• the217
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• A balanced diet of music

Feet will click clack towards the street. Old women will strain their heads to see. Out from everywhere will emerge the kids with Wayfarers and skinny jeans, puffing on menthols, for the fifth annual Pygmalion Music Festival will overtake the streets from Sept. 16 to Sept. 19.

It’s all around CU, taking place at Manolo’s Cove, Exile on Main St., The Highdive, Krannert Art Museum, Cowboy Monkey, Parasol Records, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Bentley’s, Fat City Bar and Grill, The Canopy Club, Mike ‘N’ Molly’s, Channing-Murray Foundation, Sandella’s, Red Herring, and Blues BBQ, where music galore, featuring bands from out of town and groups from the Champaign-Urbana scene, will intermix.

If you didn’t purchase festival passes, come early to venue doors, as those passes are long sold out. But, tickets for individual shows are still available in advance for the Canopy Club and other locations, at the door, with the exception of the Iron & Wine and The Books show at Krannert Center. Pygmalion operates as a collection of concerts that make up the entire festival, so don’t fret. It’s best to map out the schedule to maximize your experience.

With 107 artists performing, and over 60 percent of those bands coming from outside CU, the audience is in for a healthy balanced diet of music. There will be hip-hop instrumentals as RJD2 takes the stage, garage rock from Canada care of Japandroids, indie pop from our very own Headlights and every other genre that music critics could possibly fabricate.

Since the first Pygmalion in 2005, Seth Fein has been bridging the gap between new acts from out of town and our local scene. Come January of each year, Seth is hunting for headliners, booking bands and dealing with the hustle and bustle that eventually becomes the Pygmalion Music Festival. Yup, he’s the guy that brought in Dan Deacon who warped the party so wildly, the stage couldn’t handle it. Yeasayer opened to a crowd of fifty at a previous Pygmalion, before Pitchfork gave their blessing to their album All Hour Cymbals. And yes, Seth’s to blame for previously bringing in heavyweights Andrew Bird and Yo La Tengo.

Fein explained his philosophy on the festival.

“In the same way that factory farms ruin our food, mega-festivals kinda ruin the live show experience,” said Fein. “I want everyone who comes to walk out thinking, ‘I could actually see and hear every band I wanted to, and it didn’t cost me all that much.’”

Fein emphasized the importance of a small concert space.

“Part of the reason why I truly believe in the festival as a unique and quality experience is because of it’s small size,” said Fein. “If I grow it and create outdoor stages, and lose sight of what the intention is — to bring in bands on the rise and showcase them to people willing to hear — it will lose it’s charm.”

So put a halt to the paperwork, drop the calculators and Frisbees, and let the music into your ears. Attend as many shows as you can, enjoy the community and shake those bones; together we’ll all get along well.