It’s that time of year again, but with a twist. Pygmalion Music Festival, CU’s four year old tradition, has returned with a vengeance to welcome the start of the new school year, teaming up with the new Urban Outfitters on Campus to kick off the ruckus. Urban Outfitters will be hosting four pre-festival jam sessions featuring Elsinore, Headlights, Tall Tale, and The World’s First Flying Machine, as well as helping to sponsor the festival itself.
“Urban Outfitters typically has a localization project,” said Beth Kopeke, a manager at the freshly minted Urban Outfitters. “Every Urban Outfitters store has a public opening and feature the community’s local groups. One in Chicago had a CD release party with a local suburban Chicago band.”
While their localization projects may be a tradition for Urban Outfitters, the bands of Pygmalion Music Festival will help personalize the store and the show. Seth Fein, organizer of the Pygmalion Music Festival, and an active promoter of the festival had his sights set on working with Urban Outfitters to create a fresh start for the 2008 local music scene.
“Urban Outfitters really caters to a particular scene. Obviously, they do more business than just kids that listen to Justice or Arcade Fire,” said Fein. “But, they know their target. I think the bands performing in-store hit on the ‘indie’ music scene that they strive to cater too.”
While Pygmalion seems to have the right indie chemistry to collaborate with the company, it’s more than just the image that is going to make this music festival partnership sail.
“[Urban Outfitters’] collaboration with Pygmalion will be great on a ‘cool-by-association’ factor for both parties,” said Fein. “They have already started to do promotions for the festival that I never even expected — plus their generosity extends far beyond the promotion of the festival and the artists. They are contributors to the Pygmalion Music Festival Fund, part of which directly contributes to ABC Counseling, a not-for-profit that reaches out to abused children in our community. It’s a very important part of the whole festival to me, and they feel the same way.”
The festival’s unity with Urban has that beneficial multivitamin effect on the campus and community, and Fein recognizes its importance to the 80+ groups. While only four are allotted the Urban Outfitters pre-Pygmalion spots, Fein doesn’t hesitate to explain his admiration for everyone involved.
“I chose the bands that I did because I felt they deserved the opportunity, plain and simple,” said Fein. “I absolutely love so many bands in this scene, and my only wish is that more of them would release more records, hit the road more often and do anything it takes to wave a CU flag outside of our little world here. All of the artists performing at Urban Outfitters are trying to do just that.”
The first of the Pygmalion pre-parties is scheduled for August 24 to ease into the mayhem. The style may be set for the scene already, but Pygmalion, just like Urban, embraces the many different styles — it all just depends on how you wear it.
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