The OEAA Showcase is tonight in Benson.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Despite my opinion of the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards (OEA) process, I generally dig their bi-annual showcases. It’s a good chance to see a lot of Benson bands at a lot of Benson venues and drink a lot of Benson booze at a reasonable price. And it serves as kind of an “open house” for the Benson district, which is an ever-changing organism of bars and music venues.

Tonight is the fall OEA showcase — seven Benson bars, one admission price of $10.  Here’s the current sched (which could change), and the bands I’m going to try to see in bold:

The Waiting Room
9:00-9:35 Bazile Mills
9:50-10:25 Arson City
10:40-11:15 Jason Earl Band
11:30-12:05 The Decatures
12:20-12:55 M34N STR33T
1:10-1:45 One Eye White

The Sydney
9:00-9:35 When Towers Fall
9:50-10:25 Pancho & The Contraband
10:40-11:15 Matt Cox Band 
11:30-12:05 DJ Shor-T and E Babbs
12:20-12:55 Stonebelly
1:10-1:45 Break Maiden

The Pizza Shoppe Collective
8:00-8:35 Jocelyn
8:50-9:25 Omaha Guitar Trio
9:40-10:15 R Style
10:30-11:05 Marcey Yates 
11:20-11:55 Latin Threat 
12:10-12:45 Shuless

Burke’s Pub
9:00-9:35 Southpaw Bluegrass Band
9:50-10:25 Prairie Gators Band
10:40-11:15 Mitch Gettman
11:30-12:05 Nathan Wade
12:20-12:55 Hector Anchondo
1:10-1:45 The Willards Band

Reverb Lounge
8:00-8:35 Kait Berreckman 
8:50-9:25 Edem
9:40-10:15 All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
10:30-11:05 The Bishops
11:20-11:55 Dereck Higgins 
12:10-12:45 Dallas Hendrix
1:05-1:35 DJ Mista Soul

The Barley Street Tavern
8:00-8:35 Aly Peeler
9:00-9:35 Polka Police
9:50-10:25 Clear The Day
10:40-11:15 Dirty River Ramblers
11:30-12:05 Dylan Bloom Band
12:20-12:55 Low Long Signal
1:10-1:45 Uh Oh

The 402 Arts Collective
8:00-8:35 Dilemma
8:50-9:25 Clark & Company
9:40-10:15 Esencia Latina Band
10:30-11:05 Belles & Whistles
11:20-11:55 Punching Puppets

Saturday night Simon Joyner and the Ghosts take the stage at the Reverb Lounge. According to the invite: “Simon Joyner and the Ghosts have just finished their new album, ‘Grass, Branch, and Bone,’ coming out on Woodsist in the new year. Come hear some of these new songs for the first time.” Opening is Sucettes, the new combo featuring Dave Goldberg and Jeremiah McIntyre (formerly of The Box Elders). Also on the playbill is Skeleton Man (members of Coaxed, Yuppies). $7, 9 p.m.

That’s all I got for the weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a good one.

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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.