 2,000 points the other day.  City of Atlanta schools are shut down today after an infected schoolteacher passed out in class, and the EMTs who responded to the incident are now being quarantined themselves.

But despite the threat, Knoxville's Big Ears festival is still pressing on with their plans. Their rationale for continuing appears to be something along the lines of Dollywood is still open so why should Big Ears shut down?  But although I keep expecting to see an announcement about cancellation or postponement any day now, today they released their much anticipated (at least here), hour-by-hour schedule. 

Cruelly, they've scheduled both Devandra Banhart and Annette Peacock at the exact same time (8:00-9:15) on Saturday night. Worse, Anthony Braxton's centerpiece concert on Friday afternoon is the same time (2:30-3:30) as Aurora Nieland's Royal Roses set and seriously overlaps with sets by Jeff Parker (2:00-3:00) and Fennesz (3:00-4:00).  It's an embarrassment of riches.  

I'm still working out the best (to me) schedule of which sets I'll catch at which times, taking into consideration the venues (some are quite a distance apart), opportunities to catch some of the artists at later sets (many musicians perform more than once during Big Ears), and my own physical stamina (or lack thereof).

So far, I've mapped out the opening, Thursday-night shows.  I'll start by watching legendary minimalist composer Terry Riley in a solo organ recital at St. John's Cathedral.  I've been a fan of Riley's ever since I first heard In C back in 1975 and still listen to A Rainbow In Curved Air regularly, but I've never seen him perform before.  His presence at Big Ears is one of my main reasons for attending this year, so right off the bat, I'll have checked off one major bucket-list performance.  If nothing else, I'll drive up to Knoxville, check into the hotel, and attend Riley's concert in the cathedral.  If I'm freaked out by the contagion potential of the crowd and the event, I can hole up in the hotel for the rest of the weekend and that will be that, but at least I'll have experienced a live Terry Riley show.

But if I'm feeling adventurous, I can high-tail it from St. John's over to the Tennessee Theater, conveniently located right next door to my hotel, and watch Patti Smith's acoustic Words and Music show.  Patti Smith, another bucket-list performer whom I've never seen live before, is another of the main reasons I'm going to Big Ears this year.  Time will be tight - Terry Riley ends at 7:00 and Smith begins at that same time, but I have a top-level VIP pass and am guaranteed entry to all events.  I'll have to pass up a solo set by saxophone monster Peter Brötzmann at The Standard to see Smith,  but I'll have knocked off two of the main reasons that I drove all the way up to Knoxville in this Year of the Plague.  

Should I survive those two sets and am still up for more (and assuming I can resist the temptation of retreating back to my hotel room after Patti Smith's set), jazz master and MacArthur genius grant recipient Steve Coleman will be taking over the stage at The Standard that Brötzmann had just occupied earlier.  

If I need any incentive to hang in there and keep going, after Coleman, Damo Suzuki, the enigmatic former singer of the enigmatic German band Can, will be performing at The Mill & Mine.  The M&M is probably my least favorite Big Ears venue - no seating, and they hold the audience in the back of the room before allowing them to stampede toward the stage 10 minutes before a set starts.  I once heard someone call it the "Swill & Swine" and can't help but think of that phrase every time I hear "Mill & Mine" (and now, so will you). But it's Damo Suzuki!  Of Can!  And he'll be backed for this set by Mark Ribot's Ceramic Dog!  

Suzuki's is a relatively late set (10:30-11:45), but if I still have any energy left, I can stop in and catch some of Dream Chambers in-progress set at the Pilot Light.  I've never heard of Dream Chambers before, but it sounds interesting ("intimate yet expansive" songs "actualized through a mass of synthesizers, sequencers and vocal processors to create layer upon layer of melody"). I doubt I'll have much left in me at that late hour and I'm sure my mind will have been thoroughly blown by Suzuki and Ribot, but the Pilot Light is more or less on the way back to my hotel from the Swill & Swine, so why not stop in for the last half-hour of the set?

As always, there are tradeoffs - Jason Moran's Harlem Hellfighters show overlaps the Steve Coleman and Damo Suzuki sets, and  MSSV (Mike Baggetta, Stephen Hodges, and Mike Watt) are on at the same time as Suzuki.   There's so much to choose from and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time and go to some show other than what I've picked as the spirit moves me and as word-of-mouth in the audience suggests.  

Of course, I'm still half expecting a cancellation notice for the festival any day now, and all my planning and strategic scheming will all be for nought,  But should the show go on and should I rise to the occasion, Thursday night promises to have the potential for quite an evening.