In a little under “Two Weeks,” Grizzly Bear, a headlining band at this year’s Pygmalion Music Festival, will perform its hit single from 2009 — a single that Seth Fein, founder and producer of Pygmalion, will not miss.
The music festival, which takes place Sept. 27-29, will feature bands known on a national scale as well as local ones at multiple venues in the Champaign-Urbana area.
“I’ve always wanted to bring Grizzly Bear to Pygmalion and have been trying to get them for the last five years,” Fein said.
“It is a band that is really particular about when it plays and how it plays.”
Fortunately for Fein, this year Grizzly Bear is scheduled to play next door at Midpoint Music Festival in Cincinnati around the same time.
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Other headlining bands that will perform at Pygmalion include the Dirty Projectors, Dinosaur Jr., Cloud Nothings and Tennis.
But Fein, who has planned Champaign-Urbana’s indie rock music festival for seven years, acknowledges that his event is about more than attending the main acts. Every year he finds new small bands to listen to at Pygmalion.
“Other bands that I am really interested in seeing are A Hundred Waters from Florida, Frankie Rose from Brooklyn, and Lower Dens from Baltimore,” Fein said. “I am definitely going to try to carve out some time in the middle of a mess to be able to watch.”
Although well-known artists like Best Coast will be among main acts at the venue next weekend, Mike Armintrout, director of operations at Canopy Club, also looks forward to smaller performances at this year’s festival.
“There are usually some hidden gems,” Armintrout said.
“People are always looking forward to the headliners, but there will always be at least a handful of bands which not many people are aware of that come in and play at the festival and end up being really great acts.”
Other bands performing at Canopy Club this year include HUM — a ’90s local alternative rock band — which will take Sleigh Bells’ place as the headlining band Sept. 28 because of a Sleigh Bells band member’s injury.
In a press release, HUM lead guitarist and singer Matt Talbott said the band was ready to perform.
“It was a rock and roll emergency,” Talbott said in the release. “We all happened to be available and we’re really, really happy to be invited aboard.”
To newcomers of Pygmalion, Fein guarantees they will have a unique festival experience and may even find a local band they like.
“It is a type of festival that does not take place very often in communities this size,” Fein said.
“If you are interested in learning about new music and permeating the national culture right now, swing by. It’s happening in our own backyard.”
_Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Andy Switzky is the lead guitarist and singer of HUM. Matt Talbott is the band’s current lead guitarist and singer. The Daily Illini regrets this error._
_Lyanne can be reached at [email protected]._
