“I see Big Day In as more than just an event, but a celebration of our inclusive and tight-knit underground community,” said Bubba Crumrine, the executive director of Ithaca Underground, of the semi-annual festival, which returns to the Haunt this Saturday, Dec. 6 at noon. The all-day and all-ages show brings together national touring acts, regional groups with a close connection to the local scene, and popular local standbys. And with fifteen bands under twelve hours, what an event it is.

This is the tenth installment and has become a capstone to the organization’s expanding influence. Ithaca Underground incorporated as a not-for-profit this year, and still managed (in spite of incorporation paperwork) to host 65 shows. As a bonus door raffle, one lucky attendee who shows up before 1:30 p.m. will receive a pass to all 2015 shows, valued at nearly $500.

“Bubba is the best person ever!” said Meredith Graves, who fronts headliners Perfect Pussy, which kicked off the band’s first national tour at an Ithaca Underground show last March. “We’ve basically been on tour for a full year—we started with Syracuse three times, and in Philadelphia, and then New York. We came back to Ithaca, where I had played before, and have been on tour since. Graves continued: “We’re very happy to come back and play for Bubba—we basically would do anything for Bubba—and this will be our last show for a minute [before an Australian tour].”

“Big Day In’s programming goal is to have a line-up that reflects Ithaca Underground’s multi-generational, multi-gender community, and the genre-diversity we support year-round,” Crumrine said. “We have another strong, eclectic line-up across subterranean punk genres—noise, electronic spazz, folk, ska, and hardcore—on through indie rock, psych pop, freak-folk-funk, and even a dash of hip-hop this year.” 

In addition to Perfect Pussy, who originated in Syracuse, the line-up is as follows: Math the Band, an expanding six-piece electronic funk from Providence; Jeff Rosenstock, a punk poet from downstate traveling with a full band called Depression Werewolf; Zula, a psychedelic four-piece; and Buffalo’s Del Paxton. And that barely scratches the surface.

“IU aims to showcase and mix fresh and bright regional acts with newcomers to the national scene and those who can still teach us a thing or two about surviving and prospering in this ever growing community of DIY music and art,” Crumrine wrote. “From Shore Acres Drive, whose front man played his first-ever live performance this summer, to DIY music veterans like Math The Band and Jeff Rosenstock, on through youth acts like King Size Pegasus and Eyukaliptus, plus red-hot acts like Perfect Pussy and Del Paxton on to local acts on the rise, The RealBads, The Newman Brothers and Misses Bitches, and local hip-hop producer and performer, Sammus.”  

Isabel Reidy, who fronts the RealBads, looks forward to the “community of musicians” that Ithaca Underground provides. Here Come the RealBads, the seven-track reverb-drenched pop ear-candy that Reidy calls “a very short album, or a glorified EP”, is just the sort of music that deserves an audience, but can easily get lost in a sea of streaming music. “Cutie Boys” a track from the release sounds like the BeeGees filtered through a lost act on the great Kill Rock Stars label—smart, catchy, and convincing. “I went to art school for a couple of years, and I realized I was never going to be a fine artist—though I have always been interested in comic books, and working on that for the last few years has informed my lyrics.” Reidy performs with her brother Silas, as well as members of the Newman Brothers, who will also perform at Big Day In. 

“Big Day In is for everyone—or at least everyone who has a bit of musical adventurism in them,” Crumrine said. “Ithaca Underground’s audience has grown to be multi-generational, multi-gendered, pulling from a broad range of underground genres and experience.” • 

Big Day In runs from noon until 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Haunt. Arrive early, because one lucky attendee will receive a yearlong pass to all Ithaca Underground shows in 2015.