I was afraid that this feature story on Brooklyn singer/songwriter Holly Miranda came off a bit bitchy. It wasn’t meant to sound that way, though I was a little annoyed that she chose not to answer any questions about her origins. That’s her prerogative, of course, and I can’t say that I blame her. I’m always amazed when musicians answer any questions that I pose to them. I’m just saying, it would have been nice to have a little more to work with for this article, but I made the best of what I had. Lemon. Lemonade. Etc. Take a look. She’s opening for Steel Train at The Waiting Room next Tuesday, March 23. And her new album on XL is pretty amazing. I suggest you buy it and your tickets.

* * *

And so, I’m off to Austin for SXSW. I’ll be there sometime this afternoon and Twitter updates and twitpics will follow. The first field report will be online tomorrow. I’ll also be posting updates from colleague Chris Aponik, who’s doing SXSW without a badge. He’s been there for a couple days already. Here’s Chris’ first field report:

Good day shows at Beerland, Red 7, Emo’s and Mohawk created conflicting choice around midday, so I just decided to stick with what I know I’ll dig, instead of the mysterious unknown of buzz bands. For the first time ever, I don’t have a badge so SXSW really is just a vacation for me. I have no expectations and not much desire to run around Austin all day. In fact, SXSW is starting to sprawl out too much to really run venue to venue every hour, which is what I did the first two years here.

So what did Wednesday bring? Well the continuing evolution of Lafayette, Ind.’s TV Ghost for starters. The band has improved over everything on its first album, Cold Fish, and then seems to be descending deeper into their own world of slow-burn post-punk menace. Singer Timmy Eick abuses his guitar and sings as if he’s been cast in The Exorcist, while his band provides ice-cold synth and pummeling rhythms behind him. There also was good stuff from Woven Bones, who play a taut wave of rock ‘n roll that could be called “shoegaze”, but to my ears, really isn’t. These two shows cemented my choice to stay at Beerland, which soon after reached capacity. Rather than lose my spot to go catch a band or two I stayed throughout the day, which culminated with garage rock’s premiere house partiers, The Spits, and early ’90s alt.rock garage band The Muffs.

From Beerland, I ventured into the wild world beyond SXSW. The first stop was Charlie’s, a gay nightclub that decided to host a late-afternoon slate of shows highlighted by Harlem, and Hunx and His Punx, who wraps tales of straight-boy seduction in ’60s bubblegum rock. Before Harlem played, I hightailed it to Trailer Space, an east Austin record shop that’s mostly used vinyl. They also regularly host bands. Next to Trailer Space sits Eastside Pies, one of those by-the-slice pizza places that would kill in Benson. At Trailer Space, more people seemed to crowd the parking lot than were inside, which also filled up. Here I caught Alex White’s rocking duo, White Mystery. She’s put together an inverse White Stripes, as she’s shit-hot on guitar and her male drummer hits better than 1,000 Meg Whites. She rips out torrents of midwestern garage punk with a directness and economy that seems charmingly anachronistic in an era of slop-pop amateurism.

Here’s Wednesday final tally:

Great: TV Ghost, Woven Bones, White Mystery
Very Good: Wizzard Sleeve, Spits, Fresh & Onlys, Puffy Areolas
Good: Hunx and His Punx, Happy Birthday, Magic Kids, Uptown Bums
Okay: Muffs, Cruddy, YellowFever

— Chris Aponik

* * *

I suspect that the untimely death of Alex Chilton will throw a pall over this year’s SXSW festivities. Big Star was one of those bands that pushed pain into my chest whenever I listened to their records, but maybe Third/Sister Lovers was the most devastating. RIP Alex Chilton; your star burns brighter than ever.

* * *

Now, off to the show…

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This is part two of a two-part column previewing South by Southwest. If you missed part one, featuring Little Brazil, Digital Leather and It’s True, it’s here.

Column 263 — Austin Bound, Pt. 2
The Mynabirds, Thunder Power, Eagle Seagull and UUVVWWZ talk SXSW.

We continue to search for answers to the question posed last week in Pt. 1 of this column: Why should bands play at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, which began March 17?

For Laura Burhenn, singer/songwriter and frontwoman for The Mynabirds, SXSW helped get her former band, Georgie James, signed to Saddle Creek Records. Before Austin, they’d already done a lot of work on their own, including touring with 4AD band Camera Obscura, playing the “other” important industry festival, CMJ, and self-releasing a couple recordings.

“We were doing pretty well for ourselves and getting some attention,” Burhenn said of her former band, “but we hadn’t found a home for our record. It wasn’t until Saddle Creek saw us play live that they were able to say ‘yes’ to putting our record out. I think that’s true for a lot of labels. It’s one thing to make a good record, but most labels want to make sure you can do something special live and in the flesh.”

Now with The Mynabirds, Burhenn finds herself in Austin again, this time working pre-promotion for the band’s April 27 debut on Saddle Creek. But more importantly for Burhenn, SXSW is a chance to see old friends, get a break from the gray Omaha winter and enjoy some “killer burritos,” while trying to forget how much the whole thing is going to cost. “This is one instance I’m incredibly grateful for day jobs that helped me save a little along the way over the years,” she said. “Now’s the time. Why not go for what you love with every ounce of time, energy, and money you have? If not now, when? And yes, really do ask yourself that very question.”

Eli Mardock of Eagle Seagull was more matter-of-fact about SXSW. His band’s long-awaited album, The Year of the How-To Book, finally comes out on [PIAS] Recordings this spring. For him and the band, SXSW is just another day at the office. “We’re getting in and out as quickly as possible,” he said. “There are loads of bands/friends I’d love to see, but it just doesn’t make sense for us to hang around this year. It’s all work and no play for us, I’m afraid.”

Eagle Seagull’s SXSW intro was in 2008. “I’m not sure it really helped our band/career much, but it was the show that finalized our first major record deal,” Mardock said. “I don’t think (SXSW) is important. It’s beneficial for a handful of bands. But to most, it’s a fairly costly undertaking without much return (in terms of money, press, exposure). We’re playing it this year because there will be a lot of European press there (Our second album is dropping this month in Europe). It’s a good opportunity for them to see us live. Hopefully we’ll impress and gain some additional press before the release and our April tour.”

The “European press” also was a draw for Thunder Power, who is headed to SXSW for the first time. “It’s a very good place to network with people in the music industry,” said rhythm guitarist/bassist Will Simons. “It gives us a chance to talk to booking agents, which we don’t have and which could really help us out. And there’s a British journalist who wants to do an interview with us. We have an EP coming out in England.”

Simons said Thunder Power’s American label, Slumber Party Records, helped get them invited to SXSW without having to enroll through sonicbids.com — a process that got them invited to last year’s CMJ festival. In the end, all of the festival experiences — including the North by 35 Festival they’re playing in Denton, Texas, prior to SXSW — help build a strong musical resume.

“SXSW seems like one of those steps that feels right for a band to take,” Simons said, adding that Thunder Power’s invitation to record a Daytrotter session (which has become an indie music rite of passage) probably helped them get accepted at CMJ. “Even if you don’t get a feature in Rolling Stone out of this, it could make things easier in the future, like booking shows in bigger cities outside of Omaha. We’re taking everything we’ve done so far and are taking it to the next level.”

UUVVWWZ frontwoman Teal Gardner called the road to South by Southwest a “well-trodden path.” Having never performed there, she said the band jumped at a chance to play the Saddle Creek Records showcase (along with five other SXSW gigs they’re slated to play throughout the festival’s five days).

“Having as much as possible as a band is extremely integral to all of it,” Gardner said. “The benefit of being together as a band, traveling in a van and relying on each other is important to us.”

And then there’s the variety of bands that she’ll get to check out while she’s there. Though Nebraska is recognized as a regular tour stop for most bands, Gardner said a lot of important acts simply bypass the state. “It’s a chance to stick my head down in the fish tank and look around,” she said. “SXSW has more to do with getting some good experiences under your belt, and meeting and seeing different bands. It’s a cornerstone experience to go through. I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but afterward, I want to have something to talk about.”

Trust me, Teal, you will. And so will I. But if you don’t want to wait for the report in the next issue of The Reader, track my daily SXSW updates at lazy-i.com or follow my tweets at twitter.com/tim_mcmahan starting March 18.

* * *

So who are these folks seeing in Austin? Well, like Eli said above, Eagle Seagull plans to get in and get out. No fun allowed, apparently. Teal Gardner said she hopes to run into her friend Jan Lankisch, co-owner of Tomlab Records. “They put out a ton of sweet stuff like Xiu Xiu, Yacht, tUNEYARDS, sweet bands that never come through here,” Teal said. “I think they’re doing a showcase. Jim (Schroeder, guitarist) probably has a slick agenda as far as what he wants to see. He knows about things and gets excited. I like to go with the flow.”

Will Simons said he’s excited about seeing The Flaming Lips, who are playing a free show in Denton. He also mentioned Liverpool band Wave Machines, who he saw play at SXSW last year, when he attended as a correspondent for the City Weekly.

Laura Burhenn is much more detailed about her plans in Austin. “We’ll be there Tuesday through Sunday — the whole time,” she said. “In my experience it’s nearly impossible to see every band you want to see — even though those bands are playing approximately 10 shows each. Try to coordinate that with the shows we’re playing, the meetings we’ll have — it’s a near impossibility. That said, I’m dying to catch Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at some point. I went to the Daptone Records Revue at CMJ in the fall and couldn’t stick around long enough to see them. I sure did love my time with the Budos Band, but seeing Sharon Jones sure would be lovely. I’d also love to see Aloha and BRAHMS. TJ Lipple (Aloha) co-produced the Georgie James record and is a brilliant musician. Cale Parks (in both Aloha and BRAHMS) toured as Georgie James’ drummer very early in our career. A sweetheart of a guy and a brilliant musician as well. I’d also really love to see Tobacco. We worked together on a remix awhile back when he was busy with Black Moth Super Rainbow; I’d love to see his live show in his new incarnation. Other than that, I’ll hope to catch other friends’ shows: These United States, Vandaveer, Le Loup (and on and on). And I’ll start a list of missed-in-Austin shows that I absolutely can’t miss when they come through Omaha next.”

My coverage of SXSW won’t start until tomorrow evening, as I won’t be touching down in Austin until Thursday afternoon. Having done this before, I know that three days is going to be more than enough for me to handle. You’ll see.

* * *

BTW, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, in case you forgot.

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Everyone’s getting ready for SXSW, including Eagle Seagull, who will be playing a last-minute show at O’Leaver’s tonight with The Stay Awake and Lincoln’s Pharmacy Spirits. The show starts at 9:30 and it’s free.

* * *

Consider this an early head’s up: Robert Thornton (The Wagon Blasters, Now Archimedes!, Past Punchy and the Present, Culture Fire, Clayface Regular) let me in on the details about his new band, Students of Crime, which will have its world premier April 17 at O’Leaver’s, playing with The Third Men. Thornton says the “students” joining him are drummer Brad Smith, who played in Fischer and Now, Archimedes!, Dan Stewart from Jimmy Skaffa on guitar and Marc Phillips (Carsinogents) on bass. Something tells me it’s gonna be loud.

* * *

Tomorrow’s column is Pt. 2 of the SXSW preview, featuring comments from The Mynabirds, Thunder Power, UUVVWWZ and Eagle Seagull.

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Digital Leather is about to explode. I say this after seeing the new line-up in action Friday night at a packed O’Leaver’s. The five-piece played a set that tore the place apart. I credit a different approach to their sound from what I heard a few months ago at The Waiting Room — that set took DL songs and ratcheted them into straight-up garage rock/punk, losing all of the subtleties heard on the band’s albums. The result was rather formulaic, kind of boring and “samey.”

That’s all changed with this new line-up. Now with a second keyboard player (frontman Shawn Foree also plays keyboards), the band has pulled back the arrangements to make room, unveiling the melodies heard instead of brashly trodding upon them. The new sound is more post-punk than garage, probably more authentic to what Foree has been doing on recordings. It’s certainly more balanced without taking away any of the energy, judging by how the crowd was rocking to “Styrofoam” and set closer “Studs in Love,” which Foree introduced by saying “I hate this fucking song. I wish I never wrote it.” With a full beard, Foree is starting to resemble an indie version of Jim Morrison circa Morrison Hotel. One things for certain, with the extra keyboard, he’s now free to get more involved on stage and with the crowd — he’s a natural performer. After the last song and before leaving O’Leaver’s “stage” he threw a shout-out to his new keyboard player, Annie Dilocker (ex-Sweet Pea, ex-Hubble) saying “Give it up for fucking Annie. She doesn’t know what she’s in for, but it’s gonna involve a lot of penises.”

DL already has a head start on finding wider exposure, having been managed by the late, great Jay Reatard and being signed to indie stalwart Fat Possum Records. Now comes another bout of SXSW, and then subsequent touring. This is a band that won’t be ignored, and will be the next bunch of locals to break through to the other side — if they survive their hard-living lifestyles. We’ll see what condition they’re later this week in Austin.

* * *

Speaking of Digital Leather, the band’s SXSW interview for Spinner just went online here. Among the highlights are Foree’s love confessions for The Fall, Echo and the Bunnymen and Prince, as well as a retelling of a night in Lafayette that involved the onstage use of a “marital aid.” Watch out, Annie!

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Chris Crisci’s other band, Appleseed Cast, takes the stage with Dreamed. $12, 9 p.m.

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How about six straight hours of music tonight? It starts at The Hole down at 712 So. 16th St. (the old Diamond Bar) with a very eclectic line-up: Godshamgod, Conchance, Well-Aimed Arrows (ex-Protoculture), Rainbow Party, and Perry H. Matthews. If you’re a post-punk fan, you’ll never find a better time to check out this new all-ages venue. No booze! $6, 7 p.m.

Who knows how long that show at The Hole will last, but figure it’ll be over before 11. Next stop is The Brothers Lounge, where tonight Conchance, Her Flyaway Manner and Broken Spindles will be performing as a fund raiser for the Donut Hill Skatepark Project. $5, 9 p.m. More info on the Donut Hill project page in Facebook.

Last stop is O’Leaver’s, where Digital Leather has its SXSW send-off show with Lafayette, IN, band Boy Toys. According to a Facebook message from DL received yesterday, this show won’t start until 11, and Digital Leather won’t go on until midnight. Still, O’Leaver’s lists a 9 p.m. start time. Hopefully, it really is starting late. $5.

That’s not all. There’s a great show tonight at Slowdown Jr. tonight with Bazooka Shootout, The Rouge, The Photo Atlas and headliners Landing on the Moon. $7, 9 p.m.

Saturday night is just as busy show-wise. The big one is Box Elders, Baby Tears, The Yuppies and Well Aimed Arrows at The Waiting Room. As I mentioned yesterday, those new Box Elders 7-inches won’t be available, but those Baby Tears singles probably will be (and they’re worth picking up). $7, 9 p.m.

Also in Benson, singer/songwriter Brad Hoshaw is celebrating (suffering?) his 30th Birthday at The Barley St. Tavern with Landon Hedges (Little Brazil), Kyle Harvey, Matt Cox, Nick Karl, Hubble, Rock Paper Dynamite, the amazing Son of 76 & the Watchmen (from Lincoln) and, hopefully, a few tunes by Brad himself. $5, 8 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night at The Barley St. Tavern is the It’s True send-off party. The event will include the playing of their unreleased album in its entirety, a screening of footage from a documentary being made about the band by John P. Campbell, and a live performance by It’s True. Only 65 tickets to this event will be available, at $15 each. For more info, go to the event’s Facebook page.

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I’ve got some bad news for folks who were looking to pick up a copy of that Box Elders limited-release 7-inch on HoZac Records at The Waiting Room Saturday night. The band e-mailed me yesterday to say that there was a water-main break at the pressing plant. Among the damage was their record’s pressing plates, which now have to be remade, so they won’t have copies in hand until their April 5 Slowdown gig (opening for The Black Lips). Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part.

* * *

As part of SXSW’s pre-festival coverage, Spinner posted an interview with It’s True that evolved into a series of “It’s True” or “It’s False” questions. Among the truths are dismembered snakes, taser play and love letters to fans from the road. Check it out here.

* * *

There’s a lot going on tonight in Benson. At The Barley Street Tavern Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear will be in the house along with Kyle Harvey and Landon Hedges (Little Brazil). Quite a line-up. $5, 9 pm.

Down the street at PS Collective it’s the duo of Whipkey and Zimmerman along with All the Young Girls Are Machine Guns and Addison Wright. $5, 9 p.m.

And then there’s the big Flobots show at The Waiting Room with Maxilla Blue. Who is Flobots? They’re a Denver band that combines hip-hop, indie rock and humor/dread. They sort of remind me of Cake. Actually, more than sort of. $15, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

This is part one of a two-part column previewing South by Southwest. Part two will feature Mynabirds, Thunder Power and UUVVWWZ, along with anyone else I can track down (Eagle Seagull, Brimstone Howl).

Column 262: Austin Bound, Pt. 1
Little Brazil, It’s True, Digital Leather talk SXSW.

I used to think that South By Southwest’s legendary role as facilitator of the great rock ‘n’ roll dream was a load of you-know-what.

Just look over the list of bands performing March 17-21 at the annual music festival in Austin (located at sxsw.com). Most of them — almost all of them, actually — are already signed to a record label, have plenty of “representation” in the form of publicists and booking agents; and some are downright huge (Metallica, for example, played last year). Any thoughts of SXSW being some sort of rock ‘n’ roll casting call where a young band is “discovered,” signed and processed, and set upon a road of excessive sex and drugs, well, that was a thing of the past, right?

Then I went last year, soaked in the showcases, and found out that there was more to SXSW than unlimited free beer, bad PA’s and terrific Mexican food. There were plenty of unsigned bands (or bands signed to microscopic labels) who were grabbing the attention of indies such as our very own Saddle Creek Records, who I later discovered signed Rural Alberta Advantage and Land of Talk after seeing them play in Austin.

Still, there had to be more to it if poverty-level musicians were willing to lay out literally thousands of dollars in tip money to travel to Austin with the bravest hope of just not getting lost in the sideshow. What do they want from SXSW? That’s what I asked a handful of local bands that got invited this year.

Among them, Little Brazil, who has performed officially and unofficially at SXSW for five of the past six years. This year the band’s itinerary includes playing a showcase for Anodyne Records — their label. Little Brazil guitarist Greg Edds said there’s more to SXSW then trying to get signed. “Performing holds endless opportunities to expand your career in different avenues,” he said, pointing to the army of publicists, music distributors, and booking agencies on hand. “Your performance might also garner the attention of one of the many company owners looking to hand out product sponsorships. Who can so no to free gear?”

Radio reps also can be in the crowd. “If they happen to enjoy your set, you’ve gained a push with the music audience they influence,” Edds said. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s an important gamble, minus the addiction.”

So what’s come of their past SXSW odysseys? “Only time will tell on how those performances have affected our careers,” Edds said, “but we’ve made a nice impression with the locals as well as making new fans that attend the festival and live on different coasts.”

Karl Houfek, who plays keyboards for local unsigned band It’s True, said this is his first year to be invited to play in Austin. What do they think they’ll gain from the experience? “We have no idea,” he said. “I guess SXSW is one of those things that we look at as a benchmark of sorts, and that we’re excited about doing, but we’re still not convinced it really means anything. Actually, I think, for the most part, and this applies whether you’re a shit band or not, if you’re invited to play SXSW, you’ve worked hard… so I think, at the very least, it means that.

“We’re not on a record label, so I guess the great hope is that maybe people we’re interested in talking to (booking agents, labels, publicists) will come watch us play and express some interest in partnering with the band in some capacity. But, we also realize that the most likely scenario is that we’ll just play our set, get some polite applause, and walk down the street and have a few beers with Little Brazil.”

Houfek said that if their van doesn’t break down on the way to Austin, the trip will cost the band over a grand for gas and lodging alone. The Reader is “sponsoring” them, so that’ll help (probably). They’re also playing a SXSW send-off show at The Barley Street Tavern March 14, “so we’re hoping that raises a bit of scratch.”

Digital Leather frontman Shawn Foree said he sold Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore a record a couple years ago at SXSW, but other than that, he has no idea how his past festival experiences have helped him. “Mostly it seems like SXSW is an opportunity to have other bands hate you because they aren’t playing,” he said.

Foree, whose amazing new album, Warm Brother, was released on indie label Fat Possum, isn’t looking for a new home. “Really, I just hope to have fun this year, to see my friends from around the country, eat real Mexican food and play music,” he said. “There are plenty of other bands who spend all their time worrying about big label attention.”

Moneywise, he said bands are offered two payment options for performing: either $250 “no matter who you are,” or a wristband that gets you into the clubs. “We’ll take the cash,” he said. “Most of the cool shows don’t even require wristbands anymore.”

Austin is just another stop on Digital Leather’s spring tour. The band will be playing in Tulsa on St. Patrick’s Day, and then will have to drive nine hours to get to Austin, get their rooms and get one hour to rest before their first gig.

It’s a grind, but Foree said despite what he said before, SXSW is still an opportunity to play in front of a lot of people and get a taste of how the music business works. “It’s a fickle world operated by soulless vultures.”

Next week, The Mynabirds, Thunder Power and UUVVWWZ.

* * *

So who are these folks interested in seeing at the festival?

Karl Houfek: “Off the top of my head, I’d say that personally, I’m excited to see Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene, Thurston Moore, Local Natives, er..The XX, maybe? Kyle’s got a crush on Meiko, so he’ll probably wander off by himself to go see her and not tell anyone…but I’m onto you, Harvey! Oh, and I recently saw that Hole is playing…I’ll be very tempted to go see whether or not Courtney Love flips out on people.”

Shawn Foree said he and his band are “excited to see Wizzard Sleeve. I kinda want to see Uffie, who we are playing with one night.”

Greg Edds said Little Brazil will be in Austin for 48 hours. “And believe me, that is just enough time to permanently do damage to your liver and grow financially incapable of buying life’s necessities,” he said. “It’s hard to plan for something like this, but it’s good to start out with a nice blue print, with 15-30 minutes between each artist to improve spur of the moment decisions. We’re looking forward to hearing; Band of Horses, the Antlers, Local Natives, Spoon, Ray Davies, Joan of Arc, Midlake, the Walkmen, Maps & Atlases, and of course supporting the many Omaha artists that were asked to play SXSW.”

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A couple people had told me off to the side that Brimstone Howl was playing at South by Southwest this year, but I wasn’t able to confirm it, until now. Though the gig doesn’t appear on their Myspace or Alive! Record pages, it does show up in the Sched Unofficial Guide to SXSW 2010 — the ultimate must-have online scheduling tool for official and unofficial gigs at SXSW. According to Sched, Brimstone Howl has an official gig Thursday, March 18, at 11:30 p.m. at Jaime’s, 802 Red River St. The listing also appears here on sxsw.com. That brings to eight the number of Nebraska bands playing at this year’s festival. Not bad. I’ll be interviewing three of those bands — Little Brazil, Digital Leather and It’s True — in tomorrow’s column, which is part one of a two-part series previewing the festival.

* * *

Tonight at The Barley Street Tavern Lincoln singer/songwriter Ember Schrag plays with Midwest Dilemma and a couple other acts. $5, 9 p.m. Check it out.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I had mentioned to the guy next to me in the crowd at the Fishbone/English Beat show Friday night that it was one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen at Slowdown, and he pointed out an interesting scientific fact of physics and biology: Old people are just “bigger” than young people.

Or as someone else in the crowd put it, “Tim, tonight you’re the young, skinny guy.“

I knew the gig would draw an older crowd, but I wasn’t prepared for the overall vibe, which felt like a mix of, say, a suburban Omaha wedding reception with a Council Bluffs casino. Lots of folks in their 40s, 50s and even a few in their 60s, but you know what? — all of them were having a great time. They loved this music and they weren’t afraid to show it (unlike too many crowds at Slowdown these days). That meant giant guys dressed like Yogi Bear dancing a grind alone back by the bar. It meant lots of older New Jersey-looking women in leather jackets and pumps rushing around with whiskey sours in their well-manicured paws. It meant a night when the line out of the Men’s Room far exceeded the line out the Woman’s (Maybe it’s growing problem, not a going problem). You know the story.

Fishbone was onstage when we got there at around 9:15. They looked older but sounded the same as I remembered from MTV in the late ’80s. I’ve never liked Fishbone, and last Friday night’s set didn’t change my opinion, but I have to admit they put on a great show, and the band sounded tight, especially when they pulled out that bari-sax. The highlight was when frontman Andre jumped off the stage for a brief crowd surf — it’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of those. Click the thumbnail on the left to see a larger picture of Fishbone at The Slowdown, taken by photographer John Shartrand.

After a long break, the English Beat were next. Blond, trollish frontman Dave Wakeling still had that sandpaper voice (that’s beginning to slide into Colin Hay territory). The band also sounded good — that’s what months of casino tours can do, along with playing the same catalog night after night for decades. I waited through five songs for “Mirror in the Bathroom” before giving up.

* * *

I ran into Jake Bellows outside The Brothers Lounge on Saturday night, where he told me his new website, jakebellows.com, has just launched. From the site, Bellows will release new songs — one per month. “I’m going to sell them for $1.29, and then take them down and replace them when they’ve been up for 30 days,” he says on the website homepage. You can find this month’s song by clicking on the “Music” link in the top nav. It’s “Should You Ever Change Your Mind,” a gorgeous track that features Jake’s guitar and swaggering croon. So is jakebellow.com the way all music will be sold in the future? Maybe.

* * *

Also, here’s an early heads up for a rare show at The Brothers Lounge this coming Friday night. Conchance, Her Flyaway Manner and Broken Spindles will be performing on the Brother’s “stage” as a fundraiser for the Donut Hill Skatepark Project. $5, 9 p.m. More info on the Donut Hill project page in Facebook.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Before I get to the weekend calendar, here’s a very brief review of Goodnights, the new pizza/bar in the southeast corner of the Slowdown complex. I had dinner there last Saturday night and was impressed by the service, the decor and the pizza. The restaurant looks like what you’d expect Slowdown to look like if it were a pizza place — in other words, cool, modern, slightly minimal architecturally, with good lighting, a big central bar, plenty of booths and tables, and large flat-panel TVs throughout the room. The night we were there the panels displayed Apolo Ohno and other Olympic coverage. Goodnights’ No. 1 downside: Their house music, which is horribly bad mall rock or something you’d hear in a West Omaha meat market. It almost made me lose my appetite.

But who cares about the decor? It’s all about the pizza, right? Before we could order, the waiter came by with a list of $4 “specialty shots” and begged us to buy a couple. I declined, but he was persistent, and in the end… I didn’t buy any shots. I asked why they were so pushy about shots, and he said it was all “part of the fun,” or something like that. And shots are fun, until you realize you have no way to get home after dinner because you’re blasted.

Other than a shots menu, Goodnights has a pizza menu (online at goodnightsomaha.com) — which only lists pizzas, no appetizers, which was fine by me (though I wouldn’t mind a small dinner salad or even an order of garlic bread. Actually, maybe it isn’t fine with me). Pizza is available by the slice or 14-inch and 18-inch rounds. We tried the 14-inch “barbeque brisket” pie, which features smoked brisket and pepperoni bathed in barbecue sauce with onions, cilantro and mozz cheese. The pizza arrived almost immediately — great service, and lots of it, judging by the half-dozen or so uniformed waiters who had nothing to do (because there was only about 10 people in the restaurant — on a Saturday night).

Goodnights pizza is thin-crust, similar to Zio’s but much better because they pre-bake the crust before adding toppings, and then bake it again — just like how I make my own homemade pizza. So unlike Zio’s greasy, soggy crust, it’s nice and firm and tasty. The crust was the best part of the pizza. The brisket was good, too, but everything was overpowered by the sauce, which was too sweet and too abundant — way too much sauce for a BBQ pizza. With beer and tip, the bill was around $30 total, not bad.

So where does Goodnights fit into the Omaha Pizza Matrix? I’d rank it above Zio’s and the national chain pizza joints, but below LaCasa (which is top dog on my list). It sits just slightly above Pizza Shoppe and Sam and Louie’s. So, definitely worth your attention. It’s better than nearby Union Pizza, which started out strong when it opened a year or so ago, but whose pizza quality has steadily declined thanks to skimpy toppings and under-cooking (at least the last few times I’ve ordered from there).

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So why the restaurant review? Because tonight would be a good night to try Goodnights, before or after the English Beat concert at Slowdown (Goodnights is open until 1 a.m.). The show sold out weeks ago, which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise considering vintage ’80s bands appeal to such a large majority of Omaha music fans. I’ve always thought English Beat was a B-level ’80s band, but still fun with hits like “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Save It for Later” and “I Confess” and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a little “Tenderness.” But you already know this if you have tickets, and if you don’t, you’re screwed. The show starts early — 8 p.m. I’ll be getting there at around 10 to avoid openers Outlaw Nation and Fishbone — a band I’ve never liked.

No tix? Head to O’Leaver’s (where I’ll probably end up after Slowdown) and see The Dinks (according to O’Leaver’s tweets, they’ve changed their name to Saudi Arabia) with Perry H. Matthews, La Casa Bombas and Watching the Trainwreck. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night is looking rather sparse. Midwest Dilemma is playing down at Slowdown Jr. with Mother Culture, Anniversaire and Wrestling With Wolves. $7, 9 p.m.

The Hole is hosting punk shows both Friday and Saturday nights. Tonight features local heroes Hercules with California band Battle, Borealis, Worst of Times and the legendary Cordial Spew. Tomorrow night at The Hole (which is at 712 So. 16th St. (the old Diamond Bar)) it’s An Airbag Saved My Life, Suicide Blondes, La Casa Bombas, The Prairies and Anestatic. All shows start at 7 p.m. and cost $6. No booze!

Sunday night Thunder Power has a show at O’Leaver’s with Underwater Dream Machine, and Madison band Icarus Himself ($5, 9:30 p.m.). “This will be our first local show of the year and kind of our pre-SXSW warm-up,” said Thunder Power’s Will Simons in an email. “We have a few new songs, a revamped lineup (new drummer Jeremy Stanoshek of bands like Kite Pilot, Coast of Nebraska, Magic Kiss) and have trimmed down to a quintet from a six-piece. We are also about to release a 10-inch split-EP with the 1959 Hat Company (Toledo, OH) on Slumber Party, out March 9. It will be our third release on the label.”

In addition, Simons said April 5 will see the release the band’s first single “Take a Hike” in the UK and Europe, followed up by the release of an extended EP sometime this spring/summer on a label called Mono Music.

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