St. Paddy’s Day regrets, an evening with Kyle, Schlissel’s Grammy; Rademacher tonight…

Category: Blog — @ 6:49 pm March 20, 2007

St. Patrick’s Day was a bust. That’s the last time we go to The Dubliner on March 17. Oh, I love The Dubliner and its cavernous confines and indefinable stink. It really is the right place to be on St. Patrick’s Day. But the band that’s played there the last couple years is intolerable. It’s one thing to listen to badly performed Irish music and quite another to hear American music badly performed by a so-called Irish band. The last thing I want to hear on St. Patrick’s day is John Denver and God Bless America, but I got both on Saturday afternoon – just like last year. I’ve learned my lesson. Next year it’s off to the big, ugly, sanitized white tent outside The Raisin Head for The Turfman, unless a miracle occurs and The Turfman head back downtown.

So by 5:30 I’d had enough and went home for a much-needed nap, leaving me refreshed for late-evening cocktails at The Waiting Room, where I caught sets by Sleep Said the Monster and Kyle Harvey. SStM played nice, mid-tempo indie rock that bordered on radio pop. What they lacked in memorable melodies they mostly made up for in musicianship. Kyle Harvey poured out another in a series of emotional acoustic sets, this time accompanied by the recently returned Reagan Roeder, who just moved back to Omaha from Wichita. Roeder played some sort of mini-Moog-type keyboard that made lonely sounds to match Kyle’s lonely music. The effect was pleasantly haunting, and while I like Kyle’s style, he could mix it up a little. I like a mournful ballad as much as the next guy, but after three in a row I’m ready for any slight variation.

A follow-up to this column on Dan Schlissel’s Grammy Award: Dan e-mailed yesterday to say he is, in fact, receiving a statuette in honor of his contribution to Lewis Black’s Grammy-winning record. Asked what he’ll do with it, Schlissel replied, “What do folks do with trophies? I don’t know as I’ve never gotten one before. Put it under glass on my mantle and look at it a lot, I guess.” Wonder how much it weighs…

Fresno’s Rademacher takes the stage tonight at The Saddle Creek Bar. The band plays gorgeous indie pop reminiscent of laid-back Pavement or early Malkmus solo stuff. I dig it. Take a listen to their Myspace, and then head on down. $5, 9 p.m.

And I just noticed on Slam Omaha that Cloven Path and Paper Owls are playing tonight at O’Leaver’s with Jodi Hates the World and Slow Car Crash. Probably $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow, Little Brazil.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Briefly…

Category: Blog — @ 6:22 pm March 19, 2007

Two shows tonight: Simon Joyner and Midwest Dilemma are at O’Leaver’s with traveling singer-songwriter Paleo. No idea who is backing Simon on this one — it could be solo acoustic. $5, 9:30 p.m. Meanwhile, down at Sokol Underground, it’s a veritable night of Bright Eyes’ tribute bands with An Angle and Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs. Also on the bill, Zach Heath Band and Brad Hoshaw. $7, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

49 at the ’49’r, Domestica at TWR tonight; The St. Patrick’s Day onslaught…

Category: Blog — @ 1:33 pm March 16, 2007

My favorite holiday without exception is St. Patrick’s Day. It has all the accoutrements for a good time: Good music, good beer and the NCAA tournament. I will be spending my St. Paddy’s Day enjoying a pint or two down at The Dubliner, where I’ve spent it for the past 15 years, even though the better Irish band — The Turfmen — will be out at The Raisin Head. I’m sure there’s a good story that explains why Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley and his crew left the smelly, dank confines of Omaha’s oldest downtown Irish bar for the swank, Village Inn-like setting of The Brazen Head, located in a West Omaha strip mall. I’m sure it probably involves money, too. Without The Turfmen at The Dubliner, my St. Paddy’s Day is a little bit more overcast, but I’ll survive.

Anyway…

I’m usually asleep by 7 o’clock on St. Patrick’s Day after an afternoon of mucky brown ale. And that will be a shame this year because there are a couple good shows going on Saturday night. But before we get to that:

Tonight at The 49’r Stephen Sheehan, former frontman of Digital Sex, The World, Between the Leaves, Bliss Repair and Missionary Position (included here because the name is so naughty) will be celebrating his 49th birthday with a special concert at The 49’r that will include a bevy of local musicians. They include Matt Whipkey, Sarah Benck, Kyle Harvey, Richard Schultz and Mike Fratt, as well as a number of “special guests” who Sheehan will not disclose. Those expecting to hear old Digital Sex songs will be disappointed. Instead, the band — which has been rehearsing all week — will be playing a number of Sheehan’s favorites. The fun begins at 10:30 and costs $3.

Meanwhile, over at The Waiting Room, Irish-style (more like Flogging Molly-style) Lincoln band The Killigans are playing a pre-St. Paddy’s Day set. Ah, but even more interesting is the opening act — Lincoln’s Domestica, featuring Jon Taylor and Heidi Ore of Mercy Rule, who by themselves are worth the $8 admission. That show starts at 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, for those of you who will wait until after 8 to imbibe, Kyle Harvey is playing at The Waiting Room with Sleep Said the Monster and It’s True. $3, 9 p.m., while Blood Brothers, Celebration and Moon Rats are down at Sokol Underground, $12, 8 p.m.

If I missed any notable shows, post them here.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Column 118 is a rerun…

Category: Blog — @ 1:37 pm March 15, 2007

If you read the 3,000 words of weekend coverage of the opening of The Waiting Room you’ve pretty much read this week’s column, which is a summary of those comments. I include it here for consistency’s sake. But go ahead and read it again while I work on my brackets:

Column 118: Perfect Sound Forever
The Waiting Room sets a new standard
It’s overkill. I know it. And I’m sure I’ll be told it by the 13 people who read this column regularly (and I love each and every one of you). Three columns devoted to a new music venue is more than a tad too much. I justify it by saying The Waiting Room is perhaps the most important live music venue since the closing of Tre’s Capitol Bar and Grill or the shuttering of The Cog Factory. Yes, that important. So I feel no guilt providing the following recap of its opening weekend.

The fun began last Friday night. We ate dinner beforehand at The Pizza Shoppe and didn’t get to the club (at 6212 Maple St.) until around 8:30. The venue’s biggest question mark — parking — wasn’t an issue since we left the car in front of the pizza place and hoofed it two blocks to the door. When we left at around midnight — while the crowd was still mulling — there were open parking spots all around us. What parking problem?

Once inside, all the tables and barstools were filled, and yet the room wasn’t packed. It felt comfortable and lived-in, as if the bar had been there for years (which it has).

First on stage was Black Squirrels, who rolled through a tight set of kitschy blue-grass folk. As clean and balanced as they sounded, their light-hearted tunes weren’t a true test of the sound system. That came next with The 4th of July, a Lawrence band that epitomizes the Kansas indie rock sound of the ’90s from bands like The Anniversary and Kill Creek.

A warning to all the shitty bands that want to play here: There’s no place to hide with this PA — your suckiness will glow like neon, not merely fade amidst the bright-white noise of other system’s distortion. The crowd will hear your every mistake, goof up, and off-tone moment, and see every awkward move and gesture from a stage the quality of which you will only find in places like Austin. The height, the curtain, the stainless steel lighting racks — it’s much more impressive than the old Music Box stage.

Art in Manila came on a little after 11. By then, the show was officially a sell-out (capacity 215) with the entire floor filled. Even with those numbers, you could comfortably fit an additional 100 people into the venue if you wanted to break the fire code, which I know owners Marc Leibowitz and Jim Johnson would never do.

Moving around the room, the sight lines were unhampered through every opening. Moving further back, patrons receive a sort of letterbox effect looking at the stage because of a slight overhang that divides the two rooms. Soundwise, there was a noticeable drop-off in the high and low end toward the bar. Understandable, as the sound was being funneled through the opening between the two rooms and was literally absorbed by the crowd. The advantage: People could carry on conversations without having to yell at each other. But if you really wanted to hear the bands in all their glory, you had to go into the stage room. Perfect sound forever.

Saturday night’s all-punk power-trio line-up provided a better test with much, much heavier material. Now Archimedes! and The Stay Awake never sounded better, though I can’t honestly say the same for Bombardment Society. I’ve heard them in wall-of-sound mode down at Sokol Underground, and those sets were unmatched. For Bombardment Society, louder is always better, and it could have been louder. Could the owners be squeamish about really turning it up?

We’d find out at Sunday night’s “secret show” — perhaps the last chance anyone around here had to see The Faint at a club-sized venue, where they’re at their absolute zenith.

The over-riding sound element: The bass, which was chest-crushingly loud, literally shaking the walls. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without earplugs — even with them, my head was ringing when I got home. It was impressive, if not painful.

The Faint’s set was long, well-played, and familiar. And as always, the floor was filled with writhing dancers sweating to the classics from Danse Macabre and Blank Wave Arcade. The Faint could go on forever merely performing their oldies, but they’d never be satisfied doing that. Who would?

Three nights in a row at The Waiting Room was enough. By Monday, I was exhausted. How do Leibowitz and Johnson do it every night? I guess after a decade of One Percent shows, they’re used to it. They better be. They’ve christened the club of their dreams and have a long, successful future ahead of them, along with a lot of long nights. Is it the best live music venue in town? For now, yes. But that distinction will likely shift to Slowdown when it begins live shows in June. The Waiting Room wasn’t originally designed for live music, whereas Slowdown is being built specifically for it, with the finest acoustics and an enormous investment in the highest quality sound equipment available. It should be much better, right? Right?

Still, the one thing The Waiting Room has that Slowdown never will: Every night I left the bar I was sitting in my living room 10 minutes later. Priceless.

It’s not unanimous. I have talked to a couple people who were critical of the venue’s sound, one saying it was too brash, another complained about the bass at The Faint show, not understanding that it was designed to be that loud. More proof that you’ll never satisfy everyone, especially when it comes to something as subjective as a PA. On the other hand, every musician I’ve spoken with that has performed on that stage has raved about it. The next test will be seeing a touring band up there.

Tonight, Day 1 of March Madness. I’ve got Creighton bowing out in the first round (they play tomorrow), Kansas making it to the round of 8 then losing to UCLA, Tennessee as my upset special (going to the final four), and Florida winning it all.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Ladyfinger, Little Brazil tonight; Mission of Burma at O’Leaver’s…

Category: Blog — @ 1:28 pm March 14, 2007

That’s right, Little Brazil’s big CD release show is… well, next Friday night at Sokol Underground. But for some reason the band’s decided to also do a show tonight at The Waiting Room with Ladyfinger. Gee, do you think it’ll impact the draw for next week’s show?

We’re going to be seeing this kind of thing a lot more often with all these new clubs. Bands that may have only played once every couple of months will now have the opportunity to play twice as often (or more) as club owners scurry to find someone to perform on their stages during the week. That’s not necessarily a good thing. I go back to the wisdom of punk-rock legend and St. Stanislaus School principal Gary Dean Davis. When asked over a decade ago why his band, Frontier Trust, didn’t play more often, Davis said, “If you’ve just seen us play, why would you want to see us again so soon? Nothing’s changed. Even I wouldn’t want to see our band again if I just saw them a week ago.”

Some bands, however, play around town on a weekly basis (sometimes twice a week). For them, it’s another way to make some bread while doing what they love. That’s fine, just don’t expect large crowds at your shows. Other artists who want to play more often do what a majority of the Saddle Creek Records musicians do — play in multiple bands. It’s a trend that goes back to the ’90s. Perhaps the most visible example is Kasher’s duo projects (Cursive and The Good Life). Today it’s not uncommon for musicians to be in as many as four different bands at the same time. Just this last weekend, we saw Adrianne Verhoeven perform in The 4th of July, Art in Manila and Flowers Forever. The only one of her bands missing was Coyote Bones. The problem with that situation is that all four of these bands will have opportunities to do national touring, which could make for an interesting juggling act. The only answer is for two of the bands to go on the road together — The 4th of July and Art in Manila, for example, mirroring how the two bands played opening night at The Waiting Room. That’s a long night — and a long tour — for Verhoeven, who hails from Lawrence, not Omaha.

Little Brazil/Ladyfinger starts at 9 p.m. and is $5 (and 21+). Also going on tonight, Mike Tulis’ Rock Movie Night at O’Leaver’s featuring Not a Photograph: The Mission of Burma Story. The 2006 documentary traces the rebirth of the seminal punk band that called it quits back in 1983. According to the O’Leaver’s website, the show starts at 8 and is free. These films normally don’t begin screening until 9:30, so you may want to call ahead to make sure about the time.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Wheels Up for SXSW…

Category: Blog — @ 7:51 pm March 13, 2007

I heard on the news this morning that they’re experiencing flooding in Austin today. Forecast calls for thunderstorms through Thursday, then blue skies for all of you lucky enough to be attending SXSW. Every year The Reader offers me passes to attend the conference, and every year I turn them down due to costs, vacation time from work, etc. Actually, the real reason is that I hate hassles, and SXSW sounds like one enormous clusterfuck of a weekend. Do I really want to deal with running from one venue to the next chasing after the evening’s hot show, hoping that I can get in and once inside, struggling to get a drink? I don’t know, but for some reason, that doesn’t sound like fun. Add to that the fact that most of the bands that I want to see at SXSW have or will eventually make their way to Omaha or Lincoln. There are obviously many, many exceptions, but if they don’t want to come to me, I can live without them.

Nebraska will be well represented again this year, though don’t look to the SXSW site for all the details. Little Brazil will be playing; so will The Terminals and Brimstone Howl, though I can’t find these bands listed anywhere on the SXSW site. Perhaps their performances are “unofficial.”

Official shows include The Show Is the Rainbow March 17 at Redrum, The Faint March 16 at Eternal with Flowers Forever, and Cursive, Art in Manila and Tilly and the Wall March 17 at Beauty Bar as part of the Memphis Industries/Saddle Creek/Team Love showcase. Is the fact that Art in Manila is playing this showcase a foreshadowing that Creek will be handling their new album, Set the Woods on Fire, recorded by The Faint’s Joel Petersen? Time will tell. The real question is why The Faint isn’t included in the Saddle Creek showcase.

So inevitably I’ll ask someone who went to SXSW who they saw, and the response will be something like, “Well, I caught Little Brazil and The Faint on Friday night, then hung out at the Saddle Creek showcase on Saturday night after catching The Show Is the Rainbow that same day.” Why? Why fly a thousand miles, spend god knows how much money on lodging and food just to see the same bands that play here all the time? I asked one guy who did just that last year, and he told me it was interesting to see how well our local bands are received out of town. That’s not a good enough reason.

It’s been written about in hundreds of publications and blogs — SXSW has strayed from its original mission, which was to give unsigned bands a stage to show their wares to all the labels. Every Omaha band that’s taking part this year is already signed to a label, and the ones that should be there that aren’t signed — folks like Matt Whipkey, Sarah Benck, The Stay Awake, The Filter Kings, Artsy Golfer, Shelter Belt, Dance Me Pregnant and on and on, well, they’re stuck back here with us. Something’s wrong with that picture.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Live Review: The Faint, Flowers Forever…

Category: Blog — @ 1:29 pm March 12, 2007

The Waiting Room Day 3: The secret show last night was, of course, The Faint. I don’t know how secret it was, actually, though I didn’t see anyone outside trying to cage a ticket. The logistics behind admittance: You had to be invited or had to buy one of 80 tickets sold by friends of the venue’s owners. So for the first time in recent memory, the crowd at a Faint show wasn’t a mob scene.

It could very well have been the last chance anyone around here will ever have had to see The Faint at a club-sized venue, a setting where they’re at their absolute zenith. The auditorium or arena-sized shows never really do them justice. It’s in the clubs that their music thrives, and last night was no exception.

Opening was Flowers Forever, a new band fronted by singer/guitarist Dereck Pressnall of Tilly and the Wall that includes Adrianne Verhoeven of 4th of July, Art in Manila and Coyote Bones. She’s one busy lady. Pressnall’s songs border on protest ballads, where he accentuates every phrase with an obscenity (maybe they should be called Flowers Fuckin’ Forever). Are they war songs? Songs about personal freedom? I’m not sure, though I know they’re rooted in his personal beliefs. As a result, the music has a ’60s aesthetic that you’d expect from a band named Flowers Forever, though style-wise nothing they play resembles music from that era. Instead I was vaguely reminded of ’70-era NYC punk rock with distinctive folk overtones, as well as aspects of modern-day baroque (a few songs featured trumpet, one, trombone). Artsy, yes, and slightly pretentious, they still managed to pull some rock moments out of their set.

They were followed by The Faint. As is their style, two projector screens were set up on stage to show the usual videos designed to enhance the beat. I said yesterday that this would probably be the ultimate test of the house sound system, and it was – chest-crushing bass (their signature sound these days) literally shook the walls. I was standing on a platform off to the left above the crowd and watched as tiny bits of crud dusted from the ceiling lit by the projector beam. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without ear plugs — even with them, my head was ringing when I got home. It was impressive, if not painful.

What to say about their set? It was long, well-played, and familiar. The dance floor was completely full and Todd only had to prompt the crowd once. “I realize this is friends and family, but you can dance. We can have a party.” He needn’t have suggested it, as everyone on the floor was bobbing throughout the set.

The band played at least three new songs that weren’t much of a stretch from their older material. The last song, a laid-back ballad, sounded like something off Her Space Holiday’s last album. Of course it was the classics off Danse Macabre and Blank Wave Arcade that got the crowd pumping. I don’t know if The Faint will ever write a song as good as “Glass Danse” (or an album as good as Danse Macabre) again, and I’m not sure they need to. Most people who read this blog have been listening to The Faint since Blank Wave came out in ’99 (that’s eight years ago for those of you keeping track). We tend to forget that their music hasn’t been exploited to its fullest potential. Other than college stations and MTV2, it’s never had the national exposure that it deserves, certainly not national FM airplay. The Faint could live off – and grow their fan base – merely by performing Danse and Blank Wave on tour. But they’d never be satisfied doing that. Who would?

Based on the Pitchfork article that came out last week (here) it could be a year until they release a new record. That won’t stop them from touring, though. Last night’s gig was a warm-up for SXSW, where they will likely be one of the hottest tickets at the festival.

Three nights in a row at The Waiting Room is quite enough. I’m tired. I don’t know how Leibowitz and Johnson do it every night. I guess it helps if you can sleep in until 2 in the afternoon. Regardless, they’re probably used to it after running One Percent Shows for the past decade. They better be. They’ve got the club that they’ve always wanted, and they’ve christened it in style with a weekend of amazing shows. Based on everything I’ve seen and heard, they’ve got a long, successful future ahead of them, along with a lot of long, long nights.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Live Review: Punk night at The Waiting Room; invite-only tonight…

Category: Blog — @ 6:34 pm March 11, 2007

The Waiting Room Day 2: Last night’s all-punk power-trio line-up was in stark contrast to the more acoustic, less intense opening night bill and provided a nice test of the venue’s sound system on much, much heavier material. Big surprise: It passed with flying colors. Now Archimedes! and The Stay Awake never sounded better. NA!’s ’90s-influenced grind-house punk never fails to impress and bring back memories of days gone by, though their sound continues to grow beyond that narrow description. Thornton is a grinning monster on stage as he belts out the punk in furious, fuzzy chunks. The Stay Awake, on the other hand, is pure, bitterly sharp shards of punk guitar intricacy driven by Steve Micek’s mad ravings — one moment, a mumbled spoken word, the next, vein-popping screaming at some imaginary girlfriend. As tasty as Robert Little’s bass lines were (absolutely core to their sound), I could have used more of him out the mains. I can’t honestly say that this was the best Bombardment Society has ever sounded. I’ve heard them in wall-of-sound mode down at Sokol Underground, and those sets were unbeatable. Last night’s was impressive, but you may be starting to hear a possible limitation to The Waiting Room’s system. When it comes to Bombardment Society, louder is always better, and it could have been louder last night; it probably would have been louder at the Underground. It’s probably not a limitation of the sound system as much as the venue subconsciously trying to be considerate of the folks in the back of the room. Such considerations never enter anyone’s mind at Sokol Underground. I have a feeling the system’s ability to handle ear-bleeding loudness will be realized at tonight’s invitation-only show, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow morning if I get up early enough.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

Live Review: The Waiting Room, Art in Manila, 4th of July, Black Squirrels; Bombardment Society tonight …

Category: Blog — @ 3:51 pm March 10, 2007

Marc Leibowitz said during our interview that the house PA at The Waiting Room was essentially the same as what’s down at Sokol Underground, only in a room half the size. So you’d naturally think that the sound would be twice as loud (which would be damaging). Ah, but here’s a case where more power doesn’t necessarily mean louder, it means better.

The sound quality of the PA last night was absolutely gorgeous, and never too loud. I only wore earplugs during the 4th of July set, which was definitely mixed both louder and bassier (in fact, too bassy). For Art in Manila, no hearing protection was needed. Yeah, it was plenty loud, but it sure didn’t hurt.

Let’s start from the beginning. We ate dinner beforehand at The Pizza Shoppe and didn’t get to the club until around 8:30. Needless to say, parking wasn’t an issue, since we left the car in front of the Pizza Shoppe and hoofed it two blocks to the venue. When we left at around midnight, there were open spots all around us. I guess parking may not be a problem after all.

When we stepped inside, the place seemed far from capacity, but it was early. Incidentally, the show was 18+. When I talked to Marc and Jim a week earlier, they weren’t sure that they’d be able to do under-21 shows, and asked me not to mention it in the article (after all, they still hadn’t received their liquor license.). The doorman explained that anyone over 21 would get a wrist band, while under-21 patrons would have large X’s smeared on their fists straightedge style (and under-age folks wouldn’t have in-and-out privileges). Problem solved. Now, will they be able to do all-ages shows?

Anyway, everything was in place and a crew was behind the bar serving. I guess the license came through. All the tables and barstools were filled, and yet the room didn’t seem packed. It felt comfortable and lived-in, as if the bar had been there for years. They’d managed to retain the room’s aged ambiance while adding a few modern touches (and a fresh coat of paint).

Consumer note: Bottles of Rolling Rock are $3 — that’s a dollar less than Sokol Underground’s $4, but more expensive than both O’Leaver’s and SCB.

Without a place to sit down, we made our way into what I’m going to call “the stage room” (as opposed to “the main room” where the tables and chairs are) and found cushioned seats along the wall across from stage right. That’s where I stayed for most of the evening. It was the perfect hiding place, out of the bright lights of the main room. (I would suggest that they turn the lights down in the main room during the sets — the harsh light and the low ceiling make it feel like an FOE club compared to the stage room).

First up was Black Squirrels — a trio featuring guitar, keyboards and stand-up bass — no drums. They ramped through a tight set of kitschy blue-grass folk and sounded better than the last two times I saw them (at The Dubliner and O’Leaver’s). Bassist Travis Sing said afterward, ‘We really play well when we can actually hear ourselves on stage.” What? There’s no monitors at O’Leaver’s? As clean and balanced as they sounded, their sing-songy folk wasn’t a real test of the sound system. That would come next with 4th of July, a band that, to me, epitomizes the Kansas indie rock sound that I remember from the old days, back in the ’90s when I drove down to Lawrence every few months to catch bands like The Anniversary and Kill Creek at the Bottleneck. These guys have that same wheatfield college-rock flair that never loses sight of its melodies. The lead singer, however, lost his way a couple times early in the set, which he apologized for later, explaining that they were playing a lot of new material.

Warning to any shitty bands that want to play here: There’s no place to hide with this PA — your suckiness will glow like neon, not merely fade amidst the bright-white noise of other system’s distortion. The crowd will hear your every mistake, every goof up, every off-tone moment.

The 4th of July didn’t have to worry about that. Anchoring their sound was an amazing drummer. In fact, the drums last night sounded terrific during both sets — was it the drum set (the same one used by both bands) or was it how the stage picks up and amplifies the drums?

During The Black Squirrels set, the red-and-black linoleum floor in front of the stage was mostly empty as people were content sitting back at the tables. When 4th of July came on, however, the floor filled up with slouchers. A brief word about the stage — as my companion said, it was like something you’d expect to see in Austin — the height, the curtain, the stainless steel lighting racks. Much more impressive than the old Music Box stage. It had a serious, professional look and feel that made the performers glow and would be a great place to film a live performance.

Art in Manila came on a little after 11. By then, the bar was at capacity (The night will go down as a sell-out with numbers at around 215, according to the door guy). The entire floor was filled, and I had a hard time squeezing through to get to my spot after getting a couple beers. Even with those numbers, you could comfortably fit an additional 100 people in the venue if you wanted to break the fire code (which I know these guys would never do).

There’s a good story in this week’s Omaha City Weekly (here) where the reporter talks to Orenda Fink about her new band and life after Azure Ray. What he didn’t ask (or at least didn’t cover in the story) was who will be releasing the new Art in Manila album. Will it be Saddle Creek? Will it be Range Life, who Creek now distributes and who will be releasing the new 4th of July album? Whoever it is will have gold on their hands. This incarnation of Orenda is by far the best. Better than anything she did with Azure Ray and much more soulful than her solo album, which was pretty damn soulful to begin with. Art in Manila takes Orenda’s sweet, breathy voice and surrounds it with rich, earthy instruments. Every element of the six-piece, from Dan McCarthy’s keyboards to Steve Bartolomei’s searing guitar solos, adds new depth to her songs. Orenda’s lucky to have one of the area’s best drummers, Corey Broman, playing at the very height of his ability and clearly driving everything forward. Again, the drums just sounded freaking amazing without overpowering the rest of the band. Great balance from every instrument. Terrific work from the sound guy.

Moving around the room, the sightlines were unhampered through every opening. As you move further back — all the way to the pinball room — you receive a sort of letterbox effect looking at the stage, because of the slight overhang that divides the two rooms. There is a noticeable difference in the sound as you move around the main room. In fact, there’s quite a drop-off in levels the further you go, cutting off the high and low end. This, of course, is understandable as the sound is being funneled through the opening between the two rooms and is literally absorbed by the crowd. That’s not to say the sound is bad in the back. On the contrary. Though there’s no place in the venue where you can get away from the noise, people are able to at least carry on conversations without having to yell at each other — something that’s impossible at just about every other club I frequent. If you really want to hear the band in all its glory, though, you have to go into the stage room, which has a higher ceiling and is completely unencumbered by barriers. Perfect sound forever.

Art in Manila played for about 45 minutes, finishing up at around midnight by thanking the bands and Marc and Jim for all the hard work they put into the place. Our impression upon leaving was that we’d just been in the best live music venue in the city… for now anyway. That distinction will likely shift to Slowdown when it begins live shows in June. Consider that Slowdown is being built specifically to provide the finest acoustics possible — and consider the enormous amount of money that’s being invested in the highest quality sound equipment available. It should be better, right? Right?

One final thought: I left the bar at around midnight. I was sitting in my living room at around 12:10. Priceless.

* * *

So what’s in store for tonight? On top of the list, again, is The Waiting Room. They opened with an evening of mellow(er), rural indie rock. Tonight they’re turning things up with Bombardment Society, Now Archimedes! and The Stay Awake. How will punk sound on that big, beautiful stage? $7, 9 p.m.

Will Leibowitz ever get to see a show at his own club? Not tonight, as he’ll likely be working the Hella show down at Sokol Underground with Dirty Projectors and Who’s Your Favorite Son God? $8, 9 p.m.

According to SlamOmaha, Dance Me Pregnant is at The 49’r tonight (I can’t get the Niner myspace to work this morning).

And if you didn’t get enough of Black Squirrels, they’ll be playing down the street from The Waiting Room at Mick’s tonight with Hoots and Hellmouth. $5, 9 p.m..

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i

‘If you’re not going to The Waiting Room…’

Category: Blog — @ 1:34 pm March 9, 2007

Throughout the week I receive a number of invitations to see bands perform at the various clubs around this great city of ours. This week, all of them contained the phrase ‘If you’re not going to The Waiting Room this weekend…” Everyone thinks that the club’s grand opening will be the must-do event of the season. As talked about yesterday, on the bill for their opening night is Art in Manila (did anyone notice the evasive, back-in approach that I used to describe that band in yesterday’s article?), 4th of July (Adrianne Verhoeven of The Anniversary and Art in Manila) and Black Squirrels (ex-Darktown House Band). I can say with complete confidence that this is the largest crowd that Black Squirrels have performed in front of in their short, illustrious career (in fact, the OWH‘s pre-coverage of The Waiting Room’s opening seemed to focus primarily on the Squirrels rather than the bar).

The only thing that could dampen their opening night is the ol’ ‘I’m going to wait until the place slows down’ syndrome — i.e., people avoiding opening night because they figure it’ll be too packed or that they may not even be able to get in. All three bands have played in Omaha numerous times over the past year, so they’re not going to be the intrinsic draw. It’s the curiosity over the bar that will bring people in, but the fact is, the bar isn’t going anywhere. If all you want to see is its insides, you can always go there Monday night, or Tuesday, or Wednesday…

That said, I’ll be among those who will be attempting to cross the velvet rope. We’ve already made contingency plans if we notice a line of people stretched out along Maple St., standing in the rain waiting in The Waiting Room’s waiting line to get in. And speaking of plans, you might need to devise one for parking if you’re driving to the club. When I interviewed Leibowitz and Johnson last week, we talked about including a parking map with The Reader article, and I considered outlining all the parking options in the area. Then I thought ‘What, am I stupid?‘ It’s going to be hard enough for me to find parking as it is, I’m certainly not giving you any tips. The fact is, there aren’t many options beyond the public lot a couple blocks away. I foresee hundreds of people walking the sidewalks of Benson this evening from parking lots as far away as behind Mick’s. It would be a good night to have a hotdog cart parked along those sidewalks.

Anyway, the show begins at 9 p.m. and costs $7. Now, if you’re not going to The Waiting Room tonight there are other options, such as Kite Pilot, Razz the Kid and Or Does It Explode at The Saddle Creek Bar. Or Does It Explode is Robert Little and Matt Stamp from Mariannes, Tim from Latitude Longitude, and Pat D from RTO and Cactus Nerve Thang. $5, 9 p.m.

Down at Bemis Underground it’s the Black Shoe Bash and Dance Party with The Terminals, Brimstone Howl and Denver’s The Machine Gun Blues. Show starts at 9 p.m. and you’re asked to make a $5 donation at the door. Bemis Underground is the lower level of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, south of the Old Market at 724 S. 12th Street.

Ironically, Marc Leibowitz, co-owner of The Waiting Room, won’t even be at the club’s grand opening because he’ll have his hands full working The Take Action! Tour down at Sokol Auditorium. The benefit tour that focuses on issues surrounding suicide and depression includes bands The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Emery, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, A Static Lullaby, and Kaddisfly. Part of the proceeds from the tour supports Youth America Hotline! 1-877-YOUTHLINE. Show starts at 8 p.m. and is Sold Out.

If I missed anything, post it here. I’ll try to write an update online tomorrow morning about The Waiting Room (if I get in) and what’s in store for Saturday night.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.

Lazy-i