The Astro announces initial slate of shows; Cursive, Neva Dinova tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 9:16 am May 16, 2023
Cursive at Sokol Underground, June 3, 2000, playing Domestica. The band will be playing Domestica again tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Astro Amphitheater in La Vista is still being constructed but that isn’t stopping it from announcing the first slate of shows for its new live performance complex located at 8302 City Center Drive in beautiful La Vista. 

The facility’s details you already know: 2,400-capacity 52,000-square-foot indoor theater (The Astro) attached to an outdoor grass amphitheater that can host 5,500 attendees (The Astro Amphitheater). Mammoth, Inc., out of Kansas City and 1% Productions manage the facility’s bookings. If you follow them on the socials or their new website, you’ve already heard who will be among the first bands playing at the Astro:

  • Aug. 30 — Rick Springfield, The Hooters, Paul Young and Tommy Tutone, outdoors
  • Sept. 16 — Beth Hart, inside
  • Sept. 21 — Ancient Aliens Live, inside
  • Sept. 23 — Goo Goo Dolls and Fitz & the Tantrums, outdoors
  • Sept. 24 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, inside
  • Sept. 30 — The Gaslight Anthem, inside
  • Oct. 5 — Dropkick Murphys, The Interrupters and Jesse Ahern, outdoors

Carmen Stalker from Mammoth said the Astro will “have a wide range of musical genres, including rock, alt rock, country, bluegrass, and more.” I’m trying to line up an interview with whomever will be the facility’s primary booker for a story similar to what I wrote about Steelhouse, here

Like Steelhouse, it may be too early to say what kind of bands The Astro will book, though if this initial lineup is any indication, I have a feeling they might be after the same sort of bands that Stir Cove traditionally has booked. Stir is handled by Live Nation, and the last show I attended there was Beck way back in September 2017. Time will tell. 

By the way, Astro has yet to announce its “grand opening” festivities. You’d think, like Steelhouse, who sort of seems to be among their chief competition, they’ll want to start off with a bang, like their sold out Killers show. Hold onto your hats.

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Tim Kasher of Cursive performing at Sokol Underground June 3, 2000.

Speaking of sold out shows, tonight at The Waiting Room its Cursive performing Domestica in its entirety. Hard to believe that album came out 23 years ago. If the show follows the same set list the band played last weekend in Dallas and Austin, expect the performance to be broken into four parts, with an initial set of three songs, followed by Domestica, then a set of five songs followed by an encore. That’s a long-ass show.

Opening is Neva Dinova, which appears to consist of members of Cursive joining Jake Bellows, but this being Omaha, anything could happen. This one’s been sold out for a long time – even your poor, lowly scribe didn’t manage to get a ticket. If you’re going, the fun starts at 8 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Rating the classics (Bright Eyes, Cursive); Damien Jurado, Chris Pureka tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 7:35 am April 26, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First off, I thought The Hard Times only published Onion-like parody articles about the indie and punk lifestyle. Then last week these two article showed up, both well written, though their content (and opinions) were a bit sketchy. 

The first was “Every Bright Eyes Album Ranked.” At the bottom is A Collection of Songs Written… the collection of very early Bright Eyes tracks, many written and recorded when Conor was in middle school (or younger), and they sound that way. I can’t quibble with this opinion. The collection was for completists only.

At the top of the list: 2000’s Fevers and Mirrors. Says writer Corey Montgomery, “If anyone ever tells you this album isn’t the best one, politely tell them to eat shit and die. Just be sure to turn around before they see the single tear running down your cheek.” So yeah, maybe this article was a joke after all, though Corey certainly has listened to these records before. 

Of course his ranking is wrong, imho. He has Lifted… listed in the six hole, saying it “feels overcooked and desperate to please.” In fact, along with I’m Wide Away It’s Morning, ranked No. 2, will stand as Bright Eyes’ magnum opus(es).

A few days later, Mr. Montgomery ranked “every Cursive album” and while he got No. 9 correct (2012’s I Am Gemini is, uh, a difficult listen), he ranked 2007’s Happy Hollow No. 1, and with a straight face said “Not enough can be said about this record’s accidental timelessness.” While I can get behind this pick — Happy Hollow is a great record — everyone knows The Ugly Organ is the top classic, followed closely by Domestica, which most others would place in the first spot. 

If you’ve never heard Domestica performed live, btw, you’ll get a chance May 16 at The Waiting Room — that is if you have a ticket. The show sold out a long time ago. 

The Hard Times can be pretty freakin’ funny (Check out “Uh Oh! I Butt Dialed Conor Oberst and Now It’s the First Track on His New Album”), but I kind of dig this content, too. There’s room for both, Hard Times! Now where’s your ranking for 3very album by The Faint?

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One of my all time favorite albums is Damien Jurado’s 1999 album Rehearsals for Departure. I think I lucked into it via a random CD promo mailing sent by his label back in the day and for the longest time, the song “Ohio” made it onto my mix tapes. 

Jurado’s latest album, Sometimes You Hurt the Ones You Hate, is pretty good, too. I’m sure you’ll hear songs off this one as well as “Ohio” (which is typically his set-opener) tonight when he plays at Reverb. Opening is Portland singer/songwriter Chris Pureka. $20, 8 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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The Killers are Steelhouse Omaha’s grand opening act; Astro books Goo Goos; Cursive’s Domestica w/Neva Dinova May 16…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 4:02 pm February 19, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Feb. 13, 2023 – After weeks of speculation, Omaha Performing Arts this morning announced that The Killers will have the honor of playing Steehouse Omaha’s inaugural show May 12. It’s quite a catch for the 3,000-capacity standing-only venue. 

While it’s still too early to predict who they’ll book in the future, The Killers provides some pretty solid clues as the type of acts OPA thinks it needs to “bring young people downtown.” While still a big draw, The Killers were arguably at the height of their powers in the early- to mid-2000s, nearly 20 years ago. The band definitely hits a sweet spot for older music goers. It’ll be interesting to see how well the show sells with those under 30 (or under 20).

If you extrapolate The Killers across a music horizon, “similar” alt-rock bands that could fit in this category would include Franz Ferdinand, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Libertines, Razorlight, The Bravery, Keane – all acts along with The Killers that are not my cup of tea (as the late, great Dave Sink used to say). I have no doubt Live Nation, who is booking Steelhouse, will also announce, shall we say, “more contemporary” acts in the future. 

The primary question from fans of modern indie music: Is Steelhouse/Live Nation willing to book acts that draw in the 300 (or less) range along with big draws like those mentioned above? Is there a way to comfortably host up-and-coming acts that draw smaller audiences without Steelhouse feeling like an empty blimp hangar? If not, I suspect we’ll be seeing a long list of “alt rock” bands booked at the venue. Time will tell….

I’ll be happy if they can book six quality indie shows a year that I’d buy tickets for. Anything more would be gravy. 

A couple other noteworthy shows announced today: Goo Goo Dolls and Fitz and the Tantrums have been announced to play Sept. 23 at The Astro Theater / amphitheater / venue being constructed at 8302 City Centre Drive in La Vista. Mammoth Inc. out of KC will book this new venue, which has been in the works for years. Based on this show, something tells me their booking will be in line with what Stir Cove has historically booked in the past. 

And our old friends Cursive will be performing their seminal album, Domestica, May 16 at The Waiting Room with none other than Neva Dinova opening the show. Tix on sale tomorrow! 

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Cursive celebrates Domestica; new Kyle Harvey, Illuminati Hotties, the Joy Formidable tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 6:36 am November 2, 2022
Illuminati Hotties play tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Cursive’s Domestica was reissued by the band’s label, 15 Passenger Records, earlier this year; now the band is hitting the road playing the album in its entirety. The record turned 20 in 2020, so better late than never, right? 

Unfortunately, so far this is a NOmaha tour, as Omaha is not among the 20 cities the band will be visiting throughout December. But waitaminit… the tour doesn’t list anything after Dec. 21 and we all know what the X-mas holiday could bring us… Come on, Santa, we want to hear the “The Casualty” played on an Omaha stage…

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Those who came to last month’s Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies gig at Benson Theater were treated to a couple great covers of songs by Omaha ex-pat Kyle Harvey. 

Kyle is now living somewhere up in the Colorado Rockies. He’s a mountain man; a wandering poet, as good with a long-iron rifle as he is with a Bowie knife. But it turns out, Kyle is also good at creating electronic ambient music. 

In fact, Kyle has released two albums of lush soundscapes — Distances and Disjecta Membra. Both are available on Bandcamp. 

About Disjecta Membra: “Scattered fragments recorded to 4-track cassette in my garage during the COVID lockdown of 2020. We had moved into a new house and everything felt completely strange. I didn’t have any sort of DAW for recording digitally at the time, so I set up my Tascam 4-track in the garage and made dozens of recordings. This EP, Disjecta membra, is a peek into that time.

Check out the links below and consider buying a copy (BTW, Bandcamp Friday is just the day after tomorrow). And if you’re missing Kyle’s lyrics, check out his recently published book of poetry, Cosmographies (2022, Cuneiform Press). 

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Two hot shows going on tonight…

Top of my list is the smaller of the two — Illuminati Hotties at Reverb Lounge. The LA indie band is on the road touring their 2021 album Let Me Do One More (Hopeless Records), which garnered a solid 8.0 rating from Pitchfork. Reminds me of ‘90s girl-powered indie rock. Fun! Also on the bill are Tacoma indie band Enumclaw and LA band Guppy. $20, 8 p.m. Don’t sleep on this one – sometime tells me it could sell out…

Also tonight, North Welsh alt band The Joy Formidable headlines at The Waiting Room. You might remember them from the 2016 Maha Music Festival (and they’ve been through town a few times since). LA post-punk band Cuffed Up opens at 8 p.m. Surprisingly, this show also is $20. 

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Fear of COVID got the best of me; truth or consequences (in the column)…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 1:47 pm February 7, 2022

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Based on the analytics, the most-read new content on Lazy-i is live reviews (while vintage interviews from the last decade probably attracts the most readers). Live reviews give people a glimpse of what happened during a night at a club — if they were there, too, they can compare mental notes; if they weren’t there, they can catch up on what they missed. It also gives a band’s followers or those just getting familiar with a band a sort of score card. If written with enough detail, live reviews can have a gossipy feel to them — fun!

Live reviews also are the easiest content to write. All I have to do is sit down and recall the evening, glancing at whatever notes I jotted down on my iPhone or pictures taken from the floor. So it pains me to no end that I missed Friday night’s sold-out Cursive show at The Waiting Room. Joel from 1% was kind enough to place me on the list and I was all set to go.

But at around 8 p.m. I began to get cold feet. A number of people from my office have their entire families down with COVID. About half the people I know have had it, and the numbers — though finally on the decline — are still in the hazardous range, with hospitalizations at an all-time high. I sat on my couch Friday night with my uncomfortable N95 mask on and asked myself if I wanted to be in a sold-out room wearing this for three hours, struggling to drink a beer, likely packed up front of a huge crowd or standing all the way back by the bar, and it just didn’t add up.

This was the first time since COVID began that I skipped a concert I had planned to attend, and it was a bummer, but with everything going on, I can’t afford to get COVID and don’t want to.

So, thanks to Joel for the list and apologies for not going. The numbers are improving every day and there will be more shows, including more Cursive shows, to attend. But dang, I really miss seeing Vitreous Humor. That opportunity will likely never happen again in Omaha…

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Speaking of COVID, my column in this month’s issue of The Reader is focused on COVID conspiracies and other lies that are ruining our lives. Read it here.

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Speaking of shows and COVID, tonight’s Black Angels show at The Slowdown has been postponed.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Cursive, Vitreous Humor, Eric in Outerspace tonight at The Waiting Room (SOLD OUT); BFF; Bandcamp Friday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 8:11 am February 4, 2022
Cursive at The Waiting Room, Dec. 19, 2013. The band returns to The Waiting Room tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There’s no argument about it, tonight’s Cursive show at The Waiting Room is the biggest indie show to happen since last summer’s Maha Festival. It’s also the only indie show going on this weekend.

And it’s a loaded show. Eric in Outerspace kicks things off at 8 p.m. By themselves I’d be recommending this show. But in the center slot is legendary Lawrence, Kansas, band Vitreous Humor (who I wrote about here – catch up!). Fans of ‘90s post punk take note; this is a once-and-done sort of performance.

Finally, Cursive takes the stage (probably at 10). The band has been on tour with Thursday, Jeremy Enigk and The Appleseed Cast, slated to play Denver tomorrow, so Tim Kasher and Co. edged this show in before the next leg. With no new music (their last release was 2019’s Get Fixed) expect a night of greatest hits, kicked off with “The Martyr,” if their show Tuesday night at Gabe’s in Iowa City is any indication (Here’s that setlist via setlist.fm).

OK, so the show is $20 and as of this writing is not sold out and I have yet to see any “low ticket warnings” from One Percent Productions. Doesn’t mean it won’t sell out before you get there, so you might want to eat the additional $5.69 fees and get your ticket online. This just SOLD OUT.

Nothing on the 1% site or the Facebook event page indicates that this is a No Vax No Entry show, however, Douglas County continues to be under a mask mandate, so mask up. If I go, I’ll be the guy in the blue N95 and the parka skulking near the stage trying to get a photo.

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Since you’ll be in Benson anyway tonight, you might as well take advantage of Benson First Friday, wherein shops and restaurants along Maple Street will be displaying local art. Here’s the rundown.

As part of BFF, The Sydney is hosting a show with Nowhere and Teeth. 10 p.m., no price listed, but probably $10.

Also tonight, Slowdown Jr. has Infinite Video, Topher Booth and Ebba Rose. $10, 8 p.m.

And lest I forget, it’s Bandcamp Friday, which means you can purchase digital downloads of all our favorite indie music today and Bandcamp (and most of the labels) will waive their cut of the proceeds – which means the artists get the whole pie. Look, you’ll need to take advantage of this now that you’ve dropped Spotify because of the Joe Rogan scandal.

As for the rest of the weekend, tomorrow night punk-rock cover band The Damones is playing at The Waiting Room. $10, 8 p.m.

And that’s it. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Mask up and have a great weekend. Here’s hoping The Covid spike is nearly behind us.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Cursive wows NYC; Live Nation gets Steelhouse bookings; another O’Leaver’s weekend…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 8:29 am January 28, 2022
A group of 18 to 45 year olds presumably milling around the new Steelhouse music venue in 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Not a whole helluva lot going on this weekend, which (again) is OK considering Douglas County’s test-positive rate for COVID-19 is around 40% according to CovidActNow. I’m among the few who still hasn’t gotten it (as far as I know) and I really don’t want to. That said, I’ll be returning to the bars next week for Cursive…

Speaking of which, BrooklynVegan, the East Coast’s indie music website, did a nice review of the Cursive show at Irving Plaza in NYC earlier this week. From the review:

Up next were Cursive, the only band whose lineup was unaffected by COVID, and you could tell that Tim especially was so grateful to be there. He talked about believing in humanity and being thankful for everyone being as responsible as possible during these weird times, and he and the rest of the band just seemed ready to put on one of the best shows of their lives. Cursive always bring it, but Wednesday night’s show felt like one for the record books. Tim was as animated and expressive as ever, the band’s string and horn-fueled post-hardcore was as weird and manic and intense as ever, and they were locked in from start to finish, teasing fan faves like ‘A Gentleman Caller’ and ‘Big Bang’ throughout the set before finally playing them near the end, and touching on a great variety of highlights from all throughout their career. In a month where people can’t stop talking about “emo nostalgia,” Cursive reminded everyone that they’re lifers.”

They are indeed. Mr. Kasher reportedly joined a COVID-crippled Appleseed Cast on drums for their last song that night. So talented. You’ll get a chance to see for yourself how talented Cursive is next Friday when they play at The Waiting Room with Lawrence legends Vitreous Humor and our very own Eric in Outerspace. I’ll be the one wearing the N95 mask.

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In other news, Omaha Performing Arts announced the worst kept secret ever yesterday morning that Live Nation will be the exclusive promoter at their new Steelhouse Omaha, the $104 million, 3,000-capacity live music venue slated to open in mid-2023 downtown by the Holland Center. Live Nation books radio-friendly pop and alt-rock acts as well as C&W, just a whole variety of musical styles except indie, which is what I happen to cover (though they do count Lucy Dacus among their fold).

The Steelhouse folks don’t mince words — their target age demo is 18-45, which is outside my range. I’m not sure why they’d publish that, considering Live Nation books plenty of acts that appeal to the 45+ age group, like Sammy Hagar and Reba McEntire. I still hold out hope that they’ll book at least a couple indie bands per year that are too big for our usual haunts.

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So, this weekend…

Top of the list has to be Light Speed Highway at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night. I don’t know anything about this band, but based on this track (below) they’re an alt-rock band that borders on anthem-flavored power punk, which is a sound that would be right at home at The Club. This free show starts at 8 p.m. and includes “guests” which I assume means an opening act.

Other than that, Kris Lager Band is playing at Reverb Lounge Saturday night 8 p.m., $12.

The Slowdown is doing a screening of The Smile – Live Broadcast (which I thought was last week). This is Thom Yorke’s new band with Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. 7 p.m. $20.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. If you go out, mask-up. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Cursive postpones first weeks of tour, Diet Cig cancels Feb. show; new Anna Schulte…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 1:51 pm January 5, 2022
Diet Cig at The Slowdown, May 3, 2016. The band CANCELLED a February 2 gig at Reverb.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here we go again… though I don’t think it’s the same thing as 2020.

Bands are beginning to cancel gigs and tours as Omicron rapidly spreads through the world. Don’t matter if you’re vaxxed or boosted, you could still come down with this new strain of Covid-19, though being vaxxed/boosted seems to prevent serious cases.

Monday Cursive announced that it’s postponing the first few weeks of its January tour, and will now begin in Detroit Jan. 18. The decision is backed by co-touring act Thursday, who wrote on Facebook, “The reality is that these days decisions made concerning touring are not totally in our hands. Recommendations from our crew and the other artists on the bill (never-mind our families) have become a bigger part of the conversation as we try our best to navigate these current circumstances.”

They say they’re “trying their damndest to integrate the reschedules ASAP.” The cancellation doesn’t impact the Feb. 4 Cursive/Vitreous Humor/Criteria show at The Waiting Room.

Along those same lines, One Percent Productions announced that Diet Cig has cancelled a show for Feb. 2 at Reverb Lounge.

Genuinely so sad to announce that our winter tour dates are canceled due to covid never-endingly raging through our communities,” Diet Cig wrote on Facebook. “We’re not rescheduling these dates. To be honest, we’re so burnt out from the constant reschedule-cancel-reschedule-cancel cycle and are accepting this as a chance to take a breather, keep focusing on our new music, and prepare to put on the best show possible once it’s safe.

If you read my 2022 predictions, you know that I think this latest wave of Covid will quickly blow over and that we’re seeing the last of the worst of the pandemic. But I’m no scientist (just a soothsayer). I continue to hear stories from lunatics who believe the Covid vaccine is a government-run micro-chipping operation. Until those nuts get sick, dead or vaxxed, we’re going to be stuck with some form of Covid…

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On a more positive note…

See Through Dresses drummer Nate Van Fleet is also a producer. He just finished working on a new EP by Anna Schulte, titled Dream Car. Schulte is an Omaha native now living in France and New Orleans who you might remember from the Omaha band Pretty Healthy. Nate said she flew into town late last spring and recorded at Divine Hammer, a North Omaha recording studio that was run by him and Matt and Sara from STD. Check out the EP on Spotify:

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Lazy-i Best of 2021 Compilation

Hey, my copies of the Lazy-i Best of 2021 Comp CD should finally arrive tomorrow. That means you still have time to enter the drawing for a copy of your own.

The collection includes my favorite indie tunes I’ve come across throughout last year as part of my tireless work as a music critic for Lazy-i, including songs by Low, Brad Hoshaw, Azure Ray, Sufjan Stevens, Wet Leg, Parquet Courts, Courtney Barnett, Hand Habits, Indigo De Souza, Flyte and lots more.  The full track listing is here.

To enter, send me an email with your mailing address to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. Hurry, contest deadline is Monday, Jan. 10, at midnight.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Lawrence legends Vitreous Humor to open Feb. 4 Cursive/Criteria show…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 1:57 pm December 14, 2021
Lawrence band Vitreous Humor circa the mid-’90s. The band has reformed and will play with Cursive at The Waiting Room Feb. 4.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Fell into a rabbit hole of my own making last night as I researched (via this website) Vitreous Humor, a Lawrence band from the early half of the ’90s who I really dug, but never came to Omaha. Well, that’s about to change.

Vitreous Humor has been added as an opener for the Feb. 4 Cursive concert at The Waiting Room that also features Criteria. Is this the same Vitreous Humor who sang “Why Are you So Mean to Me”? Yes, says Matt Maginn of Cursive.

We are thrilled and shocked they can do it!!!!  Blew our minds.

I could go into the background, but it would be just as easy to reprint my Dec. 6, 2006, interview, wherein I interviewed Danny Pound, frontman of Vitreous Humor. Pound was headed to Omaha back then for a gig with his solo band at the old Saddle Creek Bar, which gave me a chance to ask him about Vitreous Humor. The story follows.

By the way, Vitreous Humor rereleased their 1996 LP Posthumous this past May. Here’s an interview with the band on Bandcamp that accompanied the release. And here’s my favorite Vitreous Humor track. Better get your tickets while you can…

Now let’s go back in time…

Less Humor Per Pound
Danny Pound’s brief glance at Vitreous Humor.

You can’t blame Danny Pound for not being eager to talk about his old band, Vitreous Humor.

After all, they haven’t been around for over a decade, and his new band, aptly called The Danny Pound Band, sounds nothing like them. Still, there’s more than a few followers of Omaha’s mid-’90s punk-rock golden age that remembers Vitreous Humor and their grungy, post-punk sound heard on the classic 1993 7-inch, Harbor. The three-song single featured a teen-aged Pound warbling the words to “Bu-Dah,” the single’s catchy B-side that went “In the shithole where we live / Something’s living in the cellar / Keeps us all awake at night / Smells like cooking blood.” Remember it now? Probably not. Still, the song managed to make it onto a lot of mix tapes from that era.

Pound appreciates the memory, but said few people recall his former band around his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. “Some younger kids look up to Vitreous Humor as one of the old-timey, classic Lawrence rock bands,” he said, “but no one ever comes up and asks about it.”

The story of Vitreous Humor is a rather short one. The Harbor single was followed two years later by a 7-song self-titled EP. Posthumous, a collection of unreleased tracks, outtakes and live cuts, was released on Crank! Records in ’98, well after the band already had called it quits and moved onto Pound’s next project, The Regrets.

A decade later and Pound has left Vitreous Humor’s jangle-grunge behind in favor of a more grown-up, sophisticated sound born out of his fondness for mid-20th century folk and blues.

“After The Regrets broke up, I discovered Harry Smith’s Smithsonian Folkways recordings, began listening a lot of blues and pulled out The Basement Tapes,” Pound said.

The result was The Danny Pound Band’s 2005 debut on Lawrence label Remedy Records, Surer Days, a collection of tuneful alt-country rockers that sounded like a cross between Centro-Matic and The Silos.

But even that style was short-lived. Since its release, Pound and his band — bassist Jeremy Sidener (ex-Zoom — another classic ’90s Lawrence band), guitarist David Swenson, and drummer Ken Pingleton (who replaced former drummer Dan Benson, who also was in Vitreous Humor) — have moved in a whole different direction, creating music that recalls ’70s-era So Cal groove rock. The band’s as-yet-unnamed follow-up to Surer Days was recorded at Black Lodge Studios in Eudora, Kansas, and is slated for release on Remedy Records sometime in the near future.

“You couldn’t call our new record rootsy. It’s more of an electric rock record,” Pound said. “I get bored quickly. I’m always trying to find new things to do.”

As for Vitreous Humor, Pound said he doesn’t understand why the memory of that band continues to live on in places like Omaha and Milwaukee — another city with more than its share of that band’s fans. “It must be a Midwest thing,” he said. “We never toured very much. I don’t think we even played in Omaha as Vitreous Humor.”

While he acknowledges that the band could have influenced someone, Pound is hardly proud of those early recordings. “I’m not offended by that era, but it doesn’t give me great pleasure to listen to that music,” he said before immediately correcting himself. “I take that back. Some of it was interesting, if a bit too earnest. I know there are those who liked it, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

First published in The Reader, Dec. 6, 2006. Copyright © 2006 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Grapefruit Records to open in Old Market; Saddle Creek signs Indigo De Souza; new Cursive interview…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 3:20 pm April 23, 2021

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated the ol’ blog. In fact, I just wrote a column that’ll be published in the May issue of The Reader saying that it’s been a long time since I updated the ol’ blog, but that I haven’t given up — there just hasn’t been anything to write about music-wise (which is basically the lede to the column).

As I continue to point out, ain’t been a whole helluva lot of rock shows to write about, but there has been some news.

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I just discovered via his Instagram page that Omaha singer/songwriter Simon Joyner is about to open a new record store in the Old Market that will also act as the world headquarters of his Grapefruit Records label. The new shop is located at 1125 Jackson St., Suite 5, which appears to be the old Antiques Annex space on 12th street.

Joyner says the store will open either May 1 or May 7, depending on how preparations go, and will feature new and used records. The shop marks the 3rd record store in the Old Market, joining Homer’s and Vinyl Cup. Hey, just like ol’ times…

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The other hometown record label, Saddle Creek Records, has been on a roll lately.

Their most recent release from just-signed act Spirit of the Beehive, ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, was bestowed with the “Best New Music” honor from Pitchfork, who gave the album a massive 8.3 rating. If you haven’t heard the album yet, grab some headphones and some LSD and enjoy. It’s a… challenging listen, but people love it.

On a more pop-flavored level, Saddle Creek this week announced that it signed Asheville, NC, singer/songwriter Indigo De Souza and is rereleasing her 2018 debut album, I Love My Mom, April 23. De Souza’s sound is more in line with the indie sound you’d hear on something like Sirius XMU — poppy, fun, accessible.

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A week or so ago out of the blue music blog Vinyl Writer Music posted an interview with Cursive’s Matt Maginn.

Matt covers the usual history/influences/Ugly Organ topics before he gets to what’s next for Cursive. He said he’s spent his off time repairing “a couple of bars/pubs in our beloved hometown….” and then goes on to say “Musically, it’s a bit more depressing. We have thrown around lots of long-distance ideas, but we have really not had the time to focus on them….

…I think we will start writing again as soon as it is safe and ideally get back on the road as soon as possible too. We are playing the Psycho Festival in Las Vegas, which we are really looking forward to at the moment. It will give us a chance to feel a little normal again and remember we are a band.

We had to cancel a lot of good shows when the pandemic struck, so we are itching to get out there and play. It sounds like a dream right now to actually return to a life that involves writing, rehearsing, and playing live. It’s funny how one year can really change how you feel about your existence and purpose in the world.

Read the entire interview here.

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That’s all for now. I’m hearing various and sundry things about upcoming music events. Things are happening. We’re almost there. Get vaccinated and we’ll get there sooner.

Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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