The Pygmalion Festival was electric on its last night, with the parking lots full and performance sites crowded with groups of fans attending the event. 

Victor Manuel Cervantes, popularly known as Victor Internet, performed on Pygmalion Festival’s closing night indoors at Rose Bowl Tavern with a crowd waiting for him to take the stage. 

Internet, being Mexican American, incorporates Spanish into his songs and has spoken numerous times on the importance of his heritage for his identity, music and the pride he takes in it. Internet’s band consists of him as the vocalist, a drummer, two bassists and a musical engineer, managing the sound and beats. 

 Internet hit the stage right at 9 p.m. and opened up his performance with a slow-dancing song titled “Forever” which instantly engaged and connected with the crowd. Internet sang the pre-chorus and invited his crowd to sing the chorus, being extremely interactive with his audience from the beginning, smiling at them through his singing. 

After his first few songs he asked “Are there any Mexicans here? Y’all know how to dance?” in Spanish, receiving a chant from the crowd which prompted them to dance. Quickly getting the crowd to be comfortable with dancing around the stage. 

He also asked “Where my Chicago people at,” getting a louder crowd response in reply, loosening up the crowd with his constant vibrant personality. 

Internet provided an exclusive sneak peek to Pygmalion Festival goers by debuting his new song, “Olvidar” which will be in Spanish and is set to be released on Sept. 28. 

Toward the end of his set, Internet shifted from his soothing slow-dance music to a faster paced song. He acknowledged the importance of safety in the crowd, saying, “Be careful with other people,”  when performing “Do Not Disturb.” 

After saying goodnight and thanking the crowd, everyone chanted for an encore — specifically the tune “Tinder Song,” which has over 1.8 million views on Youtube. To this he said, “For the culture, you feel me,” before re-singing the crowd’s favorite song. 

Samantha Romero, sophomore in the Business said, “I’m really enjoying the show. I think this experience is very unique. It’s cool to see Victor in person after only listening to his music. I can see his passion for his career and inspiration as a Latino artist.”

After his performance, Internet spoke with and took pictures with numerous fans. When asked what it meant for him to represent the hispanic community with his music he said, “It means a lot to me to represent the culture of my music. Other people get to be seen and heard like me, (but) oftentimes people like me aren’t represented in music and culture.” 

“My goal this year is to diversify my music by singing in Spanish and using a lot of influences that I grew up with to produce my next album. Oftentimes, there’s a lot of pressure to be someone that other people want them to be. But it’s important to stay true to yourself and do whatever you want.” 

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