When U2 were at their best…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A follow-up to a post from Tuesday, where I wrote about U2 giving away copies of their new album, Songs of Innocence, via iTunes. An online tussle broke out afterward as to whether the album is any good. I suggested that it sounds like Coldplay. Others disagreed (even though it, indeed, sounds just like Coldplay).

But furthermore, a discussion arose as to whether veteran artists can capture the excitement heard on recordings from the early days of their careers. Some adamantly said “no,” others (such as myself) said that some artists can create relevant, important music at any age.

John Mürren II, he of the umlaut, decided that it was a question for science. His comment:

“Beyond the fact that ‘good’ is subjective, it’s hardly surprising that music we are hearing as 30/40/50 year olds from a band that’s been around for 40 years doesn’t hit us the same as the stuff we heard in our teens and twenties. If you went to some teenager who has never heard U2 and had them choose between (U2’s new album) and ‘War,’ I’ll bet they’d chose the new album. (It’s) every bit as good a U2 album as ‘Hot Sauce Committee’ was a good Beasties album.”

Were that it possible to prove, I said. “My kids couldn’t care less about U2,” Mürren II said. “I’ll try it on them.”

And that’s exactly what he did. The next day, Mürren II posted his findings.

“So in a totally non-scientific test, I used my kids (6 and 12) as test subjects to see if old U2 is really ‘better’ than new U2, or do we old people just think so due to our attachment to the old stuff. I figured they are good subjects, being too young to really know much about U2 and having no emotional attachment or memories tied in to any of their work. I played 3 groups of 2 songs, each group having one song from the new album and one from an old one. I didn’t tell them why I was having them chose or which songs was older/newer.”

Group One: “New Year’s Day” (from 1983’s War) and (new song) “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).” Results: Jack: “Both are really good!” Dakota chose “The Miracle.” Notes: Dakota thought “New Year’s Day” sounded like The Police.

Group Two: (new song) “Raised By Wolves” and “I Will Follow” (from their 1980 debut Boy). Results: Both preferred “I Will Follow.” Notes: Dakota thought both songs sounded really similar; “These guys don’t have a lot of melodic ideas.” Mürren II gushed with pride: “Yes, I am *VERY* proud that my 12 year old busts out those kinds of sentences.”

Group Three: “Cedarwood Road” and “Bullet The Blue Sky” from 1987’s The Joshua Tree. Results: Jack: “Cedarwood Road.” Dakota: “Bullet The Blue Sky.” Notes: “Dakota didn’t really like either, but disliked ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ less because it ‘wasn’t as annoying,’ a statement which was followed by him imitating Bono warbling in a high voice. So there you have it.”

My reaction:

1. Ages 6 and 12 are pretty young to be doing this study. I was in high school when I first heard War, which, in my mind, was ground breaking. That said, you could argue Mürren II’s children have the advantage of being subjected to sophisticated 21st Century music. Their experience has probably included sizable helpings of Shania Twain, Katy Perry and Bieber, while in 1983, most people were rocking to “Mr. Roboto,” Flashdance, Duran Duran and Prince. I was living on a steady diet of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, as were most teen-aged nerds and dirt heads who lived in the outer banks we call Ft. Calhoun.

Furthermore, I experienced the genius of U2’s Under a Blood Red Sky while driving around in my 1978 Ford Fiesta with my first real girlfriend, who eventually stole my Under a Blood Red Sky T-shirt and never gave it back. What I’m saying here is that I wasn’t just experiencing the music, I was experiencing LIFE. Who knows what music will be held close to Jack’s and Dakota’s hearts when they reach those crazy high school years.

2. If I were doing the experiment, I wouldn’t have included anything released after 1983. I consider Joshua Tree to be a completely different U2 than the band we heard on that famous Red Rocks recording (when, in my opinion, they were at their peak).

3. The entire question as to whether a veteran artist can today produce music as vital as when s/he first had his/her mark dismisses the basic premiss that “new” will almost always trump “familiar.” And that’s become a problem, especially in the “Free Music Era” when kids can get their hands on anything they want in seconds, and are more apt to be attracted to a shiny new object rather than the dull second or third release by the band that was hot two years ago. I have no doubt a lot of great music has been dismissed without ever being heard because the performers are “yesterday’s news.” You’re lucky if you get one hit record these days (especially if you’re an indie band). Follow-ups can be a bitch. “New Arcade Fire? No thanks, I already own Funeral.”

4. I’d like to have our test subjects listen to an entire early U2 album followed by Songs of Innocence in its entirety. But do kids even listen to entire albums anymore? Smart ones do.

5. A more accurate experiment: Go back in time and play Songs of Innocence and War for a teen-aged Tim McMahan and see which he likes better. I think I know the answer.

Hats off to JMII and his brood for the science!

* * *

Alright, onto the weekend…

Tonight, my nephew’s death metal band Blessed Are the Merciless plays at The Waiting Room with a bevy of growl-y death metal bands. Earplugs, earplugs, earplugs. 8 p.m., $8.

Also tonight Matt Whipkey plays at 311 tribute bar The Hive, 1207 Harney St. No cover listed, but their website says Friday and Saturday night cover is $5 to $10 for men, and “ladies are free.” Welcome to 1985. Starts at 8.

Saturday night, Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide is doing a house show in a living room somewhere in Midtown Omaha. Find out where by buying a ticket from the Undertow website. $20, 8 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Rhymesayers Entertainment artist Brother Ali plays at The Waiting Room with Bambu and DJ Last Word. Indie hip-hop at its best. $15, 8 p.m.

Skypiper plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night with Nashville folkwave band Field Division and Lincoln’s Blét. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night Saddle Creek Records band PUJOL plays at the club The Washington Post said saved North Downtown Omaha, The Slowdown (Jr.). Opening is Oketo and our very own DJ Dave Goldberg. Tix are $8 today and $10 DOS. 9 p.m.

Did I miss your show? Put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With nothing newsworthy happening — and this being “Throwback Thursday” — let’s dip back into the Lazy-i wayback machine to Sept. 1, 2005, and an interview with The 49’r’s Mark Samuelson shortly after word leaked that his bar would be cutting back on live music. Mark tells us why and gives us a brief Omaha music history listen at the same time…

The 49’r Takes Five — Sept. 1, 2005
You can’t stop the music at the midtown tavern.

The iconic sign for The 49’r…

Within the past few years, The 49’r has established itself as one of the city’s more important music venues, hosting a few national acts but mostly concentrating on providing a stage for up-and-coming local bands. It’s arguably the best place to see snarling, hard-ass rock and punk from bands like The Monroes, Anonymous American and Race for Titles.

So when word leaked out a few weeks ago that The Niner was cutting back on live music, it came as a disappointment both to the bands and the fans of those white-knuckle acts.

Rumor and conjecture did abound. Had The 49’r reached the end of the live music business cycle? A cycle that goes something like this: A bar suffers from a lull in business. A few bands that hang around the place ask if they can play some gigs there, and the owner figures why not, it could help drum up some business. More bands are booked and crowds grow like kudzu. Before long, folks start coming out just because they dig the bar, the staff and its jukebox, and before you know it, the live music becomes a nuisance for the regulars who just want to drink in peace. Seeing an opportunity to cut costs, the venue puts an end to the stage show.

That theory, in this case, is only partially correct, says Mark Samuelson, owner of The 49’r. During the height of his nightclub business, Samuelson ran four successful Omaha bars simultaneously: The Partners on 42nd and F, the legendary Howard St. Tavern in the Old Market, its “upstairs bar” called The White Rabbit, and the good ol’ 49’r at 49th & Dodge.

Today only The Niner remains, which Samuelson still operates along with his other businesses, Aksarben Fixture and Supply, an ATM business, and some real estate ventures. The degree in which he operates The Niner, however, has changed. Samuelson says he’s somewhat removed from the bar’s day-to-day operations.

“I listen to my help,” he said when asked about the shift in the venue’s live music policy. “I think we got over-saturated, and every band wanted to play here. The staff was hearing that we were doing a little too much music. Now we’re only choosing the best bands that really draw people.”

He pointed out that The Niner’s live music policy differs from the way the Howard St. was run. Back then, Samuelson said he started booking new music acts because blues was such a tough sell. And it didn’t take long for the club to become a national tour stop for tomorrow’s superstars.

“We had the Smashing Pumpkins come in for a $140 guarantee and two vegetarian pizzas,” he said. “It’s crazy to think about that today.”

Unlike the Howard St, The 49’r doesn’t offer guarantees. Instead, bands take home whatever cover charge they can generate. “So if you’re just playing for the door, it doesn’t make sense for the big bands to come here,” he said.

There are exceptions, however, such as when the staff wanted to bring in New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain. “If they have a good idea, I just stay out of the way,” Samuelson said. So far, it’s worked well.

But if anything, The 49r’s biggest draw is its location in the heart of Dundee, or as their matchbooks used to say: “In the middle of everything and no place to park.”

“We’re not in the middle anymore. We’re downtown,” Samuelson said, laughing. “We’re so busy because we have so many people who live close to here. The .08 (drinking) law is really hurting a lot of clubs. No one wants to risk it.”

Better to tie one on at The Niner and safely stumble home then to get behind the wheel of a car.

So does the bar’s already-packed weekends without bands spell the end for The Niner’s live music? Hardly. In fact, Samuelson said the venue will get back into the swing of things later this fall. “It’s gonna pick back up,” he said. “I anticipate doing more than just a couple of shows a month like we’re doing now.”

And really, how could he ever stop? For it was at The 49’r back in the early ’70s that a 15-year-old Samuelson’s own band, Hat Trick, had its first gig. Ironically, the band’s second gig would be at The Howard St. Tavern. — Sept. 1, 2005.

* * *

Well, we all know what happened next. The 49’r would get sold to CVS in 2010, but the actual deal would get tied up by Ben Gray in the Omaha City Council. Then, for reasons that are still unclear, Gray would change his vote and the walls came tumbling down. Hard to believe it’s been five years. I think about The Niner every time I drive past that CVS on Dodge Street, or see Ben Gray at some public function or on TV….

* * *

OK, a couple shows worth mentioning tonight.

Over at The Waiting Room it’s Zammuto, featuring Nick Zammuto, a co-founder of classic indie band Books. Zammuto has a new album, Anchor, on Temporary Residence. Opening is Dosh (Anticon, Graveface Records). $12 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Caravat, featuring David Ozinga and Teal Gardner of UUVVWWZ, headlines a show at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Laughing Eye Weeping Eye and L. Eugene Methe. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

In this week’s column, Pt. 2 on my Lumo Lift experiment. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The slugline over the Apple photo read “A big moment in music history. And you’re part of it.” Did they mean the end of recorded music history?

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Did you follow the Apple announcement yesterday?

Needless to say, I’ll be replacing my broken-screened iPhone 5 with an ultra-slim 6 sometime in the next two weeks. And how about the Apple Watch! Gotta have one of those, right? Starting at $349, maybe not. I’m waiting to hear the first Apple Watch joke, something along the lines of “It works like the iPhone; if you’re on AT&T it drops a few minutes out of every hour…” *rimshot!*

But maybe the most interesting announcement was when Tim Cook trotted out U2 and then proceeded to give away the band’s new album, Songs of Innocence, to anyone with an iTunes account. I figured something like this would happen eventually, albeit with indie labels like Saddle Creek and Sub Pop. And I said that when it happened “…its success will breath new life into an already-established (though waning) act, who will see its biggest crowds ever on tour, generating merch and back-catalog sales for the label and causing the music industry to rethink (again) how it does business.”

Who would have thought that U2 would become the poster child for this model? But the fact is, U2 didn’t give away its new album. The Wall Street Journal had the skinny behind yesterday’s give-away. From the article:

“We’re not going in for the free music around here,” Bono joked on stage.  Apple didn’t pay a traditional wholesale price for each of the 500 million albums. Instead the company paid Universal and U2 an undisclosed lump sum for the exclusive window to distribute the album. Universal plans to piggyback on the big push for Songs of Innocence to promote the band’s 12 older albums, a critical factor for a veteran rock band.”

The article went on to say the album’s first single would be used “as a central element of a global, 30-day television advertising campaign for its new iPhones and Apple Watch. The campaign is believed to be worth around $100 million, according to a person familiar with the talks.”

Of course most people who download the CD from iTunes for free won’t know the financial backstory, and will assume U2 just gave it away, further enforcing the idea that recorded music has become (or is) essentially worthless. Especially when it just “shows up in your iTunes library” like magic.

I think we’re only a year or so away from an era when all the monster pop acts — Shania, Katy Perry, Gaga, Jay Z, (i.e., the VMA acts) — will give away downloads of their new albums as a matter of course, just to get the music out there before they go on tour, just like U2 has done. I’m not sure where that leaves the little guys (and labels) who still count on revenue from album sales.

And at what point does the RIAA quit going after people who illegally download music, figuring what’s the point when some bands are giving it away and it’s all available online via Spotify anyway….?

Bleak.

As for the quality of the new U2 record, someone online equated U2 to Coldplay yesterday when all this was going down, and goddamn if that comparison isn’t apt. The new U2 album indeed sounds like a Coldplay record. You have to wonder if Bono and Co. ever listen to their older stuff and ask themselves when the spark went out? Can you believe there was a time when U2 was considered subversive? I still remember the first time I heard tracks off War on Z-92, spun by none other that Slats Gannon, who knew he was playing something new and different. What pups we wall were back then…

* * *

Catching up on some news that went down while I was out… Jeremy Buckley announced that there will, indeed, be an 11th Annual Lincoln Calling Festival this year. With Buckley’s role in Vega, I thought perhaps last year’s fest might have been his swan song.

Buckley’s current status with Vega I cannot say here, other than it has indeed changed since last year. None of the parties involved are willing to go on the record as to who is running Vega these days, though it’s common knowledge that Eli and Carrie Mardock are still involved in the day-to-day operations.

The dates for Lincoln Calling are Oct. 7-12. Venues include The Bourbon, Duffy’s, Zoo Bar, Yia Yia’s Mix, Fat Toad Pub, The Cask, Tower Square and Vega. And the bands announced so far:

A Ferocious Jungle Cat
Ages and Ages
All Young Girls are Machine Guns
Annalibera
The Baberaham
Bailiff
Bonehart Flannigan
The Bottle Tops
Bud Heavy and the High Lifes
Christopher the Conquered
Churls
DEERPEOPLE
Evan Bartels Band
The Fabtones
Flannel Channel
Found Footage Festival
FREAKABOUT!
Gerardo Meza
Gloom Balloon
GloWorm
Halfwit
Hank & Cupcakes
Homegrown Film Festival
Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery
The Kickback
Lars and Mal
Manic Pixie Dream Girls
Matt Cox Band
The Melon Company
Oketo
Powers
The River Monks
The Ro Hempel Band
Root Marm Chicken Farm Jug Band
Sidewalk Chalk
Sol Seed
Thirst Things First
Universe Contest
White Mystery
Zoolarious Comedy Showcase

I’m glad to see that DEERPEOPLE is on the bill. I was introduced to this band via Lincoln Calling years ago, and caught their set this year at SXSW. Definitely worth seeking out when you’re wandering O Street that week.

Buckley tells me more details are forthcoming, more bands are being confirmed. Stay tuned, and follow along at the LC2014 Facebook page.

* * *

After two cancellations, Hear Nebraska is finally going to host their finale showcase for this year’s Live at Turner Park Series tonight, and it’s a doozy: Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and Snake Island are the featured acts. Get some food and booze and head on down. The music starts at 6 p.m. and it’s free.

Another free show going on tonight is at Slowdown Jr. where locals Lars and Mal and The Derby Birds will be performing. This one starts at 9.

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The set for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Belasco on Broadway. Getting a shot during the performance was impossible as vultures were circling, warning people that photos were not allowed. I still managed to sneak this one.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have nothing of a music-related nature to report from Manhattan, as I spent the long weekend going to the US Open, The Yankees and seeing the revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, which I guess could count.

(Hedwig, btw, was pretty awesome. Former Omahan and Creighton Prep grad Andrew Rannells starred. Rannells made his name in the original version of Book of Mormon on Broadway (in which he won a Grammy) and is sometimes featured as the character Elijah on the HBO series Girls. He took over the lead from Neil Patrick Harris a few weeks ago. We had amazing second-row aisle seats and I came this close to being the subject of the lap dance during the infamous “Sugar Daddy” number.)

* * *

Sounds like I missed one heckuva an Afghan Whigs show while I was gone. I guess you can’t have everything.

* * *

Interesting piece in today’s The Washington Post about The Slowdown and urban renewal. Read it here. The story relies heavily on the work of Michael Seman of Shiny Around the Edges, who wrote an academic paper about the same subject published in 2010 (which you can read here).

The Post doesn’t add much new to the discussion, other than centering the story on local band Lot Walks, who I’ve never heard of prior to the booking mentioned in the story. Needless to say, the Post article should bring some attention to this rather new band. Wonder how they got picked to be the centerpiece?

The story seems to imply that The Slowdown complex saved the NoDo area from decay, and mentions almost as an aside the $131 million ballpark that now overshadows everything down there, and, one could argue, was the real reason, along with the CenturyLink Arena (which isn’t mentioned in the article at all) for the majority of the development in that area, specifically all the freakin’ hotels.

From the article:

In 2006, the city partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to draft a full-scale redevelopment plan: “North Downtown should evolve into Omaha’s newest and most exciting neighborhood…”

The anchor, all parties agreed, should be the greatest music venue in Nebraska. The young and hip would ideally flock there, dine at nearby restaurants and rent loft spaces in old factories.

What the writer left out (or didn’t know) was that The Slowdown’s eventual location was the second choice. The original choice was just a few blocks from Sgt. Peffer’s, at 1528 N. Saddle Creek Rd., but that Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel were driven away by the Metcalfe Park Neighborhood Association and a couple local businesses who didn’t want the noise and traffic and congestion. You can read about that bit of forgotten history (including thumbnails of the original blueprints) here. That area is now a blight of rental storage units, run-down car washes and hole-in-the-wall auto garages, while NoDo has become the subject of national articles in The Washington Post. In the end, everyone got what they wanted.

Speaking of The Slowdown, it’s been a looooong time since I’ve seen a show down there. My next stop might be PUJOL Sept. 14 or the amazing Jessica Lea Mayfield Sept. 15.

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Some poor lady doing a stand-up outside Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week. Hope I’m photo bombing her. More at instagram.com/timmymac29.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Quick check-in. Still in Gotham City. Off to the US Open today. If you want to keep up with my travels, follow me on Instagram at Instagram.com/timmymac29.

Anyway, in this week’s column, what it means to slouch your way through life, and the promise surrounding the Lumo Lift. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

Finally, in Wednesday’s rundown of the weekend’s shows I forgot to mention the biggest show of all — Jake’s Block Party, right on Military Ave. in the heart of Benson (where Benson First Friday also is going on). The line-up: Superbytes, Snake Island, Purveyors of the Conscious Sound and headliner Icky Blossoms. Music starts at 7, cover is $7. More info here. Should be a blast.

Have a good weekend…

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A short week for me this week, as I’m heading out for my annual foray to NYC. I’ll be missing a number of what are likely to be exceptional shows, not the least of which includes tonight’s How to Dress Well show at The Waiting Room. The indie/ambient singer/songwriter has been a Pitchfork darling for years and is just now emerging with his latest on Domino “What Is the Heart?” Opening are locals Routine Escorts. $15, 9 p.m.

Then tomorrow night The Afghan Whigs take The Waiting Room stage for a show that, shockingly, is not sold out… yet. The band is on the road supporting Do the Beast (Sub Pop, 2014), their first new record in 14 years. Opening is Little Brazil’s Landon Hedges. This is an early 8 p.m. show and tix are $25 today and $30 tomorrow. If Greg Dulli puts on a show half as good as his past Twilight Singers gigs, this is bound to be on the short list of “shows of the year.”

What else this week…?

Well, Timecat returns to fabulous O’Leaver’s Friday with Eric in Outerspace and Nate Ma and the Rosettes. $5, 9 p.m.

Orenda Fink is doing an in-store at the Saddle Creek Shop Friday at 7 p.m. That should be amazing.

The STNNNG return to The Brothers Lounge Friday night with openers Dead Riders and American Cream. $5, 9 p.m.

The Kopecky Family Band is at Slowdown Jr. Friday night. $10 adv./$12 DOS, 9 p.m.

Conchance returns to The Waiting Room Saturday night with Ebony Tusks and Static Soul. $7, 9 p.m.

Feel Tight also is at O’Leaver’s Saturday night with Genders and The Sun-Less Trio. $5, 9 p.m.

Sunday night, Fargo band Worn Out plays at O’Leaver’s with Animal Lover and Foul Tip. $5, 9 p.m.

I’ll be checking in from time to time this week, posting photos from the streets of Gotham as well as a link to this week’s Reader column. And I might chime in on this or that, live from New York.

Have a great week.

* * *

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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.