Here are some photo highlights of the music from PYGMALION 2022

PYGMALION 2022 celebrated its 18th year last weekend, and the event was as lively as ever. The three day long event was held in Urbana, with the homebase being the Rose Bowl Tavern in downtown. Here are some photos of the musical acts from the three days.

Thursday, September 22

Thursday night at Rose Bowl opened with a set from Mermaid Heaven, who sounded amazing. They don’t play too many shows, so I recommend seeing them any chance you get. Mermaid Heaven was followed by Colombian singer Lido Pimienta who was an absolute delight, and celebrated her birthday with the crowd. She also shouted out El Paraiso for making her some traditional Colombian food.

Later in the evening, Retro Via played a set followed by Chicago indie rock band Girl K. After them and closing off the first night of PYGMALION was Canadian group Living Hour.

FRIDAY, September 23

Friday saw some shows hosted at NOLA’s in addition to Rose Bowl. Sweetmelk opened up with a set, joined by Briar Schlenker on cello and James Mauck on drums, bringing some high energy to get us started on the right note.

Belgian-Egyptian singer Tamino followed soon after, wooing the crowd with his incredible vocal range and finger-picked guitar.

Out back at NOLA’s, Soundscapes was hosting another Luma City, bringing in DJs and bands to play while immersive projections lit up the walls.

Back at the Rose Bowl tent, Kangaroo Court was also delivering some high energy rock, drawing a large crowd who were loving every minute.

Petey followed after, dressed in a sweatshirt and hat on the chilly Friday night. He quickly warmed the crowd up and ran through a set of his indie-rock tunes.

Inside the Rose Bowl, midwest emo/hardcore/pysch group Decapitation In The Food Court was tearing the stage apart, with a moshing crowd and a guest appearance from Boyponder, who appears on the band’s album — which was also released on Friday. The evening ended with a performance from Chicago’s The Slaps, who brought the evening to a wonderful close.

SATURDAY, September 24

The final day of PYGMALION, New Game+ kicked off the evening at Rose Bowl indoors, playing what was only their second ever live show. Soft and Dumb followed after, making the trek down from Chicago.

Then came Lies, the new project from Mike and Nate Kinsella, blending indie and electronic, and drawing in a good sized crowd in the process. The brought a huge sound despite the band just being the two of them.

Outside at the Rose Bowl tent, Mhondoro Rhythm Success layed down some funky grooves and got the crowd moving. Soon after, Vieux Farka Touré took the stage. I think it’s safe to say that he blew us away, everyone I talked to afterwards said something along the lines of “yeah he was incredible.” He moved around his guitar with ease with his backing band providing a solid foundation for him to explore.

Finally, closing out the evening late at Rose Bowl indoors was Victor Internet, That’s No Moon (playing their first show in years), and Heartgaze with a DJ set.

Top photo by Sean Wilkinson.