Maximum Ames Music Festival Begins Thursday

More than 100 bands -- most of them with Iowa ties -- will begin playing in Ames spaces starting Thursday in the first ever Maximum Ames Music Festival.

Bands will perform through Sunday at the usual places like , The M Shop and , as well as non-traditional spaces such as church, Fighting Burrito and .

“We wanted it to be a big event. We don't want you to live in Ames and go, 'Oh that went on last weekend?'” said Chris Lyng, Maximum Ames Music Festival co-director.

The show is an evolution of Lyng's and co-director Nate Logsdon's partnership. The Mumford bandmates organized a backyard concert series last summer. In February, they held a 14-hour concert for the third anniversary of The Space for Ames with performances from 38 bands.

People wondered what they would do next. The Maximum Music Festival is it. Lyng said they expect that the festival will become an annual event.

“Our goal is to just up the ante every year,” Lyng said, adding that they are proud to have 109 bands on the bill their first year.

A $40, four-day pass to all shows has sold out, but people can buy tickets to each show at the door or online, and some of the shows are free.

Highlights include the Mountain Goats show at 10 p.m., Saturday at , the free show from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday and a Thursday all Iowa show at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship from 7 to 10 p.m., Lyng said.

See the full list of performances here.