[Pygmalion Music Festival featuring Hathaways, The Living Blue, Jesse Sykes, Yo La Tengo and High Places]
Click the link for more photos and reviews of Hathaways, The Living Blue, Jesse Sykes, Yo La Tengo, and High Places!
Hathaways at Jennifer North:
The Living Blue at Exile on Main St.:
The Living Blue haven’t been playing Champaign too much lately, which is a complete bummer considering how great they are. There’s new material on the way, and if you missed their Exile in-store, mark your calendar for their Halloween show at Radio Maria to be able to hear it live. It’ll sound boo-tiful. (ha ha ha)
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts:
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafters played some enjoyable songs aided by the brilliant acoustics of the venue, but an early evening, near-pitch black theatre and cushy velvet chairs made it difficult to stay fully attentive during the set’s tunes, which seemed to last just a bit too long in anticipation for the headlining act.
Yo La Tengo, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts:
I forgot how much Yo La Tengo rocked. Hearing songs like “Beanbag Chair” and “The Room Got Heavy” live were exciting enough to cause some people to wiggle to the beat in their theatre seats, but you can only imagine how rowdy this show would have been if they played in a standing venue like Canopy. The audience stayed tame (for obvious reasons), but the most impressive part of the show was when guitarist Ira Kaplan would play intensive guitar solos and segments, his body thrashing about in circles and swinging his guitar, as seen above. The show ran late, causing yours truly to miss both PWRFL Power, Grampall Jookabox, and YLT’s encore, which apparently included a band member shaking maracas at the doorway as the audience exited.
High Places, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts:
Not only are the duo that make up High Places precious together, their experimental, expansive, chime-y instrumentals pair with Mary Pearson’s high-pitched, cheerfully eerie voice to form space-like dance sounds that are bizarre and incredibly fun to dance along to. Their record drops tomorrow, so be sure to pick it up, and check back to overUC for our interview with the group!
5 responses so far ↓
djward // September 23, 2008 at 3:40 am |
For what it’s worth…Yo La Tengo didn’t run long (ok, maybe slightly long, but that’s not the reason you missed those other two groups). YLT was scheduled to play until 10:20ish, while the groups in the Krannert lobby (PWRFL, Grampall, & High Places) were scheduled to start at 9:30p. They had to start that early in order to be sure to have everyone out of the building by midnight, when it closes. So, there sadly wasn’t a huge crowd for PWRFL…but, such are the ways of festival scheduling, I fear. Quality shows all around, though. YLT was kickass. I love the Krannert space, but you’re right about how wild the crowd may have gotten had they been in the Canopy or whatnot. The band commented afterwards that they had trouble finding some of the crazy reverb/feedback frequencies and pitches that they might otherwise find in a traditional rock venue (as opposed to the Festival Theatre at Krannert which was designed specifically for vocal and operatic performances, sans microphones). But, I’m happy to note that that Ira and company were just as pleasant and gracious off the stage as they seemed on the stage. I love those who can rock it out onstage and be real, mild-mannered folks off the stage. Thanks for the continued good reporting & pix, IAOUC.
overuc // September 23, 2008 at 3:44 am |
Thanks for the kind words! I just double checked the schedule, and YLT was listed on that from 8:30-9:30, which would have made PWRFL Power able to be seen. I’m not sure if it was a scheduling error or the show starting late, but regardless, it’s a bummer that the two overlapped!
Ben // September 23, 2008 at 4:54 am |
Yo La Tengo setlist:
Our Way to Fall
I Should Have Known Better
Autumn Sweater
Pass the Hatchet -> The Room Got Heavy
Beanbag Chair
Mr Tough
I Feel Like Going Home
Tom Courtenay -> Double Dare
Watch out for Me Ronnie
Story of Yo La Tango
—
Speeding Motorcycle [Daniel Johnston]
Come On, Come On [Cheap Trick]
Nuclear War [Sun Ra] (did indeed end with the band leading the audience out into the lobby with maracas)
djward // September 24, 2008 at 6:04 am |
A valid point on the schedule. I’ll just say that the Krannert staff and the band knew beforehand that they’d be playing until 10:15/10:30ish.
Here’s a video of their kickass last song of the set (pre-encore), “The Story of Yo La Tango”. It’s better in high quality, but that’s probably obvious.
Archive: Pygmalion Music Festival 2008 « // June 10, 2009 at 4:01 am |
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