by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Last night’s sold out St. Vincent show at Slowdown was spectacular. Show of the year? It is so far. Look for a full review (as part of this week’s column) in The Reader, which will be online at thereader.com tomorrow. Until then, below are a handful of photos taken from my usual perch just off stage left. I fear more people are beginning to discover my secret standing spot. Please, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF.

Not mentioned in the column is show opener Shearwater. This band is a long way from the original that was co-founded by Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. That band was a quiet, introspective indie folk act. Sheff no longer is with Shearwater, and the band on stage last night was anything but quiet. They had a big indie-rock sound that I guess you’d expect from a Sub Pop band (with Americana roots). Nice stuff, though ultimately forgettable in this environment. And a strange pairing for a brash New Wave-esque 4AD band like St. Vincent. I’m sure they had their reasons.

Shearwater opens at The Slowdown, May 14, 2012.

St. Vincent at The Slowdown, May 14, 2012.

St. Vincent at The Slowdown, May 14, 2012.

Moments after her stage dive, at The Slowdown May 14, 2012.

* * *

There are no shows happening tonight (that I know of), so why not stop down to the Saddle Creek Shop for a listening party featuring Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? It’s part of the store’s ongoing Record Club @ Shop promotion, where fans get together, listen and talk about a classic album. The needle drips at 7, followed by robust discussion. BTW, it’s free, and a good chance to pick up some new vinyl releases.

* * *

A reminder to all you Omaha peeps, don’t forget to vote…

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The Whipkey Three at Stir at Harrah's, May 12, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’m looking over my notes from Friday night’s debut performance by Cooper Moon’s new band, Dark Wave, a band we’ve all heard about for months. Well, the build-up worked, as the Barley Street was respectfully packed with curious music lovers wondering what exactly Cooper and this other band, that includes Tom Barrett (also in DM), Chad Gregerson and Mike Ivers, have been up to.

The answers (for me, anyway) and general impressions were typed into my iPhone in the following order:

Deep, dark well.
Cooper strangling the mic.
Barrett’s keyboard = dark electronic.
First song pure Joy Division.
Bauhaus dance party.
S&M bondage club. Should be played in a black hole bar.
Kill the Christmas lights, kill all the lights.
Goth played by bikers. Biker goth.

Dead Wave at The Barley Street Tavern, 5/11/12.

Any time a new band hits the stage, the first thing anyone does is draw the inevitable comparisons. Mine included Joy Division, Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, The Chameleons and The Church, and on the opening song, Joy Division. I’m not sure why Barrett referenced The Jesus Lizard the other night. After the brief six-song set, one well-schooled local musician/music fan compared them to early Christian Death, which may be too poppy for this rather dark dance stew. That same person pointed out that the one cover song played during the set was a very obscure Echo and the Bunnymen song that Cooper told him had only been played once by John Peel and was never captured on a “session,” but rather was a bootleg recording that Cooper, an avid Bunnymen fan, just happens to have.

That’s enough background to give you an idea where this band is coming from. Other than the post-punk, goth metal inflections, the highlights were Barrett’s keyboard textures and Cooper’s vocals, which were more “musical” than his Dim Light vocals — more range and more sustained moments. Cooper cannot merely bark the lines with this stuff, he has to use his voice to provide another texture layer, and a rather course texture at that. It’s taken almost a year to get them to play one six-song set, which concerns me as other bands in similar situations disappeared after one show. Let’s hope that isn’t the case with Dead Wave.

* * *

As Matt Whipkey said from the Stir “Live and Loud” stage Saturday night, I guess all the press worked, as the club was full during the opening of his two 45-minute sets, when he played many of the songs off his new LP, Two Truths, including personal favorite, “Maria.”

It was your typical Whipkey show, as Omaha’s best haircut made all the right moves to get his crowd of loyal followers (as well as a handful of hardcore gamblers) eating out of the palm of his hand.  In that context, he’s something of a throwback to a simpler time, before the advent of slumped-shouldered, indifferent indie hip-stars who go out of their way to ignore the audience with dollops of you’re-lucky-we’re-even-performing contempt. Whipkey, on the other hand, is the ultimate stage performer, not satisfied if even one crowd member isn’t “into it,” whether it’s on Stir’s tiny lounge stage or at Stir’s mammoth Concert Cove amphitheater. Whipkey was born for an arena, whether he ever makes it there or not.

* * *

Tonight will be the fourth time that I’ve seen St. Vincent. The first time was at The Waiting Room in July 2007, where I said Annie Clark was going “to be bigger than PJ Harvey. Maybe bigger.” Two months later she played a solo set opening for The National on Slowdown’s big stage. The last time was almost two years ago on June 3, 2009, when Clark and her band played at Slowdown Jr. It was fantastic.

Tonight we get her again on the Slowdown big stage, this time with her band. No tix? That’s a shame, because tonight’s show is sold out. Opening is the amazing Shearwater, who has recorded for Misra, Matador and with their latest, Animal Joy (2011), Sub Pop. The fun starts at 9.

* * *

Universe Contest at The Waiting Room, May 9, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Maybe 40 on hand for last night’s Omaha debut of Universe Contest, which is either evidence of how hard it is to get people out on a Wednesday night or the dominance of this week’s Big Omaha event (though I doubt any of those techno-nerds would have come to this show anyway).

By 10 first opener Ideal Cleaners already had cleaned house. Second opener Dim Light came on next and blazed through a set of minor key tribal rock dirges sung in a style that got my mojo risin’ (Get it?). One of Omaha’s most magnetic (and cool) frontmen, Cooper Moon laid down his vocals with dollops of delay like a 10-foot-tall biker vampire performing an exorcism on an abandoned Stuckey’s. His guitar was bright and bluesy, but it’s the rhythm section of bassman Tom Barrett drum legend Boz Hicks that cannot/will not be ignored.

Next, Universe Contest. The Lincoln five-piece (two guitars, bass, keyboards and drums) has had comparisons to early Modest Mouse hung around their necks thanks to their recordings. The resemblance is hard to ignore, but on stage, the Modest Mouse comparisons don’t wash. UC is more calculated. More backwoods. More proggy. And, yeah, more tuneful.

The Modest Mouse thing comes from the wonky, scratchy vocals a la Isaac Brock, who (regretfully) smoothed it out on MM’s more recent records. Take away the Modest Mouse overhang and they’re harder to pin down. As the name implies, they’re spacey, but not shoegaze spacey or Bowie spacey. Spacey like a group of Midwestern hillbillies who got ahold of a stack of Popular Science magazines and figured out how to build their own spaceship from abandoned grain silos, Case tractors parts and the cockpit from a hollowed-out ’73 Maverick. I can see them now sitting on the launchpad in their overalls, their hippie hair sticking out of their gold-painted football helmets. 10.9.8.7…

Best moment of the night was the set closer with the almost whispered line “…breaks my heart.” It sounded like a weird, spacey, bluesy combination of Uriah Heep and Soundgarden, and nothing at all like Modest Mouse. They finished their short set by midnight to cries for more. If they can get past the Modest Mouse thing, watch out.

* * *

In this world of instant media; does it really matter who says what first? Who has the scoop? Who tweets it first? Or rather, does it matter who says it better? That’s the essence of this week’s column in The Reader, which you can read online right here. I’ve been trying to find a better name for the column than “Beyond Lazy-i,” which was the publisher’s idea. So I’m trying a different name every week until something sticks. This week it’s called The Moleskin Diaries. Who knows what it’ll be called next week. I’m open to your suggestions.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s the psychobilly sounds of Koffin Kats with The Hooten Hallers, The Blacktop Ramblers and Video Ranger. Early 8 p.m. start time. $12.

Also tonight, Skypiper plays at The Waiting Room with Betsy Wells and I Heard a Lion. $7, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Drums at The Waiting Room, May 1, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just how big was Record Store Day last weekend for Homer’s. Let’s just say sales were at “historic” levels, said Homer’s General Manager Mike Fratt. “We are extremely thankful for all the customer support and all the excitement they create,” he said. “It’s very enjoyable to see fans come out in such large numbers.”

RSD has become a marketing phenomenon of unequaled proportions. The only thing you can compare it to is, say, Black Friday or when Apple launches a new iPhone. It’s huge, not only for Homer’s but for every independent record store in the country. “But with that comes considerable risk as purchases of RSD exclusive product can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, and it’s all sold one way. No returns,” Fratt said. “It is amazing how big an event Record Store Day has become, and it continues to spread internationally. Europe, Asia, South America, Australia. And the indies did this. It dominates Google trends in the week prior, is covered by all major media, and generates positive karma for music and the music business.”

To give you an idea of the enormity for Homer’s: “We brought in more product this year than the last three years combined,” Fratt said. “(It) freaked us out how much we bought, but it turned out well. We sold 66 percent of what we brought in, and have been able to reload on some titles we sold out of since then.”

Among the huge sellers was The Flaming Lips’ Heady LP, which Fratt said not only sold out quickly in Omaha, but sold enough copies that it would have charted in the top 40 on the Billboard charts, and we’re talking about a vinyl release. The key phrase in the last sentence is “would have,” because Fratt said Soundscan somehow didn’t properly report sales on RSD.

“Soundscan showed many cities reported none (of the Lips record) sold (including in Omaha), although we sold all 30 of ours,” Fratt said. “In LA, Soundscan showed just 183 sold when all stores there reported selling all they had, which would have sent the number into the hundreds. Soundscan showed sales in Detroit of negative 400.” Yeah, you read that right.

“Not only did it damage reporting on the three or four titles that would have hit the charts, it also ends up unreporting total impact of RSD, by probably enough to push overall weekly sales up another percent or two — a significant achievement on the part of the indie sector.”

It’s a fuck-up literally of national proportions at a time when the record industry — and indie music stores — can ill afford one. But was Soundscan’s misreporting just a one-time thing or a symptom of a systemic problem? Fratt said the indie music coalition is meeting in LA next week to address the problem. “We are not only concerned about RSD, but ongoing reporting errors,” Fratt said. “Could this loss of reporting move the total national year to date sales up 1 or 2 percent? That is significant if true. No one really knows yet.”

Regardless, there’s no denying that last weekend was wildly successful. Cold hard cash does not lie. “The Indie Retail community saw a 40% increase from last week,” Fratt said. “The overall business conditions were up 3% from last week – which is cool because mass merchants were about even and digital scans were down about 4%.” If that isn’t proof that vinyl is making an impact, nothing is.

While I have your attention, Fratt wanted to pass along some upcoming special events at his store, including in-store performances by My Darkest Days on May 22 and Tech n9ne on May 27, along with listening parties for Beach House and Best Coast May 14 and Sigor Ros May 28.

* * *

Craft Spells at The Waiting Room, May 1, 2012.

Briefly… I am a sucker for ’80s electronic music a la Factory Records bands such as Joy Division and New Order. So last night’s show at The Waiting Room clearly was right up my alley.

Opening band Part Time set the mood with a micro-set that lasted less than a half hour. So shortcthat it was hard to absorb what they were doing on stage. Add to that the fact that they seemed to just want to get it over with didn’t help matters.

They were followed by Craft Spells, who sounded like, well, a cross between New Order and Joy Division. It was all there in the oh so familiar guitar lines, synth parts and up-tempo rhythm section that was straight off of Brotherhood. It’s one thing to be derivative of a style, it’s another to wholly embody it. There’s no question what these guys were trying to do, and they did it well, though I couldn’t tell you a word of what the frontman was mumbling into the microphone during their short set. I can tell you they were the best band on stage last night.

Here I was thinking I might get home by 11, but The Drums put on a long, if not adventureless, performance. With a sound that undoubtedly has its origins in the ’80s, it hinted at something slightly more modern (as in The Strokes). Blond frontman Jonny Pierce spent most of the set sashaying around the darkened stage vocally emulating Bono. In fact, their music tried to harken back to very early U2, but lacked that band’s anthemic hubris.

Watching Pierce skip and sway through his set without engaging the audience made me remember what made Bono such an incredible frontman back in U2′s glory days — he brought his audience along with him on every song. He was mesmerizing, nearly confrontational, determined to make everyone in the audience care about what he was singing about. Pierce could have been singing words out of a telephone book, which is a shame because The Drums lyrics deserve more effort than that.

* * *

Snake Island headlines a show tonight at The Waiting Room with Lightning Bug, Dim Light and  Swamp Walk. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lambchop at Slowdown Jr., April 27, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Another “sit-down” show at Slowdown? This is becoming a habit. A couple weeks ago it was Cowboy Junkies in the big room. Friday night it was Lambchop in the front room for a crowd that looked to be around 100, maybe more, half of whom were seated on folding chairs set up in a space between the stage and pushed-back tables. Obviously it has something to do with either the laid-back music or the mature age of the crowd, or both. And in both cases, the chairs were oddly appropriate, especially since the people fronting both bands also spent the the evening seated.

So-So Sailors at Slowdown Jr., April 27, 2012.

For opening band So-So Sailors Friday night, it was seated frontman Chris Machmuller behind a keyboard, though Mach also stood with a guitar slung over his shoulder. Maybe it was the room’s dark ambiance but this was the most relaxed, most un-rushed set I’ve heard the Sailors play, and also the finest. No one was trying to blow the roof off of anything, instead Mach and his band of merry men provided subtle, complete interpretations of songs off their recently released EP along with a few new songs that will fill out an LP one of these days.

Next was Lambchop, and as expected, seated directly in the center of the stage was Omaha guitarist/musician Alex McManus, a Lambchop veteran back in the fold if only for one night. Judging by the smile on frontman Kurt Wagner’s face, he couldn’t have been more proud. Wagner lead the band seated with an acoustic guitar and his dry, folky mumble, backed by two keyboardists (one occasionally switching to guitar), bass and drums, and McManus adding tasty fills and leads on electric guitar.

Their sound was warm and subtle like sipping a glass of fine old scotch. There was no resemblance to “alt country” at all. In fact, their music has more in common with intimate club jazz, with Wagner’s mid-range voice bordering on rhythmic spoken word, though he showed his range at times. Some really beautiful stuff.

The band played for well over an hour and not only came back for the usual three-song encore but also for a couple more after that. Wagner said they were doing something out of the usual because he loves playing with McManus, who he called “his secret weapon.” A modest McManus merely smiled and waved without looking up at the crowd.

* * *

It’s a sort of busy week for shows. Tomorrow night is The Drums at The Waiting Room; Dim Light and Snake Island at TWR Wednesday; and then The Pines Thursday night at Slowdown Jr. and Love Drunk’s tour fund raiser also Thursday night at The Sydney with Honeybee & Hers and Bazooka Shootout, and then Icky Blossoms returns to Slowdown Jr. on Friday (speaking of Icky, they just dropped their video for “Babes” this morning. Check it here). Get your shows in during the week, because the weekend ain’t looking good (so far).

* * *

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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Icky Blossoms at Earth Day in Elmwood Park, April 21, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

By now you’ve heard the news about this year’s MAHA Music Festival. Four bands were announced last night, with more to come.

The bands: Garbage, Desaparecidos, Josh Rouse and Icky Blossoms.

Garbage is quite a catch. Other than a handful of U.S. dates this month and into early May, the band will tour primarily in Europe throughout the summer, sneaking in the MAHA appearance Aug. 11 just prior to heading to Japan. In other words, as of now Garbage is skipping the entire summer U.S. festival season, giving MAHA something of an exclusive.

If you’re too young to remember Garbage, the band scored a couple hits in the mid-’90s with “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains,” which still get airplay on the better radio stations throughout the country. Their last album was ’05′s Bleed Like Me. Now they’re back with a new album, Not Your Kind of People, which comes out May 14 on STUNVOLUME, their own label. The first single, “Blood for Poppies,” leaked about a month ago, continues the band’s brash alt rock sound. Check it out below:

Garbage, “Blood for Poppies”:

Desaparecidos is the mysterious band referenced in my last blog entry (As Desaparepussies). The guys played at Conor Oberst’s Concert for Equality in Benson in 2010, so this isn’t exactly a bolt-out-of-the-blue reunion. Regardless, as of now, MAHA is the only scheduled date for the band, and that alone makes it special. I’m highly doubtful this will be the only Desa show. There’s never been a better time for Oberst and Co. to reform as we enter a rather important political cycle. Are there any other significant political bands out there these days?

Josh Rouse is a singer/songwriter born in Paxton, NE, who now lives in Tennessee. He’s sort of a poor man’s Freedy Johnston, but certainly has his followers, especially in Europe.

Then there’s Icky Blossoms, who is being billed as “headlining the local stage,” which I guess means they play last on the small stage prior to the big stage headliners. I practically begged MAHA to book Icky Blossoms last year and (of course) they ignored me. I can’t say’s I blame them. MAHA is paying more attention to the band now that they’re signed to Saddle Creek. Funny how that happens.

MAHA has at least two more main stage bands to announce May 6. If you’re scratching your head wondering where the “new bands” are (Because let’s face it, all three bands announced yesterday had their heydays at least a decade ago), I have a suspicion the next announcement will fill that void. We’ll all just have to wait and see. As it stands, it’s not a bad start. Red Sky would have been lucky to get either Garbage or Desa (or Icky Blossoms). Instead, Red Sky confirmed that it’s cutting back its festival from 6 to 4 days this year. There are rumors that Red Sky’s local and smaller-band day stages in the parking lot also may be nixed this year as the “festival” continues to devolve into a country-music/hair metal concert series that competes with, what, county fairs?

More MAHA info at their website.

* * *

Speaking of Icky Blossoms, I caught their set at Earth Day Saturday afternoon in Elmwood Park. The band gets better every time I see them play. Imagine what they’ll sound like when they become road-hardened? Sarah Bohling continues to become more confident handling the vocals. Someone pointed out that she has a “tonal” voice — a mid-range mumble that cuts through the chaos, a grounding contrast to the pulsing rhythm section and grinding, squealing guitars. The added jet fuel of bassist Saber Blazek and drummer Clark Baechle now ratchet everything past 11. Prepare for liftoff, MAHA. The band has evolved to a perfect unit, though recent news that The Faint are reforming brings up obvious questions about how Baechle can be active in both bands. He’s the best drummer in the area, and is irreplaceable in both projects.

Bohling’s vocals are especially prime on Icky’s new single, “Babes” b/w “Chicas,” released Saturday as part of national Record Store Day. Between the two sides, I’ll take “Chicas” every time. There’s just something about the Spanish-language version that makes the song more lurid. The production by David Sitek throbs like a sweaty after-hours dance floor in Miami by way of Los Angeles (where it was recorded). Based on just this single, Icky Blossoms could be Saddle Creek’s biggest new signing since Tokyo Police Club. It comes down to how the label promotes the album, and, of course, touring, which is the biggest question mark about the band. Derek Pressnall, Nik Fackler and Baechle all are involved in two bands (Pressnall has Tilly and the Wall, Facker has InDreama and Baechle, The Faint). Not to mention Pressnall’s family obligations (he and wife wife Jamie (formerly of Tilly and the Wall) just had their second child) and Fackler’s film making career, which could reignite at any moment. Something tells me they’ll figure it all out.

* * *

My only other Record Store Day purchases were copies of The Mynabirds’ “Generals” single and the new PUJOL single “Reverse Vampire.” The PUJOL song is better than anything off their Creek debut EP; I’m looking forward to their upcoming full length. I also picked up a copy of the Bright Eyes/Super Furry Animals 7-inch remixed by Danger Mouse that was offered at the Saddle Creek Shop. To my knowledge, this single was never released, and is quite a find.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Interscope pop band Imagine Dragons with local boys Skypiper. $12, 8 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I feel an obligation to explain the cryptic message at the end of yesterday’s blog. The message: “One more thing: Omaha peeps keep a close eye on the various and sundry social media sites late today and into the early evening. More than that, I cannot say…”

A few days ago I received an email notifying me of a secret show that was to take place at O’Leaver’s last night. The catch: If too many people find out before-hand, the band will cancel the gig, so don’t tell anyone until the night of the performance. Then yesterday at around 6, I got a text that said the show was off. Too many people had heard about it, so the band canceled.

I can’t tell you who the band is because doing so could jeopardize other future shows by this unsaid band. Of course, most people who live in Omaha and read this blog regularly know exactly who I’m talking about, and understand why this band lives under a paranoid veil of secrecy. Or maybe they don’t. I certainly don’t. What is the point of telling people that you’re doing a secret show, and then canceling the show because too many people know about it? And how many, exactly, is “too many people”? And how do you figure out that people are talking? Was a secret poll conducted of people huddled around Smoke Genies throughout the Dundee/Benson bar district?

“The numbers are in, boss. Thirty people confirmed knowledge of the show, with a high concentration located around Jake’s.”

“Fuck it, the show’s off. They knew the rules. I will not be defied.”

The whole sitch was the cause of much mirth at O’Leaver’s last night, where we came up with a new name for the band which combines the first eight letters of the band’s name followed by the word “pussies.” You do the math. I suggested that all this secrecy could hamper the band’s upcoming tour of national secret shows.

“Guys, I just cancelled Chicago. Way too much chitter-chat. And Minneapolis is in jeopardy. When I say ‘No talking,’ I mean no talking. They better learn: I WILL CANCEL EVERY SECRET SHOW ON THIS TOUR IF THEY KEEP IT UP. Now someone go text that…”

It sounds like I was one of the few people that got the 6 p.m. text saying that the show was canceled. I talked to a number of people in the large crowd at O’Leaver’s last night that didn’t find out until after they arrived. Well, at least they were treated to a fine set by McCarthy Trenching.

* * *

Speaking of secrets. A couple weeks ago someone tipped me off that Conor Oberst and Phil Schaffart were planning on opening a bar at 5004 Dodge Street in the old Pageturners storefront. Like the dutiful journalist I am, I emailed Phil and asked if it was true.

His response. “Yes, Conor and I are opening a lounge in the old Pageturners bookstore on Dodge st. We’re still in the planning stage but we hope to be open by mid summer. I appreciate your interest but was hoping you could please refrain from mentioning this in print for the time being? We have yet to be granted our Liquor License and we’d rather not draw any extra attention. Once all the dust has settled, I’d be happy to give you the details on the space and and what we’re planning for it.”

So what do you do? I could easily have ran with my information without contacting Phil. I already verified it via public filings. But I thought it would be better to get it from the horse’s mouth. And once I got Phil’s email, I felt obligated to sit on it until Phil said it was OK to run. I didn’t want to fuck up their plans.

Well, last night city councilman Pete Festerson tweeted about the bar, including its location. Moments later I got an email from Phil saying that The Omaha World-Herald was about to publish a story confirming the information. “I apologize if the OWH is able to print this info before you as you were indeed the first to inquire.”

Oh well.

So here’s what I know. The place will be called Pageturners Lounge and will open in late summer. And that’s about it. I haven’t been able to talk to Phil, who is on tour right now with M. Ward. But when I get details, I’ll pass them along.

Again, this wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret. Someone else had told me about it earlier yesterday evening, and I just nodded my head, knowingly. That person asked if Conor and Phil plan on doing live music at their new bar. I said I did not know. Having looked at the space myself, I could tell him that it’s a long, narrow room with a full basement.  Coffee-shop style performances might work; but I couldn’t imagine seeing a band there, but who knows (other than Phil and Conor, who presumably is sequestered inside a bunker deep within his Fairacres mansion)? I said I had a feeling that they may follow the Krug Park model, which so far seems to have been wildly successful at drawing a crowd by simply serving fantastic beer. Time will tell.

This morning’s OWH article seems to confirm my assumptions. I think you can tell by its tone that Phil wasn’t too eager to talk about the project.

* * *

Cowboy Junkies at The Slowdown, April 19, 2012.

There were around 200 on hand for last night’s Cowboy Junkies show at The Slowdown, which turned out to be a “sit-down” affair. Rows of folding chairs were placed in the area in front of the stage, apparently to appease an older crowd. And I do mean older; I practically felt like a spring chicken. But in their defense, old people know what’s good and definitely know what they like, and there was a lot to like about last night’s performance.

Margo Timmons and the band came on at 8 and preceded to play two one-hour sets and an encore. The stage felt intimate in the dim light, with Margo seated out front next to a vase filled with red roses. If you’re a fan of this band and were there, you very likely were entranced. At times their set had that same hushed, haunted feel heard on their early records; at other times, they pulled back the lid and rocked. Timmons has a fantastic, even, ethereal voice on haunted songs about haunted lives. To their credit, their new album contains some of the best material of their career.

Chatting with a couple who drove in from Lincoln for the show, I guessed that the band wait until the encore to play their famous cover of Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.” Instead, they launched into it as the first song of their second set, as gorgeous as ever.

I didn’t stay for the whole show, since I wanted to see McCarthy Trenching at O’Leaver’s. Opening was James Maakestad of Gus & Call, who played a set of rustic acoustic jams that highlighted his amazing voice. How would these sound with a full band? Do they even need to be fleshed out with anything beyond his voice and guitar? Maakestad stayed on stage to back Dan McCarthy on stand-up bass. McCarthy is Omaha’s Randy Newman — a musical genius who has a unique, funny and touching way with words. He sang a number of songs from his new album, along with “The Ballad of Dorothy Lynch,” which is bound to be an instant classic.

* * *

Briefly (because this is running long) here’s a recap of some of the better shows this weekend:

Back at O’Leaver’s tonight it’s Back When with Ketchup and Mustard Gas and New Lungs. Bring your earplugs, it gonna be loud. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow at Elmwood Park it’s Earth Day. The full schedule of events is right here, but the highlight from a performance standpoint is Icky Blossoms, who play from 3:40 to 4:25. Should be a blast, and it’s free. More info here.

If you’re in Lincoln tomorrow, Duffy’s is hosting a benefit show for KRNU. The lineup: Great American Desert, AZP, Manny Coon, Shipbuilding Co., Good Show Great Show, Pharmacy Spirits, Sun Settings and Machete Archive. Show starts at 5 p.m. and suggested donation is $5. More info here. I only wish we had a KRNU here in Omaha…

And don’t forget that tomorrow is Record Store Day. Get out to The Antiquarium (check out all their cool-ass promotions), Homer’s and the Shop at Saddle Creek and buy some vinyl.

* * *

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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Howard at The Slowdown, April 13, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There was a respectable crowd of nearly 200 on hand for last Friday night’s Omaha Girls Rock (OGR) benefit at Slowdown, performed on the club’s “big stage.” When I arrived, most of the stage floor was filled for Howard. The most notable thing about the trio is frontwoman Anna McClellan, a little pixie with an ’80s bowl cut, oval glasses last seen in the movie “Tootsie,” and a big voice that’s a cross between Ethel Merman and Morrissey. With keyboards, guitar and drums, you could argue the arrangements were a bit spare, but McClellan filled the void with that booming voice of hers. Howard is getting people’s attention. From what I was told, the crowd was at its zenith during their set.

Gus & Call at The Slowdown, April 13, 2012.

The numbers waned slightly before Gus & Call went on stage, a pity since the band sounded like it was playing mostly new material — I didn’t recognize any of the songs. The set reflects a change in course for a band that used to be characterized by its slow, droning, electric-prairie style (call it boot-gaze). Friday night the songs were all upbeat and roaring and steps away from the the rural/roots style they’d been known for. The extended jams bordered on psychedelic, even prog, though G&C doesn’t play around with awkward time or key changes (thank god). G&C is one of the most promising acts from the area and deserves national attention. So how do they get it?

BTW, as noted, Friday’s OGR event also was a contest among all four performing bands (Sun Settings and The Betties played first). Each act had a week to write an original song based on the theme “superstition.” The crowd was polled for the best, and the winning band was Sun Settings. Their prize — they get to send one lucky girl to OGR camp. Congrats, SS. Too bad I wasn’t there in time to catch your set…

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The MAHA Music Festival folks began selling $20 discount tickets to the Aug. 11 event this morning, and though they haven’t even announced a line-up, they sold out by noon. $35 ticket/t-shirt/poster combos are still available. Go to mahamusicfestival.com or their Facebook page for more info and check out their sweet new logo via Oxide Design. Look for a MAHA lineup announcement Sunday.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s NYC band Caveman, whose new record, CoCo Beware, was released this year on Fat Possum. With Betsy Wells. $10, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Well-Aimed Arrows at The Barley Street Tavern, April 7, 2012

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

No photos from Saturdays show because my Mac’s OS is being rebuilt again. What a pain in my ass. Maybe it’s time to get a new computer? I was way in back of a crowded Barley Street Tavern anyway and the photos weren’t exactly primo, as you can see by the crappy, off-kilter pic of Well-Aimed Arrows, above. WAA followed the very good six-piece known as We Live In Sod Houses, who opened the show, a rousing Americana punk band, sort of Decemberists meets Neil Young meets ’90s indie rock from somewhere in southwest Iowa. I only caught their last four songs, and was told that they’d been on for about 45 minutes before I got there — super long set. Sorry I missed the first part.

Well-Aimed Arrows’ set was the usual 30 minutes of angular post-punk that harkens back to greats such as Gang of Four/Wire/Minutemen/Fugazi. I love this band (as you know), whose members include Clayton Petersen and Koly Walters of The Protoculture (Erica Hanton of Kite Pilot, then Erica Petersen, also was in the band). Their album, Adult Entertainment, reviewed last July, will be the subject of a vinyl-release show May 25 with Millions of Boys and Dads at Slowdown Jr. Mark your calendars.

Finally, it was Kite Pilot reborn as a power trio featuring Todd and Erica Hanton and drummer Jeremy Stanoschek. Their new sound is much more post-punk and less poppy than the old version that was kicking around last decade. Todd’s trumpet is gone. Instead, he’s busy on keyboards and the occasional bass and providing very tasty vocal harmonies, while Erica’s bass and guitar work never sounded better. Performing all new material, their finest moments were ripping full-bore into blistering rockers that were among the best things I’ve ever heard them play, but they floundered when they tried their hand at arty, experimental prog, which suffered from awkward time changes and poor arrangements. As a whole, the trio has entered into an exciting new stage in their career despite the fact that they’re still trying to define this new sound.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Americana rockers Good Old War with The Belle Brigade and Family of the Year. $12, early 8 p.m. start.

Also tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s Tucson band Seashell Radio with The Debts. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Get ready for Contextual Doom.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It is with utter dissapointment that I fell asleep before heading out to The Waiting Room last night for the Antiquarium Subversion Showcase and seeing Capgun Coup. Though I can’t comment on their performance, I will say this about CC’s new album, Contextual Doom: It sounds like frontman/CC mastermind Sam Martin had an epiphany involving early Velvet Underground. The album, slated for release next month by ORG Music, has the same looking-through-a-dirty-window-on-the-Lower-East-Side feeling associated with, say, the VU & Nico album.

Half of the record involves laid-back “Sunday Morning” guitar riffs, tom-and-tambourine percussion and Martin’s own flat, seen-it-all-before vicodine-infused vocal delivery. It doesn’t get more slacker than on “My Bordumb Is Bored,” where Martin mumbles, seemingly with half-closed eyes, “I’m high as the ocean and my mind is commotion all my thoughts are unspoken and my heart it is broken…” The other half is garage ravers like “Claire Doesn’t Care,” which props up Martin’s lethargy like a dancing, twitching corpse. But even pumped up mothers like “Laugh/Cry” have a Velvet overlap — if you slowed the song by about 50 bpm you’d get something akin to “Heroin,” but with the lyrics, “Don’t it feel so good inside to have a good reason to cry? All your tears will dry.”

Martin is a musical enigma. He’s not so much Omaha’s version of Lou Reed as much as Omaha’s own Anton Newcombe — as unpredictable as he is talented, out there as much as out of control. And Capgun Coup is one of those bands that has a different life on vinyl than it has on stage. Their recordings (and no more than this one) are showcases for intelligent garage rock songwriting that nods knowingly toward the past while defining a better, if not slumped-shouldered, future. On stage, Capgun Coup is unpredictable — you never know what you’re going to get from gig to gig, which can vary from a taut, high-energy rock show to an extended, off-kilter caterwaul careening out of control. Whether triumphant or disappointing, they’re never boring. And neither is Martin, or for that matter, this album.

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For those keeping score at home, my latest column is in print and online right here at thereader.com and centers on the life and death disappointments of Game of Thrones. Check it.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.