Very little to report today other than reiterating yesterday’s post about tonight’s show at The Waiting Room — Adam Franklin of Swervedriver. Local heroes Kyle Harvey and Reagan Roeder are opening. Tickets are $10; show starts at 9 p.m. You should go.

And this: I’ve spent the last day or so listening to the new Springsteen album, Magic. I didn’t want to like it. After the schmaltz that was The Rising, I figured “The Boss” had seen his better days. Then I saw that Rolling Stone gave the new album five stars, which is unheard of (I assume part of the rating has to do with politics at Rolling Stone and leveraging their position to get an interview with Springsteen — just the opposite of what new bands have to deal with at the once-important music magazine. The cover of Stone is gold, but it’s only going to happen if your music rates with Joe Levy. Springsteen, on the other hand, could give a shit, and it’s Stone that needs him to give the publication credibility in an era when they’re putting shit like Zac Efron on the cover). While five stars is unwarranted, I like this album more than I care to admit. It has a cohesive quality that I haven’t heard from a new album in a long time. Someone I spoke with compared it to Darkness… It’s not nearly as bleak or introspective. It also isn’t as bubbly and back-slapping as Born in the USA or as cheesy as Born to Run. Yeah, you can hear when he’s trying to sound like his older stuff (He should have let “Livin’ in the Future” be a B-side somewhere), but even moreso I hear a modern-day Dylan influence, a return to simple songwriting. Definitely rates a “Yes.”

Tomorrow’s column: Happy Birthday One Percent…

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Based on the Omahype review (here) sounds like I missed a very special show by The Good Life — Help Wanted Nights front-to-back in its entirety, that’ll never happen again. Instead, I spent the evening staring at Touchdown Jesus from the endzone of The House That Knute Built, watching as The Fighting Irish got their asses handed to them by BC. No, I’m not a Notre Dame fan, but Teresa is. Sounds like I also missed a good Wilco show, too. Ah well, what can you do?

Tomorrow is Adam Franklin of shoegazer/dreampop band Swervedriver at The Waiting Room and to prep for the show, Dave Leibowitz has put together an episode of his Dark Stuff podcast featuring an interview with Franklin along with plenty of his music. Check it out here, then go to One Percent Productions website and buy a ticket to the show. Leibowitz says Swervedriver is one of the best bands of all time. I own not a single Swervedriver album (though I have my share of My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse CDs), so Leibs’ podcast was indeed a good primer to catch up on the band’s sound. Check it out.

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Just posted, a rather long interview with Tim Kasher of The Good Life, where Tim talks about his screenplay called Help Wanted Nights, the script that the CD of the same name is sort of based on. In fact, most of the story is about the script (if you want to read a review of the album, go here) as well as life in Los Angeles, the movie industry, the Good Life and Cursive. Read the story/interview here.

Will this script ever be produced? After this interview, I’m convinced it will be, eventually. But it could take a long time, maybe even years. By then, Kasher already may have had a different script produced — he wrote three before he wrote Help Wanted Nights, and finished a new one over the summer. Anyway, go read the story, then come back and read the rest of this blog entry… we’ll wait.

Dum-de-dum-de-dum *looks down at his watch*….

Ah, you’re done. Thanks for coming back. In my opinion, Kasher should shoot some exteriors in California and then come back to Omaha and shoot the entire film in O’Leaver’s — that’s the lounge that was in my mind’s eye while reading the script.

Moving on…

You might have noticed that I added a strikethrough in yesterday’s column. It was pointed out to me by a reader and by Team Love executive Matt Maginn that I erred in saying that you can’t download Tilly and the Wall’s Wild Like Children in its entirety at team-love.com anymore. You can, just like you can download some of the other Team Love releases — not all, but most. Well, a few, anyway. I screwed up by going to the site, looking at the releases pages and not finding any links to download the tracks. They’re there, you just have to search for them (and don’t bother going to the “downloads” page). Apologies to Team Love for my screw-up, and thanks to those who pointed it out. Now go to team-love.com and start downloading!

Tonight at The Orpheum Theater — Wilco. Unbelievably, as of noon, the show was still not sold out (according to the One Percent Productions website). Get your tickets now ($29). Andrew Bird opens the show at 8 p.m.

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Well, Regina Spektor was upstairs at Sokol (sorry OWH, but you got it wrong…again), and it was sold out. Where did all these people come from? Where can one hear Regina Spektor on the radio? In Omaha, the answer is nowhere. I figured she might be played on one of the many women-directed light-rock stations that litter the FM dial, but Teresa, who listens to those stations faithfully, has never heard Regina on any of them. The question came up with a couple of people who were working the show — one said that Spektor had been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and that her mom was a huge fan. And I’ve seen the video for “Fidelity” a few times on MTV2’s Subterranean, which is the only bit of sanity left on MTV these days. So, CBS Sunday Morning and MTV2 are the reasons behind Regina Spektor’s sell-out of Sokol Auditorium? No…no. I’m sure there’s a better reason…

We strolled in at 9 p.m. after watching our Yankees blow it due to a plague of bugs invading Cleveland, we got a beer and walked to the back of the crowd and just then, the houselights dimmed and out came Spektor carrying a microphone. She opened the show singing an a cappella number, tapping her mic in rhythm — a touching intro. Too bad it got marred by some chick talking in full-voice to her friends, completely ignoring what was going on on stage. The chick, who desperately was trying to look like Britney Spears, just kept right on yacking throughout the whole show. If it were any other rock concert, it wouldn’t have mattered because the noise level would have drowned out her big, gaping cake hole. But this was a Regina Spektor show, which featured only Regina and a grand piano. It was the kind of concert that would have been terrific held in The Orpheum or The Scottish Rite or, best of all, The Holland Center. Not in the cow barn we call Sokol Auditorium stuffed with 1,400-plus eager young fans and one Britney wannabe pacing the back of the room, barking like an obnoxious poodle. When she wasn’t yelling to her friends, she was yelling into a cell phone. The crowd kept turning around, a few yelled “shut up” but this one wasn’t going to stop for anyone. Had I paid $20 for tickets, I would have been pissed. Instead, I moved to the side of the auditorium by the merch area, away from Britney and the masses.

Regina Spektor is an amazing singer/songwriter, there’s no arguing it. She writes flamboyant, theatrical songs that sound like modern-day Russian lullabies — beautiful and charming. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes of watching her sit behind a piano, it gets rather boring. At one point she got up and played guitar, but for the most part, it was pretty dull. I can imagine her playing larger rooms, arenas where big screens are on either side of the stage, showing live video of the performance — that would certainly be more interesting, but not much, not really.

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So what’s going on tonight? Well, there’s that free concert down at Slowdown (Tilly and the Wall, Baby Walrus, and Bear Country) starting at 9. I have a feeling there could be a long line of kids fashionably dressed in Urban Outfitter gear waiting to get into that gig.

Instead, I’ll likely be at O’Leaver’s for Ketchup & Mustard Gas, Theodore and Bad Folk. According to a post on Slam Omaha, K&MG is “Andy of Cap Gun Coup, Dustin of Paria and Mark of Dance Me Pregnant.” Sounds good to me. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, down at The Saddle Creek Bar, Denver indie band Light Travels Faster with Birds and Batteries. $5, 9 p.m.

And don’t forget Lincoln Calling.

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So where is that Regina Spektor show tonight? The redesigned Sokol website, along with Regina’s own site and Ticketmaster say it’s upstairs at Sokol Auditorium. The Omaha World Herald, however, says it’s down in Sokol Underground. Any other time I’d just ask One Percent Productions, but they’re not putting on this show. I guess I’ll find out when I arrive. Spektor has a cute, quirky piano-driven sound reminiscent of Tori Amos but without Amos’ bullshit melodrama and pretension. There’s an honesty to Spektor’s music that Amos could never have. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one was moved downstairs. Spektor might be a Subterranean darling, but she’s unknown around these parts. As of noon today, this show is SOLD OUT, 8 p.m.

Elsewhere tonight, The Waiting Room is hosting twang-mistress singer/songwriter Pieta Brown with Minneapolis folkies The Pines and Omaha’s own Paper Owls. $10, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is the big Urban Outfitters “Grand Opening Celebration” down at Slowdown with Tilly and the Wall, Baby Walrus and Bear Country all for free and starting at 9 p.m. O’Leaver’s is hosting a show by two bands I’ve never heard of — Theodore and Bad Folk. $5, 9:30 p.m. O’Leaver’s shows sadly are becoming rarer and rarer these days.

Sunday at O’Leaver’s it’s The Lepers with Ferocious Eagle ($5, 9 p.m.), while The Waiting Room is hosting Jake Bellows and Friends — who could these “friends” be? $7, 9 p.m.

Of course, don’t forget Lincoln Calling, going on all weekend. Check out the Lincoln Calling website for all the latest schedules.

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First, in Lincoln Calling news, I’m told that Saturday’s late-night music offering at Box Awesome isn’t Goo, it’s Derek Pressnall’s Flowers Forever DJ extravaganza. I haven’t been to Goo yet, so I don’t know what it entails. Goo obviously is thematic, and I’m told Pressnall and his posse painstakingly select the material to match specific Goo themes, and I’m sure there’s even more to it than that. Regardless, Jeremy Buckley contacted me asking if I could clarify that Saturday ain’t Goo, so there you go. That said, “Booty Goo” is tonight at Slowdown, and Lincoln Calling also launches this evening.

Also today is the “soft” opening of Urban Outfitters down at the Slowdown compound. Looking out my office window, I didn’t see any banners or balloons or clowns giving out free Pepsi. I guess we’ll see the big stuff on Saturday for the official “Grand Opening,” which will feature DJs Brent Crampton and Derek Pressnall spinning at the store from noon to 4 p.m. (and, no, that ain’t Goo, either), then a free concert at Slowdown at 8 p.m. featuring Tilly and the Wall, Baby Walrus and Bear Country. And Urban will be donating 10 percent of their sales from their opening weekend to the Nebraska AIDS project. Right on.

The real event is the store itself, which almost didn’t happen at all. The OWH printed a story on the store in yesterday’s issue (here) where they describe it as some sort of industrial high-design concept. It sounds cool, but at the end of the day, Urban Outfitters is the home of the $28 T-shirt (that can go up as high as $48), hoodies that range from $34 to $198, and jeans that range from $49 to $220. The catalog is online here.

I think it’s probably a good fit for the Slowdown project, though American Apparel is sort of the new “cool” shop for kids these days. The fact that they’re selling a lot of Saddle Creek merch is smart. When it wasn’t looking like UO was going to open down at Slowdown, I suggested to the Creek guys that they open their own shop that featured clothing and music from their warehouse and Ink Tank — after all, plenty of people will make pilgrimages to Slowdown if only because it’s operated by Saddle Creek. They didn’t like the idea, saying that Sub Pop tried a similar thing and it bombed. Now it appears they have the best of both worlds.

With UO opening, there are only three pieces of the Slowdown puzzle yet to be placed. First, that Blue Line coffee shop/bistro. I’m told that it’s slated to open “this fall” — well, it’s fall now, folks, and it ain’t open. I suspect you won’t see it until this winter (or later).

Then there’s the empty restaurant space originally dedicated to Yia Yia’s. If I were the Creek guys, I wouldn’t let go of that idea — just like they didn’t let go of Urban Outfitters. Yia Yia’s is a perfect fit, whether Yia Yia’s agrees or not. Finally, there’s those vacant artist living spaces/galleries that run along Webster St. Yet another great idea, if they can only find some artists with enough jack to move in.

And speaking of artists… Coyote Bones is putting on a special performance tonight at 6 p.m. at The Bemis, followed by something called “Slide Jam,” where 16 regional artists will present five minutes of their art one-after-another. David Matysiak and The Family Radio’s Nik Fackler will be among them, with Nik playing guitar for both shows — not your typical night out.

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One thing I didn’t have room for in last week’s column about David Matysiak and the Bemis (here) was that David planned to christen the new Bemis recording studio with his old friends The Black Lips while they are in town for tonight’s show at The Waiting Room. From what I saw a week ago, the session would merely be a test of how well the room sounds, as there was a lot of work left to do, including constructing a window through the wall that separates the actual recording studio from the mixing room. Still, not a bad way to get the studio off the ground. Matysiak and the rest of Coyote Bones opens for Black Lips tonight, along with The Selmanaires. $10, 9 p.m. — and still not sold out, as of lunchtime. Maybe it’s not sold out because everyone’s going downtown to Sokol Auditorium for One Percent Production’s very special Mandy Moore concert, which also features Ben Lee and Chris Stills. Just $23, 8 p.m.

It’s amusing to go to the One Percent website these days and notice that every date on their online calendar is filled. I don’t remember that ever happening before. Business must indeed be booming.

Tomorrow, look here for this week’s column, an interview with Jeremy Buckley, the instigator behind the annual Lincoln Calling music festival, which kicks off this Thursday.

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