Looks awesome.  I can’t wait to see Roky!

Sean,
Perhaps their touring schedules only permitted them to play on Wednesday night, and it would be silly to put them on the same bill as they both deserve a headlining spot.  It sucks, but this is totally a white person’s problem.

Sean,
If you put them on the same bill, who opens for who?  Both are big national acts, I’m sure neither of them would want to swallow their pride and travel all this way just to open for another band.  Also, Janelle Monae and Of Montreal tour together and I’m sure that was a demand of theirs that they play on the same bill.  I don’t agree with when you asked “why bother booking both?” as I’d rather have this difficult decision over no decision at all.  Yes, it’s unfortunate, but I would want these acts playing here no matter what the circumstances.  Just go see Janelle Monae and Of Montreal…it’ll be more fun!

Just a thought: Of Montreal and Janelle Monae’s stage show is supposed to be pretty tightly integrated for both acts (Kevin was on Pitchfork a while ago talking about this, no?). Maybe it’s more of an issue of not being able to break up the theatrical elements to fit a third band.

Hi Sean —
 
Well, geez, I just apologize like heck here, but I thought you should know something about the booking process of a festival like this one: it’s very very very difficult.Swear to G-d. It really is.
 
And with that said, I could go into ALL of the reasons that having BtS on the same bill with OM / Janelle is an actual impossibility — not limited to things like, agents, managers, egos, production, gear, stage props, sexual innuendos, allergies, and politics — but I won’t. WAY too long to type. But if you want to know all of it, you can email me personally: seth@nicodemusagency.com and I will give you my number. We can chat.
 
I will, however, state, for the record, that Built to Spill, was a total and complete accident. Honest. Ask Ward. People seem to trust him a lot more than they trust me anyhow, so you can ask him, literally, if you wish, about how it came to be.
 
But here is my version: I booked of Montreal in April, but wasn’t allowed to announce until July 7 because of Janelle Monae’s summer tour schedule. It was all set. A great great opening night for our little festival.
 
And then! BOOM! Steve Kaul emails Ward at the end of May, and tells him that Built To Spill is routing through, and they have a hole they might like to fill in a smaller market. SWEET! says Ward — and let’s the know about Pygmalion Music Festival, and loops me in.
 
So, Ward and I both agree — hmmmm… two shows on opening night? Against of Montreal? FUCK! What should we do?
 
Oh. Right. The MASSIVELY obvious thing. Book Built to Spill (one of my favorite bands of ALL TIME) at our little humble indie rock festival — and if people complain about the overlap and say things like “the promoters dropped the ball” or “why even book those two artists?” or “this diminishes the value of the festival pass” — go to sleep at night knowing full well that we can only do our best, and that Built to Spill, in the end, was an additional serving of gravy on top of what we still believe to be the biggest and best Pygmalion Festival yet. 
 
Knowing it posed a problem, we even asked BtS’s agent if we could do an early show for them so as to not conflict with the of Montreal show. But they were steadfast — Built to Spill can’t go on before 10 p.m. So again, what are we to do? Not bring Built to Spill to town?
 
In the end, Sean, for what it’s worth — you aren’t the only person who is disappointed about this fairly-insignificant-but-still-tough-choice: I am too. I love Built to Spill, and I love Janelle Monae. I also love of Montreal. AND I have to run the goddamn thing.
 
So, I’m in the same boat with you dude.
 
Again, apologies, but I hope you can still find the value in the festival ticket cost ($65) to see of Montreal and Janelle Monae OR Built to Spill — as well as — Surfer Blood, Those Darlins, Fang Island, Cults, Turbo Fruits, Cut Chemist, Holy Fuck, Plus/Minus, Colour Revolt, Owen, Candy Claws, The Viper and His Famous Orchestra, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River, Caribou, Royal Bangs, Cap’n Jazz and a whole slew of fantastic fucking local bands.
 
And, we didn’t even raise ticket prices siginificantly this year, despire spending literally 25% more on talent than we did in 2009.
 
That’s the truth.
 
Word.

i think i may have the biggest conflict of all.  seth, how dare you book pavement all the way out in fucking new york at the same time at built to spill AND of montreal?
(also, everyone worried: just go to built to spill.  problem sovled.  also i’m super super stroked for the thursday - saturday of this festival.)

Sean —
 
You are entitled to your opinion. But I would argue that “the two biggest bands” aren’t at the same night at different venues. On what are you basing that statement? On whose standards? Album sales? Ticket sales? Career longevity? Gross potential? If you thought any of those — you are dead wrong, my friend.
 
Or did you mean, the two bands that you want to see most are at the same night at different venues?
 
If that is the case, then again, I really do apologize — but perhaps you didn’t really READ BETWEEN THE LINES in my last comment?
 
Here it is again, in plain language:
 
The funds that were used on Built to Spill were actually non-existent. They were supposed to go somewhere — anywhere — else towards paying for production, promotion, design, etc etc. We weren’t looking to book ANYONE else at that point. We were already over budget. In a word, this show is a big, fat LOSS.
 
But, you know, sometimes, you make concessions to make things happen that you think people will find to be special. This was one of those circumstances.
 
Just making sure you are reading it right. The money that was used to book Built to Spill was not going to be used on any other artists. So, it was Built to Spill, or nothing. Take your pick.
 
My guess is that most people would rather have Built to Spill at $15, even if it meant not being able to see of Montreal. 
 
Just my opinion, though.

Seth, thank you so much for not telling Built to Spill “no thanks” because of the Of Montreal conflict.  I’ve seen Of Montreal four times (and they’re awesome!) but have only gotten to see BtS once, and like you, they’re basically my favorites, ever.  That took the festival from being one I was really excited about and looking forward to into “can’t stop thinking about it, extremely giddy, I’m so glad I live in this town” territory.
 
And yeah, what The Sandwich Life said.  So silly.

I’ve never heard either of these bands. Not live; not on CD. Even though I have a festival pass, I wasn’t planning on attending any shows on Wednesday night (I have a day job and I’m old).
 
However, the passionate comments about these two bands have changed my mind. I’ll be checking them out on last.fm and choosing one.
 
And Seth, if I like them both equally and my decision turns out to be difficult, here’s some pre-hate for ya:
 
How dare you?
What the fuck were you thinking?
You own the music scene in this town and you couldn’t get this worked out for everyone?
Dumbass.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’m really excited about Built to Spill, so much so that I keep coming back to this thread just to be like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Built to Spill!

Sean, chill out. This sort of scheduling conflict goes with the territory at any festival. Plus, the way the times are spelled out above, it looks like one could realistically catch some of Janelle Monae’s set and still make it back for all of Built to Spill.
 

I’d also like to note that it looks like of Montreal will be performing for up to 120 minutes at the show, per the contract. And while showing up too late might make it hard to get in because of capacity limitations, it still might be worth a shot to watch some of BtS, and then hoof it over to Canopy to try to beat the crowds.
 
Wristband holders get priority entrance access this year, as a result of a very scathing but perfectly reasonable criticism from SP.com’s formerly own Brian K’s complaint from last year.

I’m the opposite as I’ve never seen Of Montreal, but got to hang out backstage with Built to Spill at the Metro in 2002. Not sure which to see. Also glad it’s on a Wednesday as I’m out of town that weekend. Pretty disappointed to miss out on Ted Leo.

+/- & Elsinore at the Art? I wonder how that will go. One of the things I like about Pygmalion is the willingness to book in unusual spaces like Low at the Channing-Murray last year.

Of Montreal is the bee’s knees.  I’ll be there decked out in my finest psychedlic-neo-glam-indie-funk regalia.
 
ID engager is a good entry point for some of OM’s latest stuff if you’re not already familiar with the band.