I’m quoted in a Daily Nebraskan article regarding Lincoln Invasion. You can read it here. I suspect there will be tons of press about this weekend’s festival. And you’ll be able to read my take on Lincoln Invasion right here in tomorrow’s column.

* * *

Looks like Saddle Creek has finally released the new Beep Beep video. Check it out here. It’s as weird as you’d hope and expect it to be. What’s going on with this band? I’m told that bassist Darren Keen no longer is a Beeper.

Cursive also has a new video online for “I Couldn’t Love You More,” right here.

Does it still make sense to make videos these days? I guess probably more so in the past few years with the advent of YouTube.

* * *

Mike Fratt dropped me and the rest of Omaha’s music journalism establishment an e-mail yesterday announcing that Homer’s is now celebrating “Vinyl Saturdays” every third Saturday of the month, starting this Saturday. The promotion promises “a new monthly unveiling of limited special vinyl pieces.” This month’s offerings include limited edition vinyl by Wilco, Scarlett Johansson/Pete Yorn and Green Day. Homer’s does have a shit-ton of vinyl these days. Check it out.

* * *

Lez Zeppelin is tonight at The Waiting Room. The name sez it all. Other than The Song Remains the Same, the only Zeppelin “tribute” band that I’ve ventured to see is good ol’ Dread Zeppelin, featuring Elvis impersonator Tortelvis and a boxing ring. Fun stuff at the old Ranch Bowl. That band eventually got signed by Miles Copeland and IRS Records (Un-Led-Ed), and according to Wikipedia, is still touring today, somewhere. Will there be a boxing ring tonight at TWR? I hope so. Find out. $12, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Is Bear Country the best band to emerge from the Slumber Party Records’ roster? Judging from last Friday night’s show at The Waiting Room, the answer is an obvious “yes.”

That Friday night show was a veritable Slumber Party showcase. Darren Keen opened with a solo performance (which I missed) and was followed by Conchance, an MC that doesn’t have an actual line placement on the Slumber Party artists page, but seems to be tacitly affiliated with the label. I’m a tough critic when it comes to hip-hop, and a large percentage of white-guy rappers fall either into the Eminem or Beastie Boys category to me. Conchance seems to be in the former group, but even though he had his share of miss-starts on stage, he sounded better than the last time I saw him a year or so ago at Slowdown. There was nothing groundbreaking going on — it was the usual shtick we’ve seen before. At times he crowded his lyrics a tad much, but still sounded better than, say, Rig 1. He saved the best for last, performing a song with three instrumentalists (instead of his prerecorded track). To me, anytime you use live instruments you’re going to sound better, and he certainly did.

Up next was the evening’s biggest draw, Capgun Coup. Sam Martin and Co. always bring their fans along for the ride. The basic set-up this time included two guys singing into telephone handsets while Martin fronted the songs with a normal mic. Seems like a couple years ago that Capgun was a keyboard-heavy indie spazz rock outfit. These days Martin has stepped from behind the keyboard, exclusively wearing a guitar, and the change is for the better. No one shows jaded disinterest better than Martin, standing behind a mic as if he’s played his 10,000th show, wearing an “Oh-it’s-you-again” smirk while he flatly yells lines that eventually devolve into literal “blah-blah-blahs.” As a whole, Capgun (who’s on Team Love these days) has changed into an indie garage band in a similar vein as Titus Andronicus, though not nearly as coherent or straight forward except on a few instrumental-only songs that were the highlight of their set. Martin capped off his portion of the night with a song he introduced as “the punchline to the joke,” a shredded, spazzy garage rock song that eroded into anarchy and screaming, with Martin casually knocking over mic stands while the rest of the band squirmed. “I guess no one got the joke,” Martin said afterward. “I don’t see anyone laughing.” Ah, but with the kind of kid-frenzy that Capgun seems to generate, it’ll be Martin laughing… all the way to the bank (yuk-yuk).

About a third of the crowd left after Capgun, which is too bad for them because they missed the best performance of the night. If you’re a regular Lazy-i reader, you’ve rarely seen a word about Bear Country in this blog, not because I hadn’t seen the band over the years — I have. I just never cared for their safe, standard take on C&W. It was too formal and too strained and too boring. But that was a year ago. Something’s happened to Bear Country, something remarkable.

A band that ebbs and flows throughout their set, at its largest Bear Country is a six-piece that includes guitars, keyboards, drums, bass, the occasional fiddle and three vocalists — two guys and a girl — who look like they fell to the stage from a time machine circa 1968. Ah, but their music is distinctly modern — the comparisons run the gamut from early Mazzy Star to Centro-matic to The Silos — this isn’t in any way traditional C&W, more like “alt country” thanks to the underlying twang. Quiet songs grow into bigger-than-life jams and then fall back down again — a far cry than the band I saw a year or so ago. Who knows the reason behind their transformation — maybe it’s just the nature of getting older and wiser. I’m told they have a new album in the can, waiting to be released. If I was Saddle Creek, I’d buy them away from Slumber Party before Merge does. Yeah, they’re that good.

Saturday night, after pizza at the Pizza Shoppe, we wandered down to the Benson Days street event and were told it would cost $5 for a wrist band. The guy in front of us asked what he got for the five bucks. “Well, you get a wrist band that allows you to buy drinks. The $5 is actually a donation.” That guy turned around and left, and so did we. Maybe they should have just given people wrist bands and asked for a $5 donation. Or charged $5 admission. We headed to the Sydney, where we discovered that they were also having a show that night.

Looks like all this talk about only having “the occasional show” at The Sydney is quickly headed out the window. The bar recently launched a website — thesydneybenson.com — that includes an “Upcoming Shows” section. They’ve even made their “stage” platform bigger since that Little Brazil show a few weeks ago. At $5 a show, expect them to feature mostly local acts, which is a good thing. Opening on Saturday night was Jake Bellows, who played a sweet solo set with an electric guitar. Next up was Landing on the Moon, and to prove the new stage’s adequacy, all five members of the band fit nicely (and played nicely, too).

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

It looks like the new album by Monsters of Folk (featuring Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis) is being released on Shangri-La Music, the home of Amazing Baby, The Pretenders and Band of Skulls, among others. According to Wikipedia, Shangri-La is owned by Steve Bing, the 44-year-old multi-millionaire playboy entrepreneur, who’s past projects included financing the films “Get Carter,” “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf” (Bing, btw, inherited his wealth from grandpa Leo S. Bing, a New York real estate mogul). While not listed on the label’s artist page, Shangri-La’s news page prominently features the band. I’m still waiting for an official announcement, though we do know that the record is coming out on Sept. 22.

* * *

Lots of stuff going on this weekend, so let’s get right to it.

Tonight The Waiting Room is holding a virtual Slumber Party Records label showcase with Bear Country, Capgun Coup, Conchance and Darren Keen. Capgun crushed O’Leaver’s last week. Let’s see if they can bring the crowd across town. $7, 9 p.m.

Just down the street at PS Collective, another Slumber Party band, Talking Mountain, is playing a show with Electric Needle Room, Mammoth Life (Lawrence, KS) and Coax from Chuckanut (St. Paul, Minn.). This may be your last chance to see Talking Mountain for a few months. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at O’Leaver’s, you’re looking at The Curtain Calls, Denver’s The Still City and Cat Island. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday starts early with Snow Patrol doing an instore at Homer’s in the Old Market at 2 p.m. The band is in town opening for Coldplay at the Qwest. This should be a madhouse.

Later that evening, Dillinger Four headlines a show at The Waiting Room with crazy noise masters Japanther, The Brokedowns, and Speed! Nebraska band The Wagon Blasters. $12, 9 p.m.

O’Leaver’s is hosting a singer/songwriter night with Midwest Dilemma, Brad Hoshaw, Kyle Harvey, Cody Wynne Cox and Reagan Roeder. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Saddle Creek Bar, it’s the return of The Upsets with Thad Sands One Man Band. $5, 9 p.m.

One of the most interesting shows of the weekend is Sunday night — Digital Leather with Private Dancer and Leisure Birds. As I mentioned before, Digital Leather is Shawn Foree, a labelmate of Box Elders on Goner Records, who records songs himself and tours with a band, which this time is comprised of members of Shanks/Dinks/Ric Rhythm. Foree has been involved with bands that included current garage-rock phenom Jay Reatard. I’m also told that Foree just signed with Fat Possum for his next record. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Don’t forget to look for band-order information from the shows I attend via my Twitter feed.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Monsters of Folk is Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. The musicians recorded a number of songs together some time ago (before Mystic Valley?). Now it appears that the long-rumored, long-awaited album is on the verge of release, or at least that’s what I’m led to believe by monstersoffolk.com. There’s no clue or indication on that one-page website who will be releasing the album (The domain is registered to Micah Taylor). Saddle Creek Records, however, has confirmed that it won’t be releasing it. Will it be on Merge? Team Love?

* * *

I’ve had a quandary lately deciding whether or not to go to specific shows, especially if I can’t get to the venue before 10:30. Here’s the problem: I have no idea when the band or bands that I want to see will hit the stage. I don’t want to go there, drop my $5-$8-$10-$15 only to find out that the band I wanted to see played at 9, and I missed them.

Generally speaking, websites rarely have a show’s band-order correct, mainly because often the decision concerning who’s going on stage when (i.e., the band order) is made by the bands on the night of the show. So the band you think is opening may get slotted to play last, or the so-called “headliner” might play second, and so on. It’s especially a problem with local-band shows (traveling headliners generally are always last).

Assuming others have the same problem, here’s what I’m going to start doing with my Twitter feed: When I arrive at a show, I’ll find out the band order and who’s already played (and who’s about to play) and Tweet that information to my followers. It’s something venues should do, but they either don’t have time or don’t want to discourage people from coming out (“Oh, Box Elders already played? Forget it then.“).

So if you haven’t already, go to my Twitter page and follow me. In addition to band order and set times, you’ll also get Twit pics from most performances along with some live comments.

* * *

Speaking of shows, the legendary Sly & Robbie will be at Slowdown tonight with Heavyweight Dub Champion. $25, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, Chicago art-noise band Eyes is playing at The Saddle Creek Bar with El Diablos Blancos. $5, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

This week’s column is last Sunday’s live review/comment about the Memorial Park Gomez concert fiasco, so if you missed it, read it here. The original plan was to run my interview with John McCauley of Deer Tick as my column, but The Reader wanted the Memorial Park thing in that space and pushed Deer Tick as a separate feature story. The article is written in more of a column style, with McCauley — a singer/songwriter who spent a few years booking his own tours — talking about how he stayed with it and got “over the hump,” which seems to be the dream of every local singer/songwriter that I know. Read that story here. Deer Tick is opening for Jenny Lewis a week from today at The Slowdown. Tickets are still available for $16, though Val Nelson at Slowdown said in her weekly mailer that the supply is dwindling, so you better get yours now if you haven’t already.

Speaking of shows, Outlaw Con Bandana has its album release show for Faeries and Rewards tonight at The Immaculate Conception Church Bowling Alley at 25th and Bancroft. The vinyl-only 14-song opus is being released by Slumber Party Records. Also on the bill are The Praries, Box Elders and Sarah Xiong. For your $10 you not only get a night of music, but free bowling from 9 until 10:30 — now that’s a deal! Something tells me this is going to be a lively crowd.

Also tonight, Leeds funk/soul band The New Mastersounds is playing at The Waiting Room with Moon Taxi. These guys could give Satchel a run for their money. $12, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Jeremy Buckley, who works at Box Awesome in Lincoln, texted me yesterday saying that the court hearing concerning their removal from their current location had been “continued” for at least a couple of weeks. Jeremy also said Box Awesome has found another possible home and hopes to move sometime in July. Meanwhile, benefit events continue to be held to help pay the lawyer, including a comedy show at Duffy’s tomorrow night and a rummage sale this coming Sunday at 18th & Washington in Lincoln. If you’re in town, you should go.

* * *

After being overwhelmed by the enormous crowd at Memorial Park Saturday, I headed to O’Leaver’s to find an even bigger crowd, there to see Jake Bellows and Capgun Coup. I caught about 15 minutes of opener Porlolo and dug it — a band fronted by a female singer/songwriter that deserves further study. I missed Jake altogether and caught about 20 minutes of Capgun’s boisterous spazz rock. This band continues to sound like it’s being influenced by classic ’60s- ’70s garage rock (bordering on low-fi surf), but never lacking their trademark just-about-t0-spin-out-of-control style. Frontman Sam Martin continues to remind me of what Simon Joyner could have become had he followed a punk muse rather than a folkie one. If you missed it, Capgun is playing again Friday night at the Waiting Room, opening for Bear Country with Darren Keen and Conchance — all for $7.

* * *

Tomorrow: Deer Tick

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I hate to say “I told you so,” but…

My guestimate of the attendance at last night’s Gomez concert in Memorial Park: less than 1,000. It was hard to say since people were so widely scattered across the enormous park bowl. The number was probably closer to 600 or 800.

You can’t blame the weather. It was gorgeous despite weathermen warning of storms for the past few days. You can’t blame the “Taste of Omaha” thing going on downtown. The food orgy doesn’t really target “area youth” — and this was promoted as a “youth concert.” Actually, “promoted” is the wrong term. Part of the problem was that the city did such a terrible job promoting the concert. I saw one commercial for it on cable a few days prior, and nothing — no posters, no billboards — around town. I think there were a couple mentions in The Omaha World-Herald, but no one (certainly not “youth”) reads that anymore.

I heard the same thing over and over when I asked people if they were going to the concert Saturday afternoon: “What concert?” The next question out of their mouths: “Who’s Gomez?”

And that of course was the biggest problem of all. Why would anyone know who Gomez is? Because they had a song played on Grey’s Anatomy in 2006? Their music isn’t played on local radio. At least when Feist played here last year, people were familiar with her “1-2-3-4” song from the iPod commercials (though they may not have known who actually sang it).

So let’s do the math. According to this invoice filed by the city which you can view on the internet right here (thanks, Jeremy Buckley, for pointing this out), the performance and booking fees for Gomez totaled $27,750 (not including hotel and hospitality expenses), paid for by the city (i.e., by you). According to the same document, U.S. Cellular pitched in $50,000 I assume to cover staging and sound costs as well as for paying the 400 or so police on hand.

So let’s just round up to a total of $80,000. That means if 800 people were there, the concert costs around $100 per person in the audience. Seems a tad pricey.

Adding to the discouraging turnout was the utter lack of “youth” in the park. I guess it depends on how you define “youth.” I mostly saw people in their late 20s and early 30s, most of them pushing baby carriages. People in the 40s likely outnumbered people in their teens.

The only successful part of the concert was the performances. Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies sounded like an arena band from that mammoth stage. The sound quality was the best I’ve heard at a live outdoor show. Pristine. Too bad there were only 100 people there to see it. As you can see from this photo, I was able to lean against the stage barricade and take a picture unhampered. Even Brad cracked from stage that he’d seen most of the crowd a few weeks ago… at his CD release party.

I missed Mal Madrigal and Sarah Benck, and returned for Gomez. Again, terrific sound, and let’s face it, a terrific band whose music is as featureless and forgetful and middle-of-the-road safe as you could find anywhere. Unadventurous pabulum, but very well played.

Look, I think the idea of a free “youth concert” in the park is terrific and essential in a city like Omaha. But you absolutely have to have someone who knows something about music (and “youth”) help decide on the headliner. I’m not involved in the music business, but I have to believe that you can get some pretty amazing bands for $30,000 if you begin organizing the event now (or in a few months). I have no doubt that Mayor Fahey had no idea who Gomez was, nor should he know. Instead, he or his staff must have turned the decision over to the St. Louis booking agency hired for the gig, and they decided for him. “Hey, we’ve got this hot band called Gomez that was originally scheduled to come through The Waiting Room. They’d be perfect for your park concert.” A copy of Bring It On was mailed to someone in the Mayor’s office, where it was “monitored” to ensure there wasn’t anything offensive on it, and then the band was given the green light.

Did anyone bother to ask any area youth who they’d like to see perform in the park? The answer clearly was “no.” While I think The Plain White T’s is a horrendous band, I can at least see why teenagers might listen to their derivative drivel. No teen is listening to Gomez.

So the question becomes whether there should be a sixth “youth concert” in Memorial Park next year. If the city can’t get their shit together and start asking the right questions — or hire One Percent Productions to handle the gig — the answer is clearly no. It’s a huge waste of money. It’s also a huge wasted opportunity.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Looks like all the good shows are on Saturday night as I can’t find a thing to do tonight (Brothers, here I come).

Tomorrow starts off in the afternoon (4 p.m.) with the “youth concert” in Memorial Park featuring Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies, Mal Madrigal and Sarah Benck, leading up to the headliner, Gomez. The price is right — it’s free. The current forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain Saturday morning with afternoon thunderstorms and a 40 percent chance of rain tomorrow night. Better bring your poncho.

As is always the case, people were bitching the other night at the show about how bad a choice Gomez was for this concert, and how the band is virtually unknown to the so-called “youth” that’s being targeted. In fact, among the group of music-loving folks I was talking to, all had heard Gomez music before, but not a single one could name a Gomez song (I was able to name their cover of The Beatles “Getting Better,” which was used for a Phillips light bulb commercial way back in 2000 — their only mainstream claim to fame).

If the weather ends up being nice, people will show up for this concert anyway if only because it’s something to do — not because they want to see Gomez. Even a slight threat of rain could be enough to convince people to find something else to do Saturday afternoon/night. Here’s hoping — with a new mayor in power — that we have a better headliner next year. As for you opening bands — better watch your tongues. Remember what happened to Tim Kasher last year when he decided to voice his political views from stage. You don’t want the once-powerful Omaha World-Herald to come down on you like a ton of shit, do you? (By the way, judging by the outcome of the election, Kasher got the last laugh).

* * *

After Gomez, head down to Slowdown Jr. for Minneapolis band The Starlight Mints with The Evangelicals. $10, 9 p.m. Also Saturday night, O’Leaver’s is hosting Capgun Coup with Jake Bellows, Porlolo and Andrew Ancona. $5, 9:30 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I had a terrific birthday yesterday, thanks to everyone who wished me well (mostly via Facebook). Unfortunately, none of you cheap bastards bought me a single bottle of Rolling Rock at last night’s St. Vincent show at Slowdown, Jr. And what a well-attended show it was. I don’t know if it was a sell-out, but it looked darn close. Opener Pattern Is Movement came on at around 9:45 (Hey, Slowdown, whatever happened to starting at the stroke of 9?). A keyboard and drum duo, they sounded nothing like their music on Myspace. Instead, the frontman’s warbly vocals sounded like a cross between an insecure David Byrne and Adam Sandler’s Operaman, stammered over indie prog waterfall keyboards. And it was a short set (which reminds me of the Woody Allen quip, when reviewing a restaurant: “The food was terrible, and such small portions”).

St. Vincent (Annie Clark and her band) didn’t go on until around 11. After I first heard her perform at The Waiting Room a couple years ago, I declared her “this generation’s PJ Harvey.” Last night — and on her new album, Actor — it would be more accurate to call her this generation’s Kate Bush. Backed by four band members — a violin, bass, drums and a guy on woodwinds (flute, saxophone, clarinet) — the music was dreamy and theatric, as well as rocking and, dare I say it, funky (see action photo, actually for a better view of Annie, see Dave Leibowitz’s action photo). Their secret weapon is that woodwind player — who added depth and emotion to every song — and Clark’s own gritty guitar work — stark, hard, efficient, chopping, groovy. And, of course, her sweet voice that at times got lost in the mix. As is the case with any great band, the music sounded more dynamic on stage than on my speakers. Clark and Co. took it to the next level and peaked with the last song of the night — an amazing version of “Your Lips Are Red,” (from Marry Me) — that put this show on top of my “best of” list (so far this year).

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

As I mentioned yesterday, tonight is St. Vincent a.k.a. Annie Clark at Slowdown Jr. with Philadelphia indie band (in an Arcade Fire/Decemberists vein) Pattern Is Movement, both for just $10. It’s also my birthday, so come down and buy me a Rolling Rock. Show starts at 9.

This week’s column is a rehash of last weekend’s live reviews, so for you regular readers it’s (essentially) a rerun, and I include it below for record-keeping’s sake. The next three columns over the next three weeks all center around interviews, so quit complaining!

Column 224: It Happened Last Weekend
From the front lines…

Friday night.

It was my first live rock-show experience at The Sydney. I’d been warned that despite lowering the stage to near floor level from Mick’s ridiculously high perch that the room still sounded like a noisy ball of shit. Ah, but the crowd was mostly tough guys that embrace such dissonance. It was the first time in a long time that someone pulled a “Nice earplugs” barb at me. I just smiled and adjusted my foam nubs — I knew I’d get the last laugh.

I like the laidback feel of The Sydney. The room just has a good, friendly drinking vibe that it didn’t have before. The folks running the place are super nice; everyone seems to be in a good mood — what a concept! (Everyone seems to be in a good mood at O’Leaver’s every night, too, but that’s because they’re lost in a NyQuil-like daze after mainlining Rumple Mintz since 4 in the afternoon).

If you saw a show at Mick’s, you very likely were sitting down. If not, you were trapped in the crawlspace by the front door, likely in someone’s way but still able to see the band on the crazy-high stage. At The Sydney, tables play a secondary role. There’s plenty of space near the pseudo-stage, which is so low to the ground that it encourages people to get off their asses and stand right next to the band like any respectable punk and soak in the full force of the amps.

Kansas City’s The Life and Times (the opener) was a classic guitar/bass/drums trio, and from their opening song reminded me of ’90s-era Chicago band Chavez — from their mathy compositions to the slurring, rising vocal lines that ironically countered the machine-gun-firecracker drums and counter-melody bass.

Was it loud? Oh yeah. I saw a few frowning fans up front doing the classic fingers-in-the-ears pose. I found the comedian who mocked my earplugs hiding in the back. Silly rabbit — everyone knows that there’s nowhere to hide from the noise in Mick’s/Sydney, no escape but the exit.

Saturday night.

Having been to Ireland and having heard authentic tourist folk at its finest, I can say that The Turfmen are the best traditional Irish folk band we have, and as good as anything I heard “over there.”

The five-piece features a couple accordions, a bass, an acoustic guitar and Douglas County public defender Tom Riley as the helm. Riley’s life is begging to be adapted into an hour-long drama series on NBC — a short but clearly tough lawyer who defends the innocent during the day and is a fun-loving Irish musician by night whose buoyant fighting ballads have that undercurrent of despair that marks all things from the Green Isle. The acoustic guitarist is his son, Brendan (for the TV show, let’s make him a cop); the bass player is Omaha World-Herald reporter (and insider) Paul Hammel. The spiritual guiding light is the band’s founder, Peter Brennan, straight from County Louth — on the TV show, he’d provide wizened advice as only someone from the motherland could. Voiceover for the promo commercial: “From the mean streets of Omaha to the darkened stage, together this band of Irishmen not only play music, they protect and serve. The Turfmen — Based On A True Story.”

Anyway, by 11 the older folks in The Dubliner had been run off, replaced by an army of baseball-cap wearing frat guys and gaggles of prom-dressed girls out hosting giddy bachelorette parties. By 11:30, the place was a mob scene — the front room a solid block of humanity. Why hasn’t The Waiting Room or even Slowdown tried booking The Turfmen?

Which brings us to Sunday night…

The last time I saw Willy Mason was at Sokol Underground four years ago. He was a shaggy kid sneaking beers before his Omaha debut, having just signed to Conor Oberst’s just-created Team Love Records label. Despite his age and stature, his deep, broad voice sounded like it should come from someone 10 years older. Now four years later, Mason has grown into that voice. No longer the long-haired kid, he showed up on the The Waiting Room stage with a crew cut and a smile that’s logged a lot of miles.

Mason’s songs have grown up, too. These days his style is closer to traditional folk than what was on his first record. He’s a modern-day Woody Guthrie that holds himself on stage like a musical version of Sean Penn — loose but serious and funny at the same time, singing songs about ex-girlfriends and his constant journey to somewhere/anywhere but home.

As his set came to an end, he announced that it was his last song. Some girls in the audience yelled a request for his most well-known tune — “Oxygen.” Mason smiled and seemed happily surprised. “Oxygen? I guess it is getting kind of stuffy in here,” he joked. “I think I know that one.” Who knows if he intended to play it during the encore. He probably did, though I like to think that he didn’t, that he felt like he’d moved on from the late-teen anthem to individuality (a Tilly and the Wall’s forte), with its references to Ritalin and a world that “just keeps on spinning.” Sung as an adult, the song takes on a different, sentimental hue, like staring at a Polaroid taken years ago. No matter what he does from now on or how much better his songs become, Mason will never escape “Oxygen,” thanks to the role it played in so many young indie fans’ lives. How many songwriters wish they had one of those in their back pocket?

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—