by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s the last weekend before the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, which partially explains why we have a number of good bands coming through town, many of whom are headed down south afterward.

For example, Denver’s The Photo Atlas, who is slated to perform at SXSW, is playing at fabulous O’Leaver’s tonight with local boys The Sharks and John Klemmensen and The Party. If you haven’t seen The Photo Atlas before, do yourself a favor — their live set is pure electro-dance-rock chaos. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Speaking of O’Leaver’s, did anyone see the Omaha.com write-up on The Club? Somehow while putting together her pithy descriptions the writer left out the part about all the staggering drunks hustling to get one last shot of Rumplemintz before passing out in a heap beneath the tiki bar, or that time someone threw a bass drum near at Whipkey… Ah, but that was way back in 2005. Things have changed a lot since then, haven’t they? O’Leaver’s, where your world could explode at any moment…

Also tonight (but not related to SXSW) The Big Deep is celebrating the release of their new album, Echoes on Little Blue, at The Waiting Room with Rock Paper Dynamite and Michael Wunder & the Uninspired. Your $10 cover also pays for a download of the new record. Show starts at 9.

Also tonight, Saturn Moth plays at The Barley Street Tavern with MPDG (Manic Pixie Dream Girls), Carl Miller and John Wilwerding. No idea on the cover, show starts at 9.

Saturday night singer songwriter Scott Severin waves goodbye to Omaha during a farewell performance from the Barley Street stage. Don’t worry, Scott’s only going down the road to Lincoln. Helping send him off is Mark Irwin and Two Shakes. No idea on the cover, show starts at 9.

Then on Sunday it’s a mammoth show at The Slowdown featuring Against Me, Laura Stevenson and The Cans, Cheap Girls and Saintseneca. All four bands are playing showcases at SXSW next week but you can see them here for a mere $15. NOTE: This is an early show — 7:30 start time.

Of course I’ll miss that fantastic Slowdown show as I’ll already be in Austin, attending the SXSW Interactive Conference prior to the Music Conference. I still haven’t figured out which bands I’m going to see on which nights. But like the last time I went to SXSW, expect to see plenty o’ tweets and photo updates on Lazy-i. Full coverage will appear in The Reader (They’re supplying my badge!) and/or at thereader.com, which also will include reports from fellow music critic Chris Aponick.

Let the games begin… Have a good weekend.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.