Welcome to Review One of Three
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the PYGMALION festival, we have decided to publish a series covering the history, festivities, and later, the personal bloopers associated with the local phenomenon. The showrunners – Seth Fein and Patrick Singer – offered us a free pass to the live shows, book talks and community events running from Sept. 19 to 21 in various Champaign-Urbana venues.
Mikel Rouse, a well-traveled and highly-praised composer, opened PYGMALION on Thursday, which concluded with the indie pop duo Royel Otis, who currently lead the ARIA Awards with eight nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Group.
While all of this is sparkly on the surface, we put our feet to the ground to give an honest review of the programming, venues and music pouring out of this well-anticipated weekend.
Mikel Rouse at the Krannert Center
As far as 45-year careers go, Mikel Rouse has built quite a colorful portfolio. The New York Times touted Rouse as a composer whose skill and creativity put him “at the forefront of a movement among composers of his generation.”
Mikel Rouse gathered two longtime friends, Michael Roux (Director of Marketing & Sales at the University of Illinois Press) and Mike Ross (Director of the Krannert Center) to promote Rouse’s new memoir, “The World Got Away.”
Despite being primarily focused on the book, the triad of panelists deviated quite often. These moments were not wasted.
Sandwiched between dissecting Rouse’s past works and anecdotal triumphs paralleling the memoir, the conversation shifted to critiquing the modern musical landscape and the reality of living in a world where everyone has access to creating music.
Rouse complimented and expressed gratitude towards the community of Champaign-Urbana not just for their support of his work, but for the committed fostering of the art, music and novelties that come to the CU.
It was an overall pleasant and informative talk that did not aim to be an infomercial or a verbal resume as it could have easily become. Instead, Rouse, Roux and Ross proved themselves to be committed to the importance of the arts and what that means today.
Throughout the panel, audience members were encouraged to write down all of their questions to be answered at the tail end of the discussion.
In response to a question regarding how to be “ahead of the curve,” Rouse reflected on his past and said to do something no one else wants to do.
Friko – Canopy Club
Friko, a rock band that proudly proclaims their influences including the likes of Mitski, Modest Mouse and Chopin, manages to create a unique sound that is as emotion-driven as it is compositionally striking.
Raised by the Chicago DIY scene, Friko showed up to the Canopy Club and showed the crowd exactly why they were ready for an international tour with Royel Otis despite releasing their debut album, “Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here,” under ATO records only 6 months prior.
Armed with a guitar and tequila in a water bottle, Niko Kapetan stalked onto the stage alone for the opening song of the evening. The initial wailing chords captured the attention of the packed venue, but as the strumming began to build and Kapetan contorted his face for the emotion-filled kickoff of the show, something went missing.
Rather than sharing the burden of emotional turmoil laced within Friko’s lyrics, the audience was instead encumbered by technical issues that rendered the lead singer voiceless.
Although this particular mic mishap was quickly fixed by the Canopy Club’s live mixers, it served as a precursor for the dampening of one of the most important aspects of the band’s music: The backup and gang vocals.
The call-and-response-centered structure of “Chemical” should have hit the hardest, but you would have never known. Throughout the weekend, the Canopy Club seemed timid to boost the faders of backup singers which would have allowed them to blend in with the rest of the band.
The crowd continued to jump around as they did with most of Friko’s discography, including older songs like “In_Out” from their first EP. When not burning calories and sweating, the audience stood enraptured by show stoppers like “Cardinal.” Kapetan and Minzenberger harmonized their way through crushing lyrics, building up to the self-addressed climax:
“Then the evening came and crushed me / The cardinal hit the ground / Someone else instead of me / Figured it all out / Niko, where’s your fight now?”
-“Cardinal” by Friko
Kapetan held a Db5 with ease until howling beyond it, surpassing a vocal performance that would be hard for many to replicate in a live setting. Likewise, every song felt much stronger than the recorded versions.
On this leg of an international tour with Royel Otis, the two officially recognized members, Kapetan (lead vocals/guitar) and Minzenberger (drums) were joined by David Fuller (bass) and Korgan Robb (guitar).
Friko’s set ended with fans chanting along with the mantra of “Get Numb to It!”
The new band on the block gave a performance that stood out even amongst the fiery performers with millions of fans and followers that we will be covering in the day 2 and 3 reviews.
Royel Otis – Canopy Club Main Stage
The venue somehow became more packed in the half-hour between Friko and Royel Otis. Friko’s cinematic setlist was followed by the unveiling of an absurdly large prawn and the dancing of purple strobing lights.
For an introduction to an Australia-based band, using one of the country’s favorite seafood felt as much as a witty jab as it did a proud reminder of the duo leading this year’s ARIA Awards with eight nominations against household names such as Troye Sivan, Kylie Minogue and the EDM legend, Dom Dolla.
Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic set out to prove their gold-certified singles “Murder on the Dance Floor” and “Oysters in My Pocket” were not simply flashes in the pan. Neither was their Breakthrough Artist of the Year win at the 2024 Australian Independent Record Awards (which now seems like foreshadowing).
The headliners had a tall reputation to live up to – and they leaped over it.
A powerful, pulsating rhythm section coupled with a playful light show made dancing feel mandatory. Simple yet catchy earworms like “Claw Foot” and the award-winning “Oysters in My Pocket” kept the crowd jumping while confessional battering rams like “Til the Morning” and “Sofa King” created a sea of waving arms.
“And maybe it’s my fault, or maybe I just don’t believe / In you, when it’s hurting / Still I want you to stay, with me, til the morning / To when it all falls down”
-“Til the Morning” by Royel Otis
Throughout the set, Royel Otis maintained the ability to move the crowd and remain energized. Similar to Friko, their live performances not only held up to the studio versions but surpassed them. The walls of sound, palpable stage energy, and self-assuredness made them a solid addition to the Canopy Club’s track record of housing up-and-coming artists.
Like several performances this weekend, they were cheered back onto the stage with the chant, “One more song.”
After a brief cigarette intermission, the band’s finale swelled into a crowd singalong of The Cranberries’s “Linger.”
Despite being indie bands, Friko and Royel Otis packed Canopy Club the tightest over the three days of PYGMALION. Their Champaign-Urbana stop proved why so many people are clamoring to be a part of their fan base before they take off.
Closing Thoughts
Day one of PYGMALION was well planned and well executed. It was insightful, exciting and most of all, compelling.
Even free events like Mikel Rouse’s book talk offered valuable insights and opportunities to engage in the culture. Normally, fielding questions to industry professionals comes with hefty fees.
The opening of PYGMALION offered countless opportunities to engage. Unfortunately, with so many options, and inherently overlapping performances, PYGMALION goers had to make some tough decisions on who they choose to see, which is a great problem to have.
Tune in to read our day two review going over the Gallery Art Bar’s display of queer nightlife and our honest review of X Ambassadors’s pop rock performance at the Canopy Club.
