Omaha Performing Arts responds to Duran Duran questions; new Vempire single…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 8:43 am February 28, 2024

Vempire’s Shake dual single.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I mentioned yesterday I’d let you know if Omaha Performing Arts (O-pa) responded to questions regarding the May 17 Duran Duran show at Steelhouse Omaha. 

Here’s what I sent O-pa:

A couple quick questions regarding the Duran Duran concert at Steelhouse. First, congrats on the instant sell-out! Someone with industry knowledge posted on social media that the concert was an “underplay” and that after such a quick sellout that Duran Duran will be coming back to Omaha soon. Any truth to that? 

The other speculation about the concert is that Duran Duran was brought in as a thank you to important donors and corporate sponsors on the one-year anniversary of the grand opening, which is why the club seating wasn’t available. Is that the case?

O-pa’s response:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the congrats! We’re so excited to have pursued and booked Duran Duran to play our one-year anniversary concert. We only have this performance booked with Duran Duran and do not know their future tour plans or schedule. Club seating is not available for this concert because of a private party. 

Thanks for reaching out. 

Lee Turkovich,
Vice President of Marketing & Communication
Omaha Performing Arts

The “private party” comment is consistent with what they’ve posted on social media. Who is the “private party”? We may never officially know.

By the way, after-market (scalped) tickets to Duran Duran are going for $222 at Ticketmaster and as low as $187 at StubHub (not including fees). Yes, that’s more than twice the face value but still a bargain for seeing your bucket-list band at a (relatively) intimate venue. It’s certainly cheaper than driving to see them at the 6,500-capacity WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

. 0 0 0 . 

Over the past couple summers I went ga-ga over Lincoln band Thirst Things First when they played at the annual Petfest Festival in Benson. Well, the TTF frontman Mike Elfers has another project called Vempire with Lindsey Yoneda (of the project Ghostlike). The duo released a new “Dual-Single” this past Valentine’s Day for the tracks “Shake” b/w “Blattodea,” mixed by Jeremy Wurst at B-24 Studios in Kansas City. The release also includes remixes by the likes of Christopher Steffen of StudioPH, Pawl Tisdale of Domestica (and Sideshow) and Minneapolis’ Toilet Rats. Check it out; it’s dance-y, it reminds me of The Faint and Icky Blossoms. Maybe these two could open for Duran Duran?

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Duran Duran sellout irritates some, mystifies others…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 2:02 pm February 27, 2024

Did you get tickets to the May 17 Duran Duran show at Steelhouse Omaha?

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A quiet weekend, except for the whole Duran Duran controversy…

Of course I’m talking about the instant sellout of the May 17 Duran Duran concert at Steelhouse Omaha.  Ticket sales had been announced weeks ago and fans prepared strategies to acquire these very limited-edition items when they went on sale last Friday morning. Only general admission floor/standing tickets were offered. The venue’s balcony/club seats were unavailable, no one was quite sure why, though lots of angry people who identified themselves as older women raged online that they didn’t want to stand for hours at their age. 

Anyway, as 10 a.m. rolled around an enormous online queue for tickets formed. Some fans accidentally waited in a “fanclub” queue, only to be asked for a presale fanclub code – oops, wrong queue, start over. 

Well, the tickets (of course) sold out immediately, leaving thousands of fans disappointed. Why was this concert being held at the smallish Steelhouse vs. the CHI arena, they asked. Anger flared! Conspiracies erupted! The Steelhouse and the Omaha Performing Arts (O-pa) folks have yet to officially comment on the reasons.

And then during the height of online frustration, someone who works in the industry posted an explanation on Facebook, saying the effort was an “underplay,” wherein Duran Duran asked to play a smaller venue like Steelhouse rather than an arena to “feel a closer connection to the audience.” The good news: The insider said that Duran Duran will be coming back to Omaha “sometime soon – especially now that there’s data that shows a sellout in minutes.”

If true, it’s EXCELLENT news for Duran Duran fans, though a second Duran Duran date has yet to be announced. 

There was an alternative theory as to why Duran Duran is playing the smallish Steelhouse. The speculation was that the band was brought in by O-pa and Live Nation (who exclusively books Steelhouse) specifically to play a thank you concert for large donors and corporate entities who made Steelhouse a reality. The concert would act as a one-year anniversary private party, but it was decided to also make the general admission standing-room area tickets available for everyone else as sort of an additional thank you gesture to Omaha in general.

Using Steelhouse for private concerts appears to be part of O-pa’s business plan. Late last year Steelhouse hosted a private birthday party for Susie Buffett that included performances by members of Tom Petty’s old band, which you likely didn’t know about as it wasn’t publicized. The Duran Duran concert could have gone down the same way. 

I’ve reached out to O-pa, asking about both theories. I’ll let you know if someone from the non-profit replies.

We live in a city filled with very wealthy people. You can thank Warren Buffett, who made a lot of folks very rich. And that’s a good thing; I only wish those super-rich folks could do even more for our city. Let’s face it, they’ve already done a lot. Consider the new library being built at 72nd and Dodge, or the Luminarium or the Baxter Arena – all have been at least partially funded by Heritage Omaha.

As for me, it’s hard to get upset about the Duran Duran sellout. I’ve always held them just slightly above Boy Band status, an act propelled to stardom on the wings of MTV. “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Rio,” “The Reflex,” fun, meaningless songs released 40 years ago. But for many, Duran Duran is a bucket-list band. And the fact that their favorite band is playing in their hometown – and they can’t get tickets – must sting (unless, of course, Duran Duran plays here again soon). 

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Che Arthur, Healer tonight; Virgin Mary Pistol Grip album release show, Porno for Pyros Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 8:53 am February 23, 2024

Virgin Mary Pistol Grip celebrates an album release Saturday night at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Onto the weekend…

On All Your Tomorrows Were Decided Today, an album originally released 20 years ago that was remastered and rereleased last year, Chicago’s Che Arthur boasts a static, ’90s DIY post-rock sound reminiscent of acts like Silkworm and Husker Du. Strangely, other than a new track release this year, it’s the only album on his Spotify page. Anyway, Che Arthur is playing tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s for a show in which our very own Healer is the headliner. Colin the Rocket Scientist opens at 9:30 p.m., and this one’s Free!

Somehow over the years I’ve managed to miss Virgin Mary Pistol Grip. I must have seen them at some point as they’ve been around for over a decade. After listening to a few tracks of their latest album, Just a Little More Love, I have to wonder what I’ve been missing. The four-piece celebrates the release of that album Saturday night at Reverb Lounge, an album recorded with LA producer Bob Marlette (Filter, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, among others). Dear Neighbor also is on the bill. Waiting for Parry opens at 8 p.m. $10

Meanwhile, out at the new Astro Theater in La Vista Saturday night, Perry Ferrell’s other band, Porno for Pyros, is playing a rescheduled date for their “Horns, Thorns En Halos Farewell Tour.” British trio Tigercub opens at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $49 to $69.

Also Saturday night, Garst headlines at The Slowdown with a slew of locals including Jack, Social Cinema and Bad Self Portraits. 8 p.m., $12.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Oh, Maha Music Festival, what has become of thee…? 

Category: Blog,Column — Tags: , — @ 8:15 am February 22, 2024
The location where the Maha Music Festival was to be held in 2024…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Last Thursday morning, I (along with other donors) received an email from Maha Music Festival President T.J. Twit that announced the decision by the Maha Board to “pause the festival in 2024 in consideration of upholding the Maha brand experience and its future sustainability and scalability.”

Wait, what?

The decision was made, Twit wrote, because over the past few years “the worldwide festival industry has faced an unprecedented increase in costs for talent, transportation, labor, security and insurance.” In fact, he said, costs increased about 50%. The Board also considered Maha Festival’s “model and forecasted resources,” which sounded like a veiled reference to the fact that two of Maha’s primary organizers, Emily Cox and Rachel Grace, both resigned from Maha last September, just months after the Maha announced it was moving the festival from Stinson Park in Aksarben Village to the newly remodelled Heartland of America Riverfront Park in downtown Omaha.

The plan for ’24 was to bring in a contracted production company to operate Maha’s day-of-show production and festival operations . For, as Twit said in this November 2023 article, “We signed a contract with MECA and as of right now plan on having a two-day festival the last week of July (2024).” 

But after months of searching, the organization never settled on a production company, who knows why but one assumes overall cost had something to do with it. There also were questions regarding how the Maha organization could mobilize the 800 volunteers who helped put on the festival in 2023 – a year that saw the return of pre-pandemic-sized crowds, with 12,000 in attendance over the festival’s two days (but that’s still more than 2,000 short of the record attendance enjoyed in 2019).

Last year’s fest suffered its share of bumps, one brought on by the weather. At one point during the Saturday festivities, Stinson Park had to be evacuated due to storm warnings. The evacuation and the dreadful process of getting everyone back into the park ate into afternoon concession sales. That wasn’t the only hit — Maha didn’t host food vendors inside festival grounds last year, either, forcing concert-goers to leave the park if they wanted to get something to eat. 

Add those hits to the “unprecedented increase in costs” and money becomes a central concern, especially when you’re moving to a new location where some costs are uncertain. 

Maha wasn’t the only long-running festival to cancel in 2024. Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival, Detroit’s Mo Pop Festival and Columbia Missouri’s Treeline Festival also were casualties, and NME has written about how a number of festivals in the UK have been cancelled or postponed due to not being “economically feasible.” That NME article points to continued escallating costs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Twit said in his letter that “Maha’s Board of Directors will spend 2024 recalibrating and exploring options and opportunities for Maha Festival to return in 2025, including looking into national partnerships.” National partnership? What could that mean? Perhaps National sponsors? “The Maha Festival, brought to you by Pizza Hut?” Maybe… If so, be prepared for drastic changes in format. It would be a shame if Maha moved away from the recipe — and the kind of musical line-ups — that made it so unique.

Immediately after the announcement, a number of local “experts” took to social media and declared the end of the Maha Festival, saying 2023 will wind up being its last year. Many of those “experts” have railed against Maha since its debut, mainly because they don’t like or listen to indie music or because their personal favorites haven’t been booked. No doubt none of those naysayers ever bought a ticket to a Maha Festival before, anyway.

Still, beyond last week’s press release, Maha has yet to do anything to dispel the rumors (and their own post on Facebook is rife with critics making unchallened inaccurate comments). I guess they think silence is the best approach, after all, you have to assume they’ve retained many of the large corporate sponsors who signed on for 2024 and beyond. If they’re serious about 2025, Maha needs to continue communicating on social channels (and with the local media) about how things are progressing throughout this year for next year. At least share their plan and vision going forward.

Because there’s one festival we’re definitely going to be hearing about this summer — the Outlandia Music Festival. With its announcement last week of its Aug. 9-10 dates, people are getting excited to find out the lineup. Outlandia now stands alone when it comes to local college rock/indie music festivals. And for their third year, we all expect big things…. 

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Live Review: Matthew Sweet; Yo La Tengo tonight at The Waiting Room…

Category: Reviews — Tags: , — @ 8:15 am February 19, 2024

Matthew Sweet at The Waiting Room, Feb. 17, 2024.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

If it wasn’t a sell-out, it was dang close, as The Waiting Room was crazy-packed Saturday night for Matthew Sweet. Just moving around in the crowd was a challenge – a crowd that consisted of people in their 40s and 50s (and older), big people, mostly dudes, many carrying two drinks at a time because they didn’t want to deal with the bar situation. I didn’t even try to get my usual Rolling Rock, knowing I would never get it in time.

Instead, with no clear path in sight, I pushed my way through the cushion-like mass of humanity toward my usual perch at stage left, only to find that the bar had set up a four-top table in that small niche on the other side of the bathrooms, making things that much more crowded. At the table, two post-middle-aged couples dressed as if attending an awards program chatted and laughed in what was probably a rare night out for them. They didn’t seem bothered that tall people stood right next to their table, blocking their view. 

Sweet and his band took the stage a little after 9 p.m. Wearing a Greek sailor’s hat and mustache, he looked like a younger version of George R.R. Martin, a guitar slung over his shoulder, with wee lead guitarist John Moremen to his right, Velvet Crush bassist Paul Chastain on his left, young guy Adrian Carter between them on acoustic guitar and legendary Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson glowing perched behind her drum set. 

With no fanfare they tore right into opening song “The Ugly Truth” and kept on playing the hits, mostly songs off Girlfriend and Altered Beast, with newer song “Pretty Please” from the Tomorrow Forever thrown in for good measure. Sweet was in great voice and the band was tight.

It was right after playing “Winona” that things took a bit of a turn. Sweet launched into what felt like a 20-minute story that covered everything from Valentine’s Day to his second career making cat art (bronzes, now paintings) to his new tattoo to his love for the film MIdsommer to ideas for his next album and on and on – a speech that seemed even longer for me having already heard most of it a few weeks earlier during our interview. Sweet knew he was going on too long because he said so a few times during the monologue while his band wandered about adjusting their instruments, this wasn’t the first time they’ve heard these stories, either. 

I like stage patter as much as the next guy, and even feel offended when a band rifles through a set without acknowledging the audience standing right in front of them, but this massively long monologue killed the momentum the band had built up to that point in the evening, and felt like it would never stop. 

But it finally did stop and the band tore right back into their performance with “Devil with the Green Eyes” and continued for seven or more songs, ending their set with favorite “Evangeline,” wherein Sweet closed the song standing alone on stage with his back to the audience creating feedback with his guitar and pedals. I could hear him start to explain what he was doing as I left the Waiting Room, missing an encore that no doubt included “Girlfriend” and “Sick of Myself,” which he’s been playing as encores throughout this mini tour. 

. 0 0 0 . 

The Waiting Room has another terrific show queued up tonight – Yo La Tengo. This show was rescheduled from last fall to allow Georgia Hubley to recover from knee surgery. Promoted as “An Evening with Yo La Tengo,” expect to hear two sets filled with songs from throughout their career followed by an encore. The band played 22 songs at their Fort Collins show this past Saturday (the set list is here).  Good thing there’s no opener. 8 p.m. start time and $35. How will it do on a Monday night? 

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

David Nance & Mowed Sound tonight (album reviews); Matthew Sweet Saturday…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , — @ 8:33 am February 16, 2024
David Nance and Mosed sound play at their LP release party tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ironically, the last band I saw in 2023 will be the first band I see in 2024. David Nance & Mowed Sound host their LP release show tonight at Reverb Lounge. The self-titled debut on Jack White’s Third Man Records came out two weeks ago. I mentioned the Pitchfork review already. But since then Allmusic, Paste and Spectrum Culture have also weighed in.

Allmusic gave the album a 4-star rating and concluded with: “It’s anyone’s guess if David Nance & Mowed Sound represents a new direction for the frontman or just a detour on the way back to wilder things, but if his goal was to show he had some cards up his sleeve we hadn’t seen before, he succeeds brilliantly.” 

Paste rated the album 8.0 – “The Nebraska musician’s latest shoulders rock music into new phenomena while remaining achingly indebted to its capacity for magic and freedom.”

Spectrum Culture gave the record a 79% rating (almost four stars) — “A surprisingly tight set of gently pan-fried country-tinged numbers from Omaha’s finest DIY rockers still contains plenty of good old American weirdness.”

High marks, almost “critical darling” territory. Heck even Matador Records co-founder Gerard Cosloy mentioned the record in on his Can’t Stop the Bleeding twitter account with this comment: “alright.  for the price of a lawn GA ticket to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse, you could instead purchase David Nance’s ‘Mowed Sound” AND Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band’s ‘Dancing On The Edge’ and you’d still have enough left over (for a downpayment on parking to see Neil Young)

My review? 

David Nance & Mowed Sound, self-titled (Third Man Records) – This is throttled down David Nance. Restraining his usually blewsy, rough-hewn psych/garage rock, brings forth a rootsy, folk rock style more interested in songcraft than in blowing your head off, and that’s not a bad thing. And while there’s a hint of twang, as Nance says this ain’t no country album, and it ain’t. This is an old-fashioned record that should be purchased on vinyl, enjoyed one side at a time, preferably on a sun-drenched weekend afternoon.  So yeah, I dig it. I’d dig it even more if he’d amped up these songs with harder riffs and longer solos, like in his good old days. Rating: Yes.

Maybe we’ll get the harder versions of these songs tonight at Reverb Lounge. Pagan Athletes opens at 8 p.m. $15. Methinks this one could sell out.

Tomorrow night, Matthew Sweet returns to the Waiting Room Stage. I wrote about Sweet and this show yesterday, if you missed it. Mobile, Alabama-based twangin’ singer/songwriter Abe Partridge opens at 8 p.m. $25.

And that is all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Lazy-i Interview: The Return of Matthew Sweet @ The Waiting Room this Saturday…

Category: Blog,Interviews — Tags: — @ 8:43 am February 15, 2024

Matthew Sweet plays at The Waiting Room Saturday night. Photo by Evan Carter.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When people talk about successful bands from Omaha, they immediately think of Bright Eyes or (more likely) 311 – a band that moved to California just before they hit it big. But one of the most successful Nebraska musicians from the ’90s (and today) still lives right here in Omaha. 

Born and raised in Lincoln, Matthew Sweet had one of the biggest hits of the early ’90s with his gem-filled power-pop collection Girlfriend (1991, Zoo Records) that boasted infectious singles like the title track, “I’ve Been Waiting,” “Evangeline” and “Divine Intervention.” The album became an international indie favorite.

It would be followed by Alterer Beast in ’93, 100% Fun in ’95 and the critical obscurity Kimi Ga Suki in 2003. In his heyday, when he wasn’t touring Sweet lived in Los Angeles. 

But as he said in an interview last month, after 20 years in La La Land Sweet moved back to Nebraska — and Omaha — 10 years ago. In fact, I once bumped into him at a Thai restaurant in Aksarben Village, whispering to my wife over my Tom Ka Chicken, “Pssst… look over there, eating those noodles, it’s Matthew Sweet.”

“It’s amazing that there still are people who recognize me, because I feel like a relic of a bygone era,” Sweet said. “But hey, we’re going out touring again. I’m finally getting out after Covid, and it’s been a long time.”

Four years, to be precise. Sweet said a health issue made him very afraid to go out in public during the pandemic, not only for himself, but also knowing so many bands that announced tours only to cancel them when a band member came down with Covid. 

“And then over the last year, I’ve really gotten myself together on my health and solved some problems — some breathing things I had — that had made it a big danger for me getting Covid,” Sweet said.

His first performance outing was at the fabeled 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida in early January. 

“I was very, very freaked out and horrified to have to sing and play at all,” Sweet said, adding that he’d only performed a few times online during the pandemic years, “but not really in a venue with real mics and PA. I was able to play a whole hour-long set with the backup of a couple of friends, and my voice worked surprisingly well.”

For this mini-tour that includes the performance this Saturday, Feb. 17, at The Waiting Room, Sweet has pulled together a band that includes him on rhythm guitar, John Moremen (who played on 2017’s Tomorrow Forever album) on lead guitar, Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush on bass and drummer Debbi Peterson from The Bangles. 

“Debbie’s a good friend of mine from Los Angeles,” Sweet said. “She came out here in 2016 or 17 to play drums on Tomorrow Forever, and I’ve recorded the Bangles at my house in Los Angeles. She’s a really good drummer.” Since this interview, Adrian Carter has been added to the band on 6- and 12-string acoustic. 

Sweet said the show’s set list will consist mostly of fan favorites. “Honestly, I’ve never been the sort of artist who has to force new stuff on people, even when they want to hear other things,” he said. “It’s great to see the reaction from people hearing the songs they remember and care about.”

That said, Sweet just released a new album – Live in Grant Park Chicacgo July 1993. The 17-song collection includes favorites from Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, performed live backed by a band that included Richard Lloyd (Television) on lead guitar, Will Rigby (the dB’s) on drums and Tony Marsico (Cruzados) on bass. 

In addition, Sweet is in the early stages of writing his next album, which has a project title Midsommar, a name he “swiped” from one of his favorite recent movies. “I really like that title,” Sweet said. “I’m having the ideas for the songs musically. I’m having tons of lyric ideas and all of it’s starting to come kind of in advance of making the album.”

For Sweet, songwriting inspiration comes from every angle and every medium – film, art and music. When he isn’t making music, he can be found making art, including his lovable cat images that are taking the world by storm.

“I was never good when a label wanted (me to write) a single,” Sweet said. “If anything, as I’ve gotten older, I feel more like an artist because it helps me to think about what I do and who I am. It’s more about doing the art than about whether someone cares at this point. I turned 59 in the fall. I’m sort of at a place where I kind of feel like I can be doing my little things whether I’m making a living or not. And I think that’s what it means to be an artist.”

Matthew Sweet plays with Abe Partridge Feb. 17 at The Waiting Room. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 Adv./$25 DOS. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Travel alert: Waxahatchee, Nation of Language expand tour… past Nebraska…

Category: Blog — @ 1:47 pm February 13, 2024

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tuesday is the hot day for announcing tours and shows and we’re having our share of Americana and country shows announced here in Omaha, but little to no indie. 

Case in point, modern post-punk act Nation of Language today announced an expanded 2024 tour that takes them just about everywhere, except Nebraska. Closest pass:

Apr 06 – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI (w/ Beach Fossils)
Apr 07 – House of Blues, Chicago, IL (w/ Beach Fossils)
Apr 09 – The Pageant, St Louis, MO (w/ Beach Fossils)
Apr 10 – Liberty Hall, Lawrence, KS (w/ Beach Fossils)

Amazing indie standouts Waxahatchee also today announced an extended tour, that goes everywhere but here. Closest pass:

April 18 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater ^
April 19 – St. Paul, MN – Palace Theatre ^
April 20 – Chicago, IL – Salt Shed ^

Check out the new Waxahatchee track that also just dropped today:

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

David Nance & Mowed Sound gets Pitchforked (6.7 rating)…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 8:42 am February 12, 2024

A screenshot from the new video for David Nance & Mowed Sound’s single, “Credit Line.”

by Tim McMahan,Lazy-i.com

Last Friday the new self-titled album by David Nance & Mowed Sound was released on Jack White’s Third Man Records, and I was thrilled to hear that it includes a new uptempo version of “Credit Line” similar to the version heard at Petfest a couple years ago. Nance and Company even released a video for the song, directed by local cinematic genius Nik Fackler. 

I’m still digesting the album and need to drop by Grapefruit Records to pick up a vinyl copy, but after initial spins, I dig what I’m hearing. Pitchfork, that kooky bible of everything indie, does as well, having reviewed the album Saturday and giving it a better-than-okay but less-than-stellar 6.7 rating. Critic Grayson Haver Currin seemed to dig the album but felt the band held back too much compared to some of Nance’s earlier releases. 

It also feels circumscribed and safe, though, as if Nance and a band capable of truly cutting loose tried to make their own modern classic rock LP by forsaking the weirdness and wildness that made them special,” he writes, concluding the review with: “But as good as it often is, Mowed Sound reinforces what, in retrospect, has been Nance’s conundrum all along: He remains the clerk across the record store counter, gushing about all the things he loves without being able to tell you the one he likes best, the one he would forever commit to calling his own.

Not sure what he means by that last line, but I do agree the album feels more restrained than some of Nance’s earlier albums, which can be both a good thing and a bit frustrating. For example, having seen Nance perform live countless times in the past, his most recent gig at The Waiting Room opening for Icky Blossoms also felt less “out there” and more held back than past white-knuckle performances. 

What will Nance & Mowed Sound bring to the stage when they play their album release show this Friday at Reverb? 

* * *

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Outlandia Festival announces ’24 dates (Aug. 8-9); Lettuce tonight; Lincoln Exposed continues…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 8:34 am February 9, 2024

A scene from the 2023 Outlandia Festival.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

While we wait for a Maha Festival announcement, the fine folks at the Outlandia Festival have announced the dates for their 2024 festival — Aug. 9-10, again at Falconwood Park in Bellevue. No other info was provided, though I suspect a line-up announcement is imminent. I’ve got a funny feeling that this is Outlandia’s year to dominate the local festival season… 

Not much for touring indie rock shows again this weekend. Things take a turn for the better next week. 

Tonight at The Astro in La Vista, Boston funk band Lettuce headlines. They’ve self-released most of their bouncy instrumental albums. Nigel Hall opens with a DJ set at 8 p.m. $35-$65.

Also tonight, local singer/songwriter Ebba Rose headlines at Reverb Lounge with The Pickles of Dill and Nick Lytle. 8 p.m. $15.

And Lincoln Exposed 2024 continues. The sched is below. Tickets are $12 per night or $35 for an all access pass that gets you into everything all weekend. You can buy them online here or in person at the Bourbon Theater.

LINCOLN EXPOSED 2024
Friday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5-5:40 – Corson Branch Buzzard Club
6-6:40 – Scott Severin & Stateleigh Holmes 
7-7:40 – Dirty Talker
8-8:40 – LaPerm
9-9:40 – Crack Mountain
10-10:40 – Red Cities
11-11:40 – The Killigans
12-12:40 – The Midland Band

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Mudpuddles
7:40 – 8:20 – The Allendales
8:40 – 9:20 – FAHR
9:40 – 10:20 – The Bottle Tops
10:40 – 11:20 – Dip Tet
11:40 – 12:20 – Ro Hempel Band

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – quiet2quiet
7:20 – 8 – The Other Side Of Now
8:20 – 9 – Sweats
9:20 – 10 – Accidentology
10:20 – 11- The Wildwoods 
11:20 – 12 – Universe Contest

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Will Hutchinson Trio
6:40 – 7:20 – Blondo
7:40 – 8:20 – Witherpoint 
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghost Town Radio
9:40 – 10:20 – Guilt Vacation
10:40 – 11:20 – Wagon
11:40 – 12:20 – Night Push 
12:40 – 1:20 – Means To An End

Saturday

ZOO BAR (21+)
5 – 5:40 – 23rd Vibration
6 – 6:40 – In the Pocket featuring Nebraska Jr. 
7 – 7:40 – Scallywags 
8 – 8:40 – Cobras
9 – 9:40 – The NitroBats
10 – 10:40 – Fall Break
11 – 11:40 – Emily Bass and the Near Miracle
12 – 12:40 – Mad Dog and the 20/20s
1 -1:40 – Black Ophanim

DUFFY’S TAVERN (21+)
6:40 – 7:20 – Powerful Science 
7:40 – 8:20 – Aage Birch
8:40 – 9:20 – Ghostlike
9:40 – 10:20 – Head of Femur
10:40 – 11:20 – The Obscurants
11:40 – 12:20 – The Machete Archive
12:40 – 1:20 – Wicked Bones

BOURBON THEATRE (ALL AGES)
6:20 – 7 – Orion Walsh & the Rambling Hearts
7:20 – 8 – The JV Allstars
8:20 – 9 – Vera Devorah 
9:20 – 10 – Estrogen Projection 
10:20 – 11 – Verse and the Vices 
11:20 – 12 – Dark Oceanz Live

1867 BAR (21+)
5:40 – 6:20 – Floating Opera
6:40 – 7:20 – ((ECHO))
7:40 – 8:20 – The Credentials 
8:40 – 9:20 – Letters From Friends
9:40 – 10:20 – Cuddlebone 
10:40 – 11:20 – Parking Lot Party
11:40 – 12:20 – Dudes Gone Rude
12:40 – 1:20 – Wick O’ Rya

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i