There’s something about Scottish and Irish bands… whether you’re talking about a more straightforward rock act like U2 or a Celtic-leaning band like The Waterboys, something rooted in their heritage always manages to bubble up in their music no matter how hard they rock. It’s subtle, but it’s always there. Maybe it’s the brogue, but I think it has more to do with a natural sensibility toward green-hilled melodies. Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison certainly has an unmistakable, charming brogue, which became more pronounced as the band’s set wore on Saturday night at The Waiting Room.

Opening was Mal Madrigal. Actually, Techlepathy was up first, but I missed them, just as I missed the first half of MM’s set. Steve Bartolomei and Co. sounded their usual folk-rocking self, though they ended their set with a couple South o’ the Border-flavored numbers that took Bartolomei’s melodies to a whole different (and amazing) place. Maybe they should try an entire album of Latin-flavored music.

Sub Pop trio Oxford Collapse came on next and sounded like someone from that label circa the late ’90s — solid bass-driven college rock that sort of reminded me of Minutemen, though they weren’t nearly as heavy.

Frightened Rabbit hit the stage at around 11:30. Their music floats closer to mainstream rock than indie, again probably because of their Scottish heritage. While ringing and loud, there were moments that weren’t far removed from, say, Counting Crows. But there also was a rootsy, faraway quality that I recognized from other bands that have called the northern British Isles their homes — a lonely, heart-aching sound that burns through no matter how loud the guitars are turned up. Part of it is the rapid, rhythmic strumming. Part of it is Hutchison’s rich, throaty voice that would sound at home belting out an Irish (or Scottish) folk ballad (just add fiddle). Great stuff enjoyed by a crowd of around 70 (by my estimate).

* * *

Blogger Annie Dilocker mentioned yesterday that there’s a special event going on tonight at Pulp in Benson. Called “Runaways,” the event features local writers reading their essays about music, with musicians performing in between readings. Hand-made journals designed by local artists will be auctioned off (silently). Writers include Katie Wudel, Christin Goetz and Dilocker herself. Musician participants include Sam Martin (Capgun Coup), Bear Country, Honeybee and Oui Bandits. Artists include Joey Lynch, Tony Bonacci and Jill Rizzo. The free event (which free wine and beer) starts at 7. Find out more.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

So, another semi-quiet weekend for shows. The one that stands out tonight is Dereck Higgins and Scott Severin opening for Shinyville at The Barley St. SLAM Omaha says the cover is $4 (there’s rarely a cover at Barley). 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night’s marquee show is Frightened Rabbit, Oxford Collapse, Mal Madrigal and Techlepathy at The Waiting Room. Frightened Rabbit is a Scottish band that records for Fat Cat Records (distro by Caroline). They’ve been compared to Arcade Fire, The Shins and The Long Winters (i.e., they sound like an indie band). I halfway expected Brooklyn Sub Pop band Oxford Collapse to be headlining this show. They’re certainly more well-known around these parts. Methinks the majority of the crowd will be there for the openers — Omaha’s own Mal Madrigal and newcomers Techlepathy (which features among its members guitar virtuoso Lincoln Dickison). $8, 9 p.m.

You might have trouble finding parking for the above show, as the Benson Summer Festival also is going on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Among the featured bands are Shiver Shiver and Satchel Grande. It’s all outside and it’s all free.

Also tomorrow night, the Saddle Creek Bar is hosting a night of punk featuring Lincoln Celtic-core band The Killigans with KTP, Vandon Arms and The Upsets. $6, 9 p.m.

And Slowdown’s hosting a show Saturday night featuring emo-pop band Cobra Starship, along with three other bands I’ve never heard of. $14, 7 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night, it’s back to O’Leaver’s for The Shanks, The Dinks and Minnesota band The Short Cuts. The last time I bumped into a member of the Shanks, he mentioned that they recently had a personnel change. Better see what that’s all. $5, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

If there’s one thing The Reader doesn’t do very well, it’s keeping its readers up to date as to who’s running the paper. Andy’s last issue at the helm of The Reader was a couple weeks ago. He’s now relegated to watching from the sidelines like the rest of us. He was always a good sounding board both for the column and for feature stories that I pitched to the paper. He also had the advantage of coming to The Reader from outside Omaha’s indie music scene, which gave him a more sober perspective about what was going on. Something tells me that when he returns to Omaha, he’ll do so a wealthy man, if there’s anything to this whole “Global Warming” bugaboo. Incidentally, no one has been named to Andy’s old position, and the powers that be at The Reader are still in the process of working out the details as to who will guide its music coverage going forward. Something tells me that you’re going to see some more changes at the paper in the near future…

Column 177: Parting Shots
Andy Norman exits stage left…

And so, we say goodbye to Managing Editor Andrew Norman.

Why, I remember first meeting Andy three years ago, only days after he left The City Weekly to take on the editing chores at The Reader. He was a wee lad, sprightly in stature with pork chop sideburns and a haircut that made him resemble a small, wide-eyed tree monkey or Frodo from the Peter Jackson film The Lord of the Rings. It seems like only yesterday that throngs of tattooed, ebony-haired groupies breathlessly yelled the battle cry “Save Frodo!” when Andy strapped on a bass with his band Jaeger Fight at O’Leaver’s. Writer, editor, rock and roll god. And now… now he’s gone.

Waitaminit. This isn’t an obit. Norman ain’t dead. I mean, his career might be dead, but he’s alive and kicking and living in Ashland… for now.

About a month ago, Norman, who’s been The Reader’s acting managing editor and ad hoc music editor (and, as a result, my editor) announced that he was leaving the paper and headed back to school at Michigan State, where he’s pursuing a master’s degree in “Environmental Journalism,” whatever that is. He’s spending his summer taking on the self-flagellating role of a construction worker, cooking in the hot summer sun, far away from the e-mail and the deadlines that will plague him for the next few years in East Lansing, Michigan, where he’ll also be the editor of his program’s publication, EJ Magazine.

But before we let him go, someone had to conduct the exit interview.

Norman, 28, took over the paper’s music section in 2005, shortly after the Omaha music scene had reached its zenith of national notoriety and began heading down the other side of the arc. A graduate of UNL, Norman somehow managed to know next to nothing about Omaha’s indie reputation or Saddle Creek Records. I still remember him asking who “this Bright Eyes” was. “The only thing I knew about Omaha’s music was that a lot of good punk bands came through town,” he said. “There was a lot of metal, and I suppose one of the first things I did was listen to 89.7 The River, which gave me a bad impression.”

Ah, the smell of bridges burning.

Anyway. Norman preferred the harder stuff, specifically bands like Lagwagon, Good Riddance, Operation Ivy, The Melvins, just about any band on labels like Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles.

He said he learned about the local music scene by reading newspapers and blogs and by going to shows and talking to people. He discovered that Omaha and Lincoln are known for their artist-friendly venues, like Box Awesome, the Waiting Room and Slowdown. “Bands want to come back here because they’re treated well,” he said. “I don’t think that was always the case.”

Norman said he discovered a diverse music scene that included “good hip-hop and a strong DJ culture.” As for indie, he never bought into the standard definition. “I don’t think of indie as a genre, but as a way of doing business,” he said. “Record labels like Speed! Nebraska and Boom Chick are indie to me.”

So what was the biggest pain in his ass as music editor? Norman first pointed to the bands. “In a cultural scene where you deal with artists of any kind, you realize they’re often flakes,” he said. “It’s hard to get them to call you back or send you a photo. All we want is a decent bio, the actual band members’ names, a couple songs to listen to and a photo. It made your work a helluva lot harder if you went online and couldn’t find much about a band, or if they had a ridiculous Myspace page that took forever to load. That was pretty irritating.”

Another irritant was trying to find writers who knew about something other than the indie scene. Everyone wants to write about The Faint. Try finding an authority on hip-hop or country music. “Typically, people who could write were too tied to the scene,” he said. “They were either best friends with bands or in bands, and couldn’t separate themselves. Just as the scene grows and young kids need to start bands, there needs to be kids who want to write about music. Someone needs to document what’s going on.”

The most rewarding part, Norman said, was watching local bands put out albums and start doing “big things” like touring. “I felt proud to be from Nebraska and Omaha where all this stuff is going on,” he said. “I would feel comfortable putting music produced by Omaha and Lincoln bands up against music from anyplace else.”

He leaves this veil of tears bearing a significant amount of guilt — for not listening to stacks of CDs on his desk, for not going to enough shows. “I was never able to devote myself to the music editor thing,” he said. “My priority was writing news as far as (publisher) John Heaston was concerned. In my opinion, a music editor has to be fully engrossed in the scene.”

But there’s no time for looking back now. After three years, Norman said it was time for a new challenge. He moves away Aug. 1, and Omaha loses yet another valuable piece of talent.

“The coolest thing about the job was being this country kid from Imperial, a town of 2,000, and ending up in the middle of Omaha’s cultural scene,” he said. “I’ll miss working with the most creative, smartest people in town — the many writers and fellow editors and staff — being around that creative power.”

Ah Andy, we hardly knew ye…

Tonight at the glorious Orpheum Theater, An Evening with Sigur Rós. It’s the opening night of the band’s five-city U.S. tour, and tickets are still available for $30 from omahaperformingarts.org. Show starts at 8 p.m. I’ll let you know how it goes.

And a brief update on yesterday’s blog entry, Midwest Dilemma’s new album, Timelines & Tragedies, has climbed 50 spots to No. 112 on the CMJ charts. How high will it go?

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Here’s an item that’ll appear in Backbeat in tomorrow’s issue of The Reader:

Weeks after its release, the full-length by Midwest Dilemma, Timelines & Tragedies, has landed on the College Music Journal‘s top-200 chart at No. 161. CMJ develops its chart by compiling play lists from college and non-commercial radio stations.

Midwest Dilemma mastermind Justin Lamoureux sent 300 copies of the CD to radio stations with the help of Minneapolis-based promotion and distribution company Tinderbox Music. He said the service “cost less than $2,000” but was worth it to get the music in front of radio station programmers. Those costs are usually covered by an artist’s record label. In Lamoureux’s case, the label is his own wallet.

“What I’ve been told is that it’s a good opportunity, especially if you plan on going on tour,” Lamoureux said. “It helps build relationships with radio stations in cities you hope to play.”

Lamoureux wasn’t sure how the CMJ chart will translate into album sales, which, without traditional distribution, he handles online, through iTunes and through Omaha record stores. “I’m hoping it pays off, but I feel that right now, it’s cool that these radio stations are getting our music heard,” he said. “I’m shocked that so many stations added it to their play lists.”

For the week of May 22, Timelines & Tragedies had been added by more than 100 radio stations, according to Tinderbox, and will chart in 13 stations’ top-20.

Justin said he should have new CMJ numbers sometime today. Here’s hoping he continues climbing the charts.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

This one appears to have snuck in beneath the radar. The last time the Fiery Furnaces came through town, they were determined to put on a metal show, and they did. From the review of the June 22, 2006, Sokol Underground show:

“I was expecting The Fiery Furnaces‘ live set to be different from their albums — no keyboards on this tour, remember? — but I wasn’t expecting the metal-rock-Rush-prog-Talking Head-Zappa-Sabbath explosion that I and about 200 of my closest friends got last night at the Sokol. “Bombastic” doesn’t quite cut it. “Mercurial guitar histrionics”? Not exactly. “Anxiety-inducing tension”? Close, but no cigar. I admit to not being a follower of said band, so I can’t really tell you how differently they sounded from their previous incarnations. I have only one of their CDs — their newest one, which Sister Eleanor said they’d be dipping from extensively. From that disc, I only recognized one song — the surrealistic “I’m in No Mood” and only because there’s no mistaking the Russian pastiche melody-line, which when played on guitar instead of keys, was downright Queen-esque. Forget all the pretty stuff on the record, Eleanor has a perfect rock voice that rests somewhere between Chrissie Hynde and Johnny Rotten. Meanwhile, I am now convinced that Brother Matthew is some type of mad genius wunderkind. It’s one thing to write this Dali-esque music, it’s another thing entirely to play guitar with the virtuosity that he commands. Who needs a synthesizer when you can make your ax create similar (or better) sounds? The bottom line: I like them better as a full-out metal band with punk overtones and a prog jones that comes from listening to too much ’70s arena rock (Did I mention Rush?). Yes, their records are interesting, almost quaint. Their live show belongs on a touring festival sandwiched between roaring sets by Cardiacs and The Who.” Read the rest here.

I have a feeling they’ve got something completely different up their sleeves tonight, but if you get a replay of that show, you’re in for an ear-ringing good time. Opening the show at The Waiting Room is Grand Ole Party. $15. 9 p.m.

Also tonight, MC Chris is back in town, this time at Sokol Underground with The Age of Rockets. $14, 9 p.m.

If you’re wondering, I made it to zero shows this weekend as I spent most of the evenings cowering in the basement waiting for the tornado to strike. Alas, it never did.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

After last night, I’m beginning to change my mind about Capgun Coup. You could tell that these guys have been touring. Very strong. Sounds like they’ve toned down the keyboard and amped up the guitars — always a good decision. I think their secret weapon is whoever that is that leans over and sings harmony vocals with Sam Martin. It made all the difference, and took the edge off Martin’s vocals. If it’s been awhile since you’ve seen these guys, they’re worth another look.

The same goes for Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, a band that a year or so ago was just another drone instrumental epic-noise band. They’ve edged their way into my list of favorite local hard/punk rock bands, right up there with Cursive, Ladyfinger, The Stay Awake, Perry H. Matthews, Monroes, Little Brazil, anything Goldberg’s involved in, Criteria and on and on. A brief survey of the crowd brought about comparisons to Unwound and Sonic Youth. They remind me of a late ’70s early ’80s Athens, Georgia band called Pylon, which probably no one remembers. Pylon played a rather stark, narrow but dance-y version of post-punk, much less broad than Noah’s Ark’s grinding-yet-soaring post-wave style. In other words, Noah’s Ark was a bad-ass. And they’re a trio — gotta love that.

Times New Viking is a trio, too. I admit that I compared them to very early Pavement when I reviewed their CD, mainly because of their low-fi tendencies and simple song structures — a ridiculous, idiotic comparison after you’ve see them live, where they in no way resemble Pavement. A trio comprised of a guitarist, drummer and keyboard/vocalist, TNV plays blown-out almost tribalistic post-wave punk that at times borders on anthemic. They certainly got the crowd of 100 or so — especially the 30 folks pressed against the stage — rolling with their orgy of noise. On about half the songs, keyboardist Beth Murphy walked away from the keyboard and just handed vocals backed by shredding guitarist Jared Phillips and drummer Adam Elliott, who imbibed in a quart bottle of Jim Beam between songs. Very rock ‘n’ roll.

* * *

The sweet noise returns tonight to The Waiting Room for the Octopus Garden Art Alliance Benefit featuring Neva Dinova, Ladyfinger, McCarthy Trenching and Roseline. According to a post on the webboard, the organization’s goal is to provide arts opportunities to everyone in the community. That includes offering classes and workshops that focus on a variety of media: painting, sculpture, theatre, writing, culinary arts, pottery, murals, photography, sewing, puppetry, music, dance, recycled art projects, etc. The services are available to everyone, but with a special emphasis on helping those who are developmentally disabled, mentally ill and of low income.

This is an awesome concept and an awesome benefit that continues tomorrow night at TWR with Mal Madrigal, Baby Walrus, Brad Hoshaw, Slave 1, and April Domet. Admission is a mere $7 each night. Shows start at 9.

Also tonight, one-man performer Dosh plays with Anathallo and Omaha’s own Hyannis at Slowdown Jr. $8, 9 p.m.

Other shows tomorrow night include Mates of State at Slowdown — the venue’s ad hoc one-year anniversary celebration (though I doubt they’ll pull out any party favors (though they should)). Opening is Judgement Day. Tickets are $12 today, but will cost you $14 tomorrow.

There also are two shows at O’Leaver’s this weekend consisting mostly of bands I’ve never heard of. Tomorrow night it’s Bazooka Shootout, Roman Numerals (which I have heard of) and Imaginary Johnny. Sunday night it’s It’s True, The Haunted Windchimes, The Mexican and The Vivian Girls. Both shows are $5, and start at 9:30 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Continuing a look back at Slowdown’s first year of business with owners Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel…

The duo discussed their relationship with the venue’s primary booking agent, One Percent Productions. When Slowdown first opened, there were questions as to how well the business relationship would work since One Percent owns what arguably is Slowdown’s biggest competition, The Waiting Room. Both venues host a similar style of indie rock music.

But Nansel said competition has never been an issue. “I feel like our relationship with One Percent is better than it’s ever been,” he said. “We just had conversations with them, telling them we want more shows more consistently, and I think they’re trying to figure out how to make that happen.”

It’s rare for One Percent to book a show at TWR that Slowdown wanted, but it’s happened. One example is the recent Night Marchers show. “We had Criteria play with The Cops on the same night,” Nansel said. “At first we wanted the Night Marchers. It was a bummer, but it was more of a bummer for the Night Marchers show.” That’s because the Cops/Criteria show sold out Slowdown’s small room and likely hurt the draw for Night Marchers, which didn’t do nearly as well.

Nansel said that TWR continues to be more open than Slowdown to host different bands from different genres. “They’ll book anything,” Nansel said. “I think Marc (Leibowitz) thinks of this as more of an indie rock venue.” Something tells me that perception will have to change if Slowdown wants to book considerably more big-room shows than they did last year.

Before the club opened, Slowdown wrestled with the idea of being smoke-free. The club even polled people who came to its website. In the end, they followed their gut instinct and kept the smoke out of the club, a decision that they’ve never regretted.

“If this had been a smoking bar for the last year, it would be in this facility forever and you wouldn’t be able to get it out,” Nansel said. “I never used to mind going to bars that allow smoking, but after spending more time here in the last year, I notice it a lot more. My eyes hurt.”

“I’ve had a few people tell us — from both the customer and bar-owner side of things — that we would have had more business on off nights if we had allowed smoking,” Kulbel said. “But I know people who won’t go to shows at The Waiting Room because they allow smoking. Had we built Slowdown in 2000, or even in 2005, that choice wouldn’t have been there for us. Now enough people know that a nonsmoking environment is where things are headed.”

And speaking of where things are headed, what’s going on with Blue Line Coffee and American Apparel? Blue Line’s addition to the complex was announced before Slowdown opened, with a target opening date of last fall.

“Blue Line is going to open any day now,” Nansel said, adding that the owner is just waiting for some “permits and approvals.” Nansel pointed out that construction materials — i.e., drywall — had just arrived inside the American Apparel space — a space that was originally slated for a restaurant.

Both Nansel and Kulbel voiced frustration over their inability to find a restaurant suitable for the location, and by “suitable” they mean locally owned and operated — i.e., not a national chain. “All the restaurant owners we talked to, said ‘I’m busy enough trying to keep this one place going. I don’t have resources and time to open another location,'” Nansel said. “I think it’s a hard business. Anyone in that business on their own is putting all their time and effort into their existing space. We had a couple people approach us who were not previous restaurant owners, but could never get the financing.”

“Any frustration you might have is multiplied by 1,000 for me,” Kulbel said when I told him how disappointed I was that the restaurant idea fell through. “We went through so many different options and people. It took months and months of time. At the frustrations’ peak, American Apparel came to us and said, ‘We want that space.’ It seemed pretty crazy right off the bat, but the more we thought about it the more it made sense. We had gotten to the point where we were somewhat bleeding money on that space. We have a gargantuan mortgage payment to make every month, too big to have 3,800 square feet of retail space sitting there empty. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Famous Dave’s had walked up at the same time. I hoped I wouldn’t have said ‘yes’ to that at any point.”

So what’s the difference between a chain restaurant and a chain clothing store? Kulbel said he eats at chain restaurants all the time. “We just like the idea of a local restaurant, much in the same way we like the idea of a local clothing store,” he said. “Slowly we figured out that a local clothing store wasn’t a viable thing. The chance of a local clothing store going out of business was way greater than a local restaurant going out of business. You could have the hippest, coolest clothing store in your development and there’s a good chance it won’t (attract customers). But people will frequent the hippest, coolest restaurant.”

Nansel said part of American Apparel’s business model is looking at where Urban Outfitters are opening stores and then opening next to them. “Urban Outfitters was happy about (American Apparel),” he said. “From their perspective, it created a whole mindset. People will now think about this area as a place to go to shop for clothes. The more retailers in the area, the better. When they were on their own, people had to come down here just for Urban Outfitters.”

So how has Urban Outfitters been doing business-wise? “They’re doing good as far as what they tell us,” Nansel said. “They’re stoked.”

There’s another recently announced piece of development that also will affect UO and Slowdown — a new ballpark to be located just east of the Slowdown complex. As you might expect, both Nansel and Kulbel are pleased about it… sort of.

“I prefer it over nothing,” Kulbel said. “I am happy for what it will do for the area and the development in the area. I’m glad a decision was finally made on it. It could have been anything as far as we’re concerned. There needed to be that anchor piece of the puzzle. Over the next few years everything around here will change, and that will be good. That empty lot across the street (west of Slowdown) will be retail and residential and will add more bars and restaurants, and that’s good, too.”

“It’s always been on the radar screen,” Kulbel said of the ballpark. “It originally was going to be on the west side; now it’s on the east. We knew that it was a possibility and almost a certainty. The only thing I don’t like about it was that it took so long to get going.”

They might have foreseen the ball diamond, but they didn’t foresee the all-ages ordinance fight that they went through earlier this year that now requires that anyone under the age of 18 have written, notarized permission before being allowed into Slowdown on show nights. Nansel and Kulbel both say they’re fine with how the controversy ended.

“I don’t think it’s been that much of a pain in our ass,” Nansel said of the ordinance. “If it wouldn’t have concluded the way it did and we weren’t able to do all-ages shows it would have been disastrous. I don’t know if it would have been disastrous from a financial perspective, but from the fundamentals of why we built this place. I would have been very saddened.”

“I’m not sure how viable a 21-plus Slowdown would be in this town,” Kulbel said. “It would have forced us to do more Goo-like things and really stretched wide open who we booked. (The ordinance) is worth whatever headaches it causes as long as we can continue to do all-ages shows.”

We didn’t talk at all about the record label, other than Kulbel and Nansel both confirming that it’s still their No. 1 interest. “Yeah, it’s where I spend most of my time and attention,” Nansel said.

“It has to be (No. 1),” Kulbel said. “It’s still the day job; it’s still what I do with my nine to five.”

That said, Kulbel is “completely totally 100 percent happy with Slowdown. I love how it turned out. I love how people seem to like it. It’s more work than I ever thought it would be, but it’s fun work, too. It’s work that I certainly enjoy. I feel like we’re building something we’re proud of.”

* * *

Jesus, this is a long blog entry…

Anyway, there’s a couple cool things going on tonight if we don’t get blown away by another tornado. Did anyone go to Modest Mouse last night? How’d that turn out?

Down at the ultra-chic dance club called The Nomad Lounge, 1013 Jones Street, local photographer Tony Bonacci is holding his first exhibit, which opens tonight and runs through the rest of the month. Bonacci’s niche is rock-star photos, and his portfolio includes shots of Tilly and the Wall, Orenda Fink, Mayday, Azure Ray, Baby Walrus, Coyote Bones and more. The reception is 6 to 10 p.m., with hor d’oeuvres by The Chatty Squirrel. And it’s freakin’ free.

So go to the art show, then head on over to The Waiting Room for Times New Viking. These krazy kids are the kings of neu-low-fi indie, the successors to a thrown built by Pavement. Opening is Capgun Coup and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. 9 p.m., $8.

Keep your eye to the sky…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

So, why no birthday celebration at Slowdown on Sunday, the one-year anniversary of its public grand opening? Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel said the date sort of snuck up on them. Actually, Kulbel said they had talked about doing something for the occasion, but nothing fell into place. So, Saturday night’s Mates of State show will have to do, as there’s no show scheduled for Sunday night.

In my mind, Slowdown is and will always be a music venue. Why would you build such a gorgeous performance space and not use it? Robb and Jason had other ideas, however. During the interviews for this column, both mentioned the problems that are keeping people from thinking of Slowdown as a place where you could just hang out and drink. Its location topped the list. But just as prominent is the problem with any duo-purpose lounge. Nansel used The 49’r as an example. He said there were times when he’d show up there with friends to kick back and have a few drinks only to find out that they were hosting a show that night, causing them to turn around and look elsewhere. The same problem plagues Slowdown. With shows three nights a week (and now probably more) people are not apt to drive down there for drinks and quiet conversation only to discover that there’s a show and a $7+ cover charge. The perfect set-up: the old Howard St. Tavern, which sported a stage lounge and a non-performance lounge. If you didn’t want to go to the show, you could always go upstairs to the White Rabbit. Alas, there’s no way to set up anything like that at Slowdown…is there?

Column 176: Slowdown at One
Bar or music venue?

Only weeks before Slowdown celebrated its one-year anniversary (the public opening was June 8, 2007), the club that is the dream of Saddle Creek Records’ entrepreneurs Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel enjoyed one of its biggest weeks ever.

From May 18 through 24, Slowdown clocked in with two sold-out Rilo Kiley concerts in its “big room,” along with two more big-room near-sell outs (Tokyo Police Club and DeVotchKa) and two well-attended small-stage shows.

The guys should be happy. But they want more. And they know the only way they’re going to get it is by hosting more big-room shows. Lots of them. More than they ever intended to host at Slowdown.

“We need to have weeks like last week more often to be really comfortable,” said Nansel from the Saddle Creek Records’ Euro-modern conference room. “When we have shows, the bar does well. When we don’t, the bar doesn’t do well. When we set out to open this place, our desire was to have two or three shows a week, and we hoped that we would have a nightly clientele. But the reality is that we’re pretty far off the beaten path, and people only come here when they have a reason to. It’s going to be that way until the neighborhood develops a little more.”

Kulbel, who spoke via cell phone while driving across town on Sunday morning, agreed. “The highs are higher and the lows are lower,” he said of the first year. “The highs are when the big room sells out and it’s packed and crazy. The lows are Sunday nights when no one comes in after 10:30.”

You see, Slowdown had the same idea that the other important music venue — The Waiting Room — had when it opened a little more than a year ago. Music wasn’t supposed to be the main thing. The bar was supposed to be filled with customers even when the stage was dark, which they hoped would be at least four nights a week. “We don’t want people to think of it as a music venue, but as a bar that hosts shows,” Kulbel said a year earlier.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Blame the location. Step outside of Slowdown, and you’re facing an empty city block covered in weeds and litter. And while there’s a handful of condos a few blocks away in every direction, the streets aren’t exactly bustling with foot traffic.

“No one lives around here,” Nansel said. “In a few years, the development will come and the foot traffic will increase.”

But until then, the new business plan is to make Slowdown the music venue that Nansel and Kulbel never wanted. The duo recently met with the venue’s primary booker — One Percent Productions — asking for as many big-room shows as possible. “But at the same time, there’s only a certain number of shows that are going to come through town, unless we really start to branch out in terms of genres. We’re not at that point yet.”

One example of “branching out” beyond their bread-and-butter indie rock programming was the Feb. 21 concert featuring Slightly Stoopid — a band known for its legion of backwards-baseball cap wearing meatheads. The sold-out show was the biggest bar night the club has ever had. It’s also the show that both Nansel and Kulbel said was their worst concert experience since they opened.

“It drew somewhat of an aggressive crowd,” Nansel said. “There was a fight, and that never happens. People who come to shows here are generally passive. Although it was our biggest bar night, if we had shows of that ilk every night, none of the people who work here would work here.”

“That was a rough night,” Kulbel said. “If we got another hold for them, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. But we wouldn’t want shows like that once a week or even once a month. It’s not what we do.”

Another thing they don’t do, at least not anymore, is a brand of DJ-driven theme nights hosted by members of The Faint and Tilly and the Wall called “Goo.” In Slowdown’s first months, Goo garnered a reputation for being an all-ages dip into debauchery set to strobe lights and a hot club mix. Goo was wildly successful. It also was an enormous pain in the club’s ass.

“Goo is challenging,” Nansel said. “It’s mostly kids. You have to staff it really well and constantly make sure that no one’s getting into trouble.”

“The real problem (with Goo) was that these people were trying to cram a night’s worth of drinking into two hours,” Kulbel said. “They drank really fast, got drunk really fast and then everything went crazy. Afterward, the staff would ask, ‘Can we not do this any more?'”

Goo is probably gone for good. Like Seinfeld, the DJs wanted to end it on a high note, and the club won’t consider hosting another Goo night unless it’s 21-and-over, which is a deal-breaker for the organizers.

But Slowdown doesn’t need Goo or Slightly Stoopid to succeed. It just needs good shows and good service. Over the past year, Nansel and Kulbel learned how to run a bar. It used to take 20 minutes to get a drink on busy nights. Now it takes less than five. The rest will work itself out, as ballparks and condos rise around them. The foot traffic will come, eventually, and Slowdown will become the bar — not the music venue — that they always wanted it to be.

There’s tons more with Robb and Jason that didn’t make the cut, which I’ll put online tomorrow.

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Tonight at the Westfair Amphitheater, it’s Modest Mouse with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Westfair is about 16 minutes from downtown Omaha in Council Bluffs. $35. Gates open at 6, show starts at 8 according to the Westfair website, where you can find details about the show (parking, what you can bring, etc). If accuweather is to be believed, the weather should cooperate, as thunderstorms shouldn’t be rolling into our area until well after 1 a.m., long after the concert should be over.

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My take on PHM after last night at The Waiting Room is the same as it was before last night — there’s an throw-back quality to their sound that’s unquestionable; a throwback to the Omaha/Lincoln scene of the mid-’90s that reminds me of bands like Mousetrap, Sideshow and Opium Taylor, bands that were popular around here when members of PHM were about four years old. It’s a punky, dissonant sound, angry and chaotic. The difference last night: It was less messy, more controlled, more refined, but just as brutal. Most young bands these days are playing a brighter-sounding almost tinty cacophonous punk. New Times Viking, who plays at TWR Thursday night, comes to mind. PHM is darker, deeper, more rhythmic (the drums never sounded better). Frontman Paul Hansen’s vein-necked screaming continues to remind me of Pat Buchanan but with less flailing and spitting (but just as disturbing). PHM hits the road tomorrow for a two-week tour of the upper Midwest down through Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Here’s hoping they find their crowd, and that their crowd finds them.

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Tonight at Slowdown its heritage alt-country band Old 97’s with Hayes Carll and I Love Math. $17, 9 p.m.

And speaking of Slowdown, in tomorrow’s column the club’s frontmen talk about the venue as it celebrates its first year of operation. See you then.

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