Well, I drove by O’Leaver’s last night at around 10:30 and could tell that the place was packed, and quite honestly just didn’t have it in me to suffer through another crush scene. The reason for the draw was Pinkerton, the Weezer tribute band featuring Stephen Pedersen (Criteria), Clint Schnase (Cursive), Zac Lorenzen (Race for Titles) and Craig Hoffman (Coast of Nebraska). I had heard rumor of this surprise gig earlier in the day, and held off mentioning it in the blog for the exact reason why I ended up not going. Regardless, I found out that the word got out when someone told me that people were heading to O’Leaver’s at around 9 to “beat the crowd.” Pedersen told me that Pinkerton’s one-night-only engagement was in honor of Clint’s birthday. If anyone was there, please post a review on the webboard. Something tells me it was one of those “should-have-been-there” performances.

Instead, I went down to Sokol Underground to see Shelterbelt and The Golden Age along with about 100 others. A quarter of the crowd could have been related to Shelterbelt — an 8-piece ensemble that includes everything from an oboe to a violin to brass. I still say lead singer Jesse Otto sounds like Kenny Loggins, looking dapper in a brown suit as he led the band through a set of up-tempo pop tunes.

I’m not sure what happened to The Golden Age since I saw them a couple years ago. It’s obvious that they can write good songs and that the band (especially the guitarist and drummer) have it going on. Unfortunately, I could barely hear the lead singer, and when I did, he mostly mumbled through the songs, a few times forgetting the words. The promoter tells me that the band broke some sort of unofficial record prior to their set by downing 48 beers, which equates to little over nine per player. If nothing else, that alone was impressive.

Tonight, The Monroes and FortyTwenty at Sokol Underground. And I promised the promoter (Someday Never) to mention that The Ex-Models are playing at Knickerbockers in Lincoln. The New York post-punk band that released an album in 2003 on French Kiss played last year in Omaha at Orifice, The Faint’s practice space. I wasn’t there, and I’ve never heard them before, but Joe tells me they’re good, so I have to believe it. Check ’em out if you’re in Lincoln.

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