So, I stayed home on Halloween.

Thankfully all the costumes were gone by Saturday night, at least at O’Leaver’s where the walking wounded told turgid tales of their night-befores involving fake blood, make-up and booze. The mood was definitely low key.

Adam Hawkins’ new band, It’s True, opened the show right after the close of The Husker game. Hawkins sounded nice even in O’Leaver’s. He and his band played a short set (6 or 7 songs?) of laid-back indie folk rock that was pretty and, at times, lush in a Tears for Fears sort of way. Someone told me afterward that they’d make a nice prom band — sure enough, one couple slow danced during their set.

Among the world’s injustices is that Coyote Bones never gained traction locally or nationally. Gentleman on the Rocks was one of ’07s best local releases, which I was reminded of during their set. CB is the closest thing Omaha will ever get to a band as tunefully dynamic as Spoon. Matysiak was one of the city’s better songwriters. And now he’s gone, headed somewhere else to try again. I have no doubt that Coyote Bones will continue in some form, just not around here. Perhaps it was the nostalgia, but it was one of their better sets and included a handful of new songs that I’d like to hear recorded. In what is a rarity for O’Leaver’s, the band was “called back” (though they never really left) to do a two-song encore that included the best song of the evening and featured solos from each member of the band. Matysiak will be sorely missed, not only for Coyote Bones but for all the work he’s done for the local music community including his co-op label Coco Art and his Telephono project, which brought musicians together and helped spark new ideas. Ah, David, we hardly knew ye…

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Tonight at The Slowdown Sub Pop band Wolf Parade takes the stage with fellow touring act Listening Party. I like Wolf Parade (they remind me of Eagle*Seagull, or Eagle*Seagull reminds me of them) though I haven’t been following the band for the past couple of years. Expect a nice crowd. $17, 9 p.m.

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