Skypiper at The Waiting Room, Sept. 9, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When I first started writing about music years and years ago, one of the first things I needed to get over was being intimidated by the artists I was interviewing. Case in point: I remember visiting the mid-town home of Sydney Buchanan, where I was slated to interview a very young version of Mousetrap (featuring Sydney’s son, Patrick) for a feature in The Note, a Lawrence Kansas-based music publication that’s long since defunct. I was quite a few years older than those teen-aged Mousetrap kids, but I was still nervous as hell — nervous about asking a stupid question, nervous about just looking stupid in general.

It didn’t take long to get over that sense of insecurity, to the point where I eventually became comfortable interviewing anyone, from a nationally renowned rock band, to a politician or the head of a global corporation. We’re all just people, right?

I had to go through a similar thing when it came to going to rock shows by myself, a situation I’ve written about at length before (right here, actually). I figured as I got older, that stigma that comes with flying solo at shows would ease somewhat, but it really hasn’t. Case in point this past Friday night.

My first stop for the evening was The Waiting Room for the Skypiper CD release show. I got there in time to catch the last song by opener Tarlton, and quickly regretted not getting there sooner. They were followed by Anniversaire, a somber chamber-pop band purposely drenched in melancholy despite a very excited drummer dressed in gym shorts, knee-highs and headband who looked like he’d be more comfortable backing a party band at a kegger. Then came Skypiper. I’ve been listening to the band’s new record off and on for the past couple days, reminded of acts like Jeremy Messersmith and Decemberists. They brought a similar exuberance to their live show, performed in front of a large audience, none of whom I recognized — this wasn’t your typical Waiting Room crowd, and I’m sure there’s a reason for that.

I hung out for about five Skypiper songs before heading to my car and downtown to House of Loom for the Depressed Buttons inaugural show. It was around midnight when I rolled past the building, located just south of Western Heritage Museum on 10th Street. I could hear the chaos boiling out of Loom from my car, where I noticed dozens of people crushed outside the door, not waiting to get in, just enjoying the cool pre-fall night.

And as I looked for a parking spot along the overpass I said to myself, “Who are you kidding? You’re not going in there. Not by yourself.”  So yeah, I chickened out. It’s one thing to go to TWR or Slowdown by yourself and get lost in the crowd with the rest of the people staring at the stage. It’s entirely another thing to show up at a dance club alone and try to inconspicuously mix in with hundreds of people shaking their asses on the dance floor, especially if your ass is older than theirs, and ain’t shaking. As much as I wanted to see and hear what Todd and Jacob were up to, I couldn’t get over that feeling that I would be very much out of place. It’s not a “you thing,” Loom, it’s a “me thing.” And I have to get over it.

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One place where you’ll never feel intimidated is O’Leaver’s, mainly because no matter when you arrive, everyone there is already loaded. Tonight should be no exception when Peace of Shit takes the stage along with Dikes of Holland and The Prairies. $5, 9:30 p.m. By all means, go.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.