illinois phorians - pygmalion music festival (Champaign/Urbana)

[redbull]

Andrew Bird
Headlights
Okkervil River
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Owen
Enison Witmer
Maserati
etc

http://2007.pygmalionmusicfestival.com/

[bja1288]

unrelated... but im goin to the u of i this fall. any good places to catch live acts? cuz theres nothing going on here in springfield

[redbull]

so I'm somewhat bored and this will be a long post:
the local scene kicks ass. check out www.openingbands.com for more

As far as venues, I'll work east to west.

Urbana:
The Rose Bowl - Country/bluegrass. I've never been in this place.

The Iron Post - A small bar, holds about 200. Lots of local talent here.

IMC (Indepent Media Center) - One of my favorite venues. Always BYOB, with lots of couches and weird sculptures scattered about. Holds maybe 500. They get tons of punk shows here, with some indie as well. I've seen Beirut, mewithoutyou, Leftover Crack, and Jeffrey Lewis here.

Campus area:
Assembly Hall - your general arena. Holds maybe 15000. maybe 7-8 shows in a school year. I've seen Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, and Interpol here.

Krannert Center - the University's performing arts center. Several halls within, all of which sound amazing. Classical and Jazz concerts almost nightly, they occasionally have indie stuff as well. I've seen Vernon Reid, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravi Shankar, Danielson, and David Bazan here.

Foellinger Hall - Basically a huge-ass lecture hall. They have classes like Psych 101 in here. Holds like 1700. maybe 7-8 shows in a school year. I've seen Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie, My Morning Jacket, and The Decemberists here.

Canopy Club - Shows pretty much every night. Holds 800 or so. Alot of people say they don't like this place, though. I can't get in because I'm not 18, but they recently have had stuff like Andrew Bird, Two Gallants, and Umphrey's McGee.

The Red Herring - A little tiny vegetarian coffee house which holds maybe 150. Easily my favorite venue. I see local bands here all the time.

Illini Union Courtyard Cafe - This is kind of a big empty space. I like shows here, but only if its crowded. Otherwise it just feels weird. On the bright side, its usually like 3 bucks to get in if you're a student. I've seen Silversun Pickups, Viva Voce, Headlights, and Jose Gonzalez here.

Champaign:
Cowboy Monkey - shows basically every night here, they have the only local open mic night on mondays and occasional DJs as well. They book mostly local stuff. I can't get into this place (too young).

The Highdive - Occasional shows interspersed with dance nights. Holds 500 give or take. They used to have alot more shows. Reverend Horton Heat, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Flaming Lips have played here.

some of my favorite bands...
http://www.myspace.com/mitn
http://www.myspace.com/thelivingblue
http://www.myspace.com/elsinoremusic
http://www.myspace.com/firefliesband
http://www.myspace.com/mitn
http://www.myspace.com/triplewhip
http://www.myspace.com/zmick1
http://www.myspace.com/cocococa

[fluxequalsrad]

hum reunion? It is in champaign....someone should hit matt talbott up.

[redbull]

Originally Posted by fluxequalsrad

hum reunion? It is in champaign....someone should hit matt talbott up.

they did one in 2005, but i was in Chicago at a Dresden Dolls show that day. Matt's band Centaur still occasionally gigs around

[fluxequalsrad]

Originally Posted by redbull

i was in Chicago at a Dresden Dolls show that day.

[redbull]

Originally Posted by fluxequalsrad

a. gtfo i like dresden dolls
b. it got announced way after i'd bought dresden dolls tickets

[bja1288]

thanks for the info i need to expand my musical taste beyond sp

[Eiki]

woah, redbull you live around champaign/urbana? i go to u of i (when i'm not studying abroad in paris like i am right now).

unfortunately, i haven't really checked out the music scene in the area and this is first i've heard of the pygmalion festival. is it an annual thing?

[redbull]

yeah, last year they had like....Danielson, Of Montreal, and I think Man Man. I'm too young to get into places like Canopy and Cowboy Monkey though (only 17), so I only saw Danielson (They played at Krannert)

[Eiki]

so who would you recommend checking out this year?

i've been kind of out of it in terms of music lately. i hear andrew bird is good. i listened to a recording of one of his concerts on npr recently and i think i'll have to check him out. as for the others, i have no clue.

[redbull]

I would recommend:
Andrew Bird (he's playing at Krannert!)
Headlights
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Coco Coca if you like electronic music
Darling Disarm
Elsinore
New Ruins
The Beauty Shop
The Chemicals
The Living Blue
The Tractor Kings

you can see like 90% of these just gigging around locally all the time though

[Eiki]

crap, i lost track of this thread and forgot to reply. thanks for the heads up on those bands. i'll probably check out a bunch of them so maybe i'll see you around.

p.s. i know all about how much it sucks not being able to get into good shows. i tried to see the decemberists play at the highdive my freshman year but couldn't get in cause i wasn't 19. and that was after figuring out the bus and going all the way out there (seemed like it was really far out there at the time). i was pissed.