Big Ears 2019 Recap: This Is Not This Heat

This Heat were one of the best live bands ever, I could not believe it when I first saw them – they opened with this track and I thought the top of my head had been sliced off. Unbelievably powerful and wild, yet carefully controlled, without being vicious or aggressive like a metal band.

See also: Big Ears 2019 Playlist
The Youtube commenter quoted above hit the proverbial nail on the head – the ferocity with which This Is Not This Heat opened their Big Ears set was equal to that of any metal band. Except we’re not talking metal here, but rather a live reincarnation of legendary This Heat. For a reference here’s a Peel Session from 1977 that features Testcard, the very same track they kicked off their set with.

Its also said that Big Ears was one of the final shows performed by TINTH and given that we’re certainly happy we were able to catch them going out on top of their game.

This Is Not This Heat is playing one final show in North America, and it’s this one. We feel blessed.

Photo: Nathan Zucker pic.twitter.com/upmPSaRSNK

— Big Ears Festival (@BigEarsFestival) March 23, 2019

@nytimes review of @NotThisHeat at @BigEarsFestival
“This Is Not This Heat…was utterly precise in its cantankerousness…the songs’ bristling cynicism defies obsolescence”. @charleshayward @DOSMMXVI @alexwardmusic @xopublicity https://t.co/mwTL3Mu0Dh

— communicare (@careinthecom) April 3, 2019

Who did I enjoy at @BigEarsFestival this year:

The Comet is Coming
Spiritualized
Jlin
Kristin Anna Valtysdottir
KTL
The Messthetics
This Is Not This Heat
Mosaic Interactive
Jerusalem In My Heart
Vijay Iyer & Craig Taborn
Irreversible Entanglements
Shane Parish

2/

— William Fertanish (Terrible At Small Talk) (@fertanish) April 4, 2019

SILY did @BigEarsFestival for the 5th year in a row! (6 if you're counting me in general). @SonsOfKemet slayed, @ECMRecords showed why they're still around, @RhiannonGiddens busked in Market Square, This Is Not This Heat transformed the crowd into a puddle https://t.co/NwQAARMPnU

— Jordan Mainzer (@jmainzer) March 29, 2019