by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First time back to The Waiting Room since the Before Times and not much has changed. I had no idea Soccer Mommy was as popular as she apparently is, based on the size of the crowd Saturday night, which looked like a sell-out. TWR doesn’t appear to be metering crowd size due to COVID-19, and they’re not obligated to.

And while we were all warned they would be checking COVID-19 vax status, no one checked mine on the way in. That said, everyone in the crowd was wearing a mask except when they were drinking, at the request of the artist. It seemed oddly comforting to be masked in the middle of the crush-sized crowd.

We dropped in while Alexalone was in the middle of his set. He — Alex Peterson — was anything but alone surrounded by a sizable band who navigated through his murky, plodding shoegaze rock that at times sort of reminded me of Bedhead, especially in his dry vocals. The contrast between the quiet numbers and when he punched it up with his band was severe in a good way. An interesting choice for an opener.

Soccer Mommy falls into the club of women singer/songwriters who are tearing up indie these days, falling nicely somewhere between Phoebe Bridgers and Snail Mail, though front woman Sophie Allison has more in common with Liz Phair than either of those two, balancing a sound that hints at Phair’s early sonic choices. Songs like “Royal Screw Up,” and “Circle the Drain” from her latest album recall Exile in all their alienated glory.

The band sounded great; almost too much so as Allison was consistently buried in the mix, but maybe that was the plan or maybe I just lost track as the band played one mid-temp song after another after another…

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On Mondays I’m going to try to take a look at what’s coming up the rest of the week, just to set a course, so to speak. We’re finally getting to a point post-COVID where shows are again being booked during the week, at least at the 1% and Slowdown venues.

For example, that rescheduled Post Animal show is tonight at Slowdown Jr. This is the band with the Stranger Things connection I wrote about here. Garst opens. $20, 8 p.m.

This Thursday Big Thief member Buck Meek headlines at The Waiting Room with Kidi Band. $12, 8 p.m. Surprised to see this booked at TWR, but they’ve already got Dustin Bushon a.k.a. FXTHR booked at Reverb on Thursday night, preforming as Historical Romance. That one’s $10, 8 p.m.

And then it’s the weekend, but I’ll get to that later…

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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.

A portion of my Harlan Ellison library… and my 45s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First, a non-music note: Harlan Ellison passed away yesterday. The best requiem I could give him beyond the photo of my personal Ellison collection at the top of this entry is the following, written for The Reader back in 2013:

Known primarily as the guy who wrote the best episode of Star Trek (“City on the Edge of Forever”) and for penning the material that became the 1976 Don Johnson bomb A Boy and His Dog, I’d read Ellison’s short stories for years before picking up his collection of essays and criticism called Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed in 1984. That was followed a year later by An Edge in My Voice (in fact, this column’s title is a play on that book’s title). It is impossible to read Ellison’s essays and not absorb his rhythm, syntax and style. His is a voice of measured anger bordered by reason, sarcasm, intelligence and wit. I spent a good chunk of my college years emulating Ellison’s writing style before figuring out one of my own.

A day does not go by where I don’t think about Ellison and his writing.

Onward (but with a heavy heart)…

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Tonight’s the annual Memorial Park concert/fireworks display featuring Mickey Thomas’ Starship and Boston/Styx cover band Bostyx. I can’t imagine a worse combination, but the folks going to the concert aren’t there for the music, they’re there for the fireworks.

I assume organizers are aware no one cares about the music and thus book the most benign acts for this show. If they’re going to get 50,000 people in the park regardless of the entertainment, they should consider other options, but I’m sure I’m not the first person to suggest that.

Needless to say, I’ll once again be stationed on my front porch with my trusty over-and-under cradled on my lap telling the passing mob to “Get off my lawn!”

Now for the real music news…

Why haven’t they cleared out the tents from CWS? Because they’ve got a home run derby at the park Saturday night. They shouldn’t get in the way of tonight’s show at Slowdown Jr., where Chicago psych-rock band Post Animal (Polyvinyl Records) headlines. Minneapolis “dream-punk” act Slow Pulp opens. $12, 9 p.m

Tonight Hussies headline at The Brothers Lounge. KC band Red Kate also is on the bill along with Tiananmen Squares. $5, 9 p.m.

Sean Pratt and the Sweats return to fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night. They’re bringing with them Brooklyn’s Becca Ryskalczyk (of Bethlehem Steel). Dave Nance opens the evening at 10 p.m. $5.

Dirt House celebrates the release of its debut EP Come Over at Slowdown Jr. Saturday night. Opening is Kait Berreckman and The Jim Schroeder Quintet (Schroeder plays guitar with Dave Nance, among others). $8 adv/$10 DOS, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Centerpiece, a band I just heard about yesterday, is celebrating the release if its debut EP Simple at Reverb Lounge Saturday night. North by North and I Forgot to Love My Father open. $7 adv/$10 DOS. 9 p.m.

Sunday night there’s a 5-band indie-punk show at Reverb headlined by Big Bite. Also on the bill is Supercrush, BiB, Death Cow and Ginger Ale. $8, 9 p.m.

Finally, The Waiting Room is hosting its annual Canada Day showcase — 10 bands playing Canadian covers including Mike Saklar, Korey Anderson and The Electroliners. This is a benefit for the Siena / Francis House with food available and everything. $8, 8 p.m. More info here.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. 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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.