It’s Halloween weekend. You know how it goes.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Halloween weekends music-wise are usually dedicated to cover bands, tribute shows and amateur drinking. You get plenty of all three if you go out to the venues tonight and tomorrow night. And you better be wearing a costume.

Cover bands and tribute shows are fine, but pose no interest to me. The 1% properties are doing all covers/tributes Friday/Saturday night. Enjoy.

Then there’s fabulous O’Leaver’s. Tonight it’s DJ sets starting at 9. $5. For Halloween, O’Leaver’s is featuring Sucettes, Dead Flower Preservation Society and the hottest local music commodity these days, High Up. $5, 9:30 p.m. and yes, it’s a costume affair.

There is one local show that doesn’t appear to have a Halloween theme. Tonight at PS Collective it’s a meeting of Benson singer/songwriter/folk brotherhood: Korey Anderson, Midwest Dilemma, Jason Ferguson and Brad Hoshaw. Performances start early, at 7 p.m. No idea if there’s a cover, so you’re on your own.

And that’s it for the weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a happy Halloween.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Sufjan Stevens at The Orpheum, Oct. 28, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I warned you it was going to be a first-class bummer.

If you came to last night’s Sufjan Stevens concert at a nearly sold out Orpheum Theater and expected a career retrospective performance you probably left disappointed, but really, what did you expect? The guy is out supporting his new album Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty, 2015). Did you really think he was going to play all your faves off the Illinoise and Michigan albums?

C&L has been lauded as a career high-water mark for Stevens. It’s the third highest-rated album for 2015 in the Album of the Year composite list. Critics love it. I wanted to love it, but I’ve managed to work my way through the collection only a handful of times. It’s not so much that the theme — a survivor’s elegy to a dead mother and a prolonged meditation on the inevitability of death — is too depressing (a large share of Stevens’ catalog is mournful), it’s that the songs can be somewhat boring and lack the variety heard on earlier records.

That said, Stevens managed to liven up the songs’ arrangements on stage for a concert almost solely dedicated to a dreary album. Nearly every song started with Stevens glowing in a single overhead spotlight while he sang in his trademark twee coo, meticulously picking out an intricate guitar line on an acoustic. Behind him, massive video screens in the shape of cathedral-style cut-outs showed serene landscapes or seascapes or Super 8-style home movie footage of him or his parents in happier times.

The rest of the band, a talented four-piece on keyboards, strings, horns and percussion, slowly crept in by the second verse, eventually building each number to a full-on symphonic rage that came back to Stevens standing in that lone spotlight. Beautiful stuff, but as the person sitting next to me said, “Doesn’t he have any upbeat songs?” My whispered response: Wait until the encore.

Sufjan Stevens at The Orpheum Oct. 28, 2015.

There were a few songs that broke the mold, including a blistering version of “Vesuvius” from The Age of Adz and a throbbing reinvention of “All of Me Wants All of You” from C&L that was a show highlight along the main set-closer — a 10-minute-long noise collage at the end of “Blue Bucket of Gold” that, when combined with a startling lighting effect, felt like swimming underwater during a hurricane.

If there’s a quibble it was with the sound mix. There was too much delay in Stevens’ vocals during the first half of his set, leaving his usually clean, pristine-sounding lyrics indecipherable. They got it figured out by the end.

After a standing ovation and a brief pause, Stevens came out for an encore that included older fan favorites like “Holland” off the Michigan album, which I haven’t seen on any of his other set lists, a version of “Concerning the UFO sightings Near Highland, Illinois,”  a great take on one of my faves, “Casimir Pulaski Day,” and a stunning version of “Chicago” that left the crowd wanting more.

The show started right at 7:30 with a half-hour set by Gallant, an LA-based R&B singer whose style wasn’t my thing, though he had a fantastic backing band (especially the guitarist, who blazed throughout the set). It was a strange choice for an opener, but I’ve come to expect odd parings when I see artists at The Orpheum. I guess it’s better than no opener at all, right?

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By now you’ve already heard that Desaparecidos’ tour has been cancelled. The band issued a statement yesterday saying Conor Oberst fell ill on tour while in Jacksonville, Florida, and was briefly hospitalized due to laryngitis, exhaustion and anxiety. In consultation with Oberst’s doctor the band “reluctantly agreed” to cancel all scheduled live dates. “Conor will be heading home to Omaha to recuperate.”

In addition to the O’Leaver’s gig, the cancellation includes the Dec. 2 Oberst solo gig as part of the Ground Control Touring 15th Anniversary show at Webster Hall in NYC.

Here’s hoping Mr. Oberst gets back on his feet soon. Ain’t nothing more valuable than your health.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Sufjan Stevens takes flight tonight at The Orpheum Theater.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What are we to make of the fact that PUJOL has a new EP called Kisses coming out on Bartertowncoop rather than Saddle Creek Records? Well, it shouldn’t be a big surprise. PUJOL is a rather prolific artist and has released stuff on multiple labels over his career. No doubt Bartertowncoop offered a release date that aligned with the upcoming Black Friday Records Store Day promotion Nov. 27 (which is when the album is slated to drop). Check out the first single from the EP below.

That’s not big news, but there hasn’t been much news going on lately.

Look for an announcement in these here online pages about a new venue opening next month. Will it be a game-changer? Maybe, maybe… I think so, considering who’s involved, but more on that latter.

I’ve been meaning to share this new video by ex-Omahan Anna McClellan (you remember her from Howard) that I first spied on the Hear Nebraska website. I rarely share new video tracks, but this one is pretty inspiring and marks a new direction for McClellan, who has a new cassette/download out on Ryan Fox’s Majestic Litter label (which you can order right here for a mere $7). This is one of my favorites so far for the third quarter ’15. I’m told McClellan is now living somewhere in New York. Anna, what happened to those gigantic glasses you used to wear?

Well, tonight I’ll be sitting with some of you at the Sufjan Stevens concert at The Orpheum Theater. Last I looked, tickets were still available for a variety of prices starting at around $41.

I suspect this could be a pretty gloomy affair. Have you heard his new album, Carrie & Lowell? It’s about as much of a downer as you’d expect from an record that’s about the death of Stevens’ mother. Based on the set list from last night’s performance at The Paramount Theater in Denver (which you can see here), we’ll be getting a performance of the new album in its entirety, plus one or two from Illinoise, The Age of Adz and  Seven Swans during the encore. Bring your Kleenix.

Opening for Sufjan is LA performer Gallant.

This is listed on the Ticket Omaha website as having a 7:30 start time, which seems odd. See you there.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Digital Leather at O’Leaver’s, Sept. 19, 2015. The band returns to O’Leaver’s tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Of Montreal returns to The Waiting Room tonight. If it seems like they were just here that’s because they were. They played the Waiting Room this past March. If you’re wondering what they’re going to play, here’s their set list from their Saturday night show at Wooly’s in Des Moines (which helps me not at all as I couldn’t tell you the name of one of their songs). Opening is Diane Coffee. 9 p.m., $18/$20.

Also tonight, Digital Leather does a warm-up set at fabulous O’Leaver’s before they hit the road on tour, eventually meeting up with Desaparecidos Nov. 11 for eight dates plus the sold out O’Leaver’s show Nov. 22. Could this tour be the big break DL’s been waiting for?

BTW, who else saw that photo in Facebook of Denver Dalley standing alongside none other than Bill Murray? Goddamn, what next? Denver sharing a PBR with Obama?

Anyway, DL I believe is headlining this show, which also features Austin band Xetas, whose new album The Redeemer came out on Gerard Cosloy’s 12XU Records. Opening the gig is Mike Schlesinger. $6, 9:30 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Healer at The Slowdown, May 15, 2015. The band plays tonight at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Keeping with that theme of “weekends are for local bands,” we’ve got another weekend of local-band shows. It follows a week’s worth of touring bands. Such is our lot in life, living here in Flyover Country (or in this case, drive-through country).

Tonight Dan Brennan’s band Healer headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s. I saw their stage debut last May at Slowdown and was most entertained. In the center spot is KC band Maps for Travelers. Mint Wad Willy opens. $7, 9:30 p.m.

Speaking of local-band shows, there’s a veritable bonanza of locals playing in Benson tonight during the semi-annual OEAA Nominees Showcase. Seven venues including The Waiting Room and Reverb are participating. $10 gets you into all of them all night, starting at 8 p.m. Full line-up and schedule is here.

Tomorrow night the only show on my radar is Super Ghost and Eric in Outerspace opening for Tenderness Wilderness at Slowdown Jr. If you’re into classic emo, Super Ghost is definitely worth your time. $7, 9 p.m.

And, believe it or not, that’s all I got for this weekend. Talk about slow going. The suck part is that next weekend is blown because of Halloween.

Anyway, 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

#TBT: Tilly and the Wall on Late Night with David Letterman, Oct. 28, 2006.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This Throwback Thursday memory was jarred loose by something I read on Facebook. Apparently before the Cursive show at O’Leaver’s Monday night, the bartender turned down the sound and turned up the TV  so people could view the new Star Wars trailer. It reminded me of another time when the bartender at O’Leaver’s turned up the TV, nine years ago….

Lazy-i Oct. 28, 2006 — Last night at O’Leaver’s, Tilly on Letterman…

When I showed up last night at O’Leaver’s, Black Squirrels had already begun their set of fun, laid-back, folky acoustic songs, the kind that would sound perfect played on a ukulele. Pleasant and unobtrusive, it’s stuff that your mom would love. I’m surprised these guys haven’t played at Mick’s yet. The crowd was clearly there to see them, cheering for an encore, which the trio gratefully provided. Ten minutes after they were done, half the crowd of family and friends left. Looks like the poor Pomonas got Omaha’d.

Then to my surprise, while the Pomonas were setting up, I glanced up at the TV and saw that Tilly and the Wall were going to be on Letterman. I had no idea that they were scheduled for last night’s show. A small group gathered around the TV while the O’Leaver’s soundman wired up a microphone to broadcast the program’s sound over the bar’s PA. The Letterman stage featured the three Tilly girls all standing on plywood platforms like Barbie dolls, as if all three were going to tap dance instead of just Jamie. It’s hard to say how good or bad it sounded. They played “Bad Education” from the new album, which was probably the wrong choice (but which of their songs would have been the right choice?). Actually, it did sound bad, but everyone sounds bad on Letterman. Jamie, Kianna and Neely looked flashy and theatrical. The guy next to me asked if they were Prince’s latest project. “Who are they supposed to be? Vanity 6?” They did sort of come off as a label creation, like a quirky, indie version of The Dixie Chicks. Nick White was hidden on stage, and it wasn’t until about halfway through that the cameras panned away from all the tight close-ups of the tap shoes and hips to reveal Derek Pressnall off to stage right playing guitar and singing. No idea who the bass player was, apparently someone new to the band. If you missed it, I’m sure someone will put it on YouTube eventually. Getting on Letterman is quite an accomplishment, and you gotta believe it’ll result in moving at least an additional 5,000 units.

After all that, on came The Pomonas, playing their usual brand of Lawrence-sounding indie rock (I know, I know, what the hell does “Lawrence-sounding” mean… there’s something about KC/Lawrence indie bands of this vein that reminds me of all those mid-’90s bands from down there that I used to dig). It was a fun, sloppy set enjoyed by the few who remained. — Lazy-i, Oct. 28, 2006

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Back to the present…

The Photo Atlas returns to O’Leaver’s tonight. The Denver band releases a new EP in August, Disregard, Disconnect, and has been touring ever since. I’ve seen them a few times before at the Club and can attest that you’re in for a high-energy event. Cincinnati band Leggy opens along with No Thanks. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Ft. Collins punkers Arliss Nancy headline at The Sydney with Anthems and John Klemmensen and the Party. $5, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Saintseneca plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Been listening to the new Saintseneca album, Such Things, for the last day or so. The album came out a couple weeks ago on Anti- and combines a lot of modern folk-rock styles that you’ll be familiar with, from Decemberists to Okkerville River. AllMusic even compared one track, “Bad Ideas,” to The Cure and Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). That’s a stretch.

If the band emulates anyone it’s probably Neutral Milk Hotel, whose comparison is hard to ignore on the opening track and other moments like the jumping “Rare Form.” Front-dude Zac Little has that Jeff Mangum whine going on, and the arrangements at times have a similar acoustic jangle crunch.

The record has lush, multi-layered production brought to you by our own Mike Mogis, who worked on the band’s last album as well. The band plays tonight at Reverb Lounge with The Sidekicks and Yowler. $10, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Eklectica at O’Leaver’s, Oct. 17, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Eklectica is an Omaha four-piece that features Ryan Menchaca on lead vocals and guitar. If you never heard of them, you’re not alone. They were a complete mystery to me prior to Saturday night’s show at O’Leaver’s, where they followed touring headliner Brilliant Beast. Turns out they’ve only been a group for a couple months. You may recognize Menchaca from his support role in the live version of Icky Blossoms.

Seems like in some circles, frontmen are almost penalized for having a good voice. Menchaca has a high, sweet delivery that’s as good as it gets for a rock band. After the set, a few people were sort of criticizing him for it, saying he sounded “too commercial,” whatever that means. Other folks compared his voice to a couple popular indie acts and mainstream artists. Needless to say, clear, sweet vocals are not the norm at O’Leaver’s, where patrons are used to hearing growling screams or indecipherable mewing.

Ekletica’s music rolled with a ’60s psych vibe, sounding like something headed to Woodstock, but combined with modern touches and progressive nuance. All well played and interesting, though the songs tended to draw out, bordering dangerously close to jam band territory (And we can’t have that). Menchaca announced from stage that Ecklectica has a record coming out in the coming months. At this point in their evolution the band could go just about any direction — toward gritty psych-garage or to more refined Jack Johnson / Dave Matthews noodling. Here’s hoping for the former rather than the latter.

Brilliant Beast at O’Leaver’s, Oct. 17, 2015.

Just before Eklectica, Brilliant Beast played a set of dreamy, underwater shoegaze that’s about as close as I’ve heard anyone at O’Leaver’s come to emulating the essence of that ’90s subgenre. They definitely had the whole Ride/My Bloody Valentine warm-tone style, complete with shimmering, slightly-off-kilter guitar effects that rocked as much as left you feeling uneasy. I honored Cassette Store Day by buying their yet-to-be-released collection on cassette, Dissolve, which is definitely worth finding on Bandcamp.

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There currently are 239 people in Facebook who say they’re going to O’Leaver’s tonight for the Cursive show. That could make for a rather packed room. Maybe they should take the show out to the sand volleyball pit?  Seriously, if you haven’t seen Cursive in the intimate confines of O’Leaver’s, do yourself a favor. It’s an entirely different concert experience than seeing them at a large venue like TWR. No doubt 239 people are not going to show up tonight (Are Facebook invitations ever accurate?), but expect a heated crowd. Get there early and see Chicago band Bellum Bocca and Buffalo, New York band Miwi La Lupa (Team Love Records). $5, 9 p.m.

It’s a busy Monday.

Down at The Slowdown massive folk ensemble The Oh Hellos are headlining an entire night of folk. The San Marcos, Texas, band is a brother-sister act surrounded by about a dozen friends playing music reminiscent of Okkervile River and Sufjan Stevens, among others. Opening are equally large bands Family and Friends, and Cereus Bright. $15, 9 p.m.

And over at Reverb Lounge Caleb Hawley headlines. He’s described as an American soul singer influenced by Stevie Wonder. What caught my attention were the openers. Tara Vaughan and Agronomo, a band that features uber-talented James Cuato Ballarin, Luke Polipnick, John Evans and local legend Dereck Higgins. Their style has been described as fusion combined with some improvisation. Check it out.  $8, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Sun-less Trio at The Waiting Room, Oct. 7, 2015. The band celebrates its record release Sunday at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And lo, the weekend…

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. Brooklyn hard rock band The Giraffes headlines. Their sixth full-length, Usury, came out a couple weeks ago on Silver Sleeve. It’s a collection of strutting, guitar riff rockers that reminds me of ’90s grunge / alternative bands like Alice in Chains / Stone Temple Pilots. Omaha is one of only three dates they’re playing this year. Opening is Bullet Proof Hearts and DCYC. $14, 9 p.m.

Also tonight (Friday) the mighty Dumb Beach headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s with St. Louis punkers Shitstorm. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Then comes Saturday and a plethora of festivals and events.

Top of the list is the Holland Stages Festival at The Holland Performing Arts Center. The event is a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the renowned music hall and features free performances all day, including James Maakestad & Simon Joyner playing in the Con Agra East Lobby Stage (Isn’t that located in Chicago now?) at 6:30 p.m. and Both and See Through Dresses playing in the Scott Recital Hall at 7 p.m. It all leads up to Conor Oberst and friends (M. Ward and The Felice Brothers) playing a free show on the Holland Main stage.

Wristbands, which get you into the Oberst performance, will be handed out beginning at 3 p.m. at The Holland Center. It’s a first-come sort of deal, and all performances after 5 p.m. require a wristband for access. Once they run out of wristbands, they’ll be handing out a different wristbands that will allow you to watch a simulcast of the performance inside the building. The rules and the schedule are outlined here.

Not nearly as sophisticated as Holland Stages is Cassette Store Day, which will be happening at record stores throughout the Omaha metroplex on Saturday. Homer’s and Drastic Plastic are on the list of locals participating. So is Urban Outfitters, located in the Slowdown Complex, which will feature in-store performances beginning at 1 p.m., when they’ll also be handing out free beer and selling CSD “exclusives” including those rare La Luz, Brian Jonestone Massacre and Burger Records tapes.

What else…

Brilliant Beast is headlining at O’Leaver’s Saturday night. The Minneapolis band’s music has been compared to Ride and Yo La Tengo thanks to their very drone-y, chime-y sound, as you’ll see/hear if you click below. Joining them are Eklectica, The Cult of Lip and Devotional Being. That’s a lot of rock for $5. 9:30 p.m.

Metal-heads have Austin band The Sword Saturday night at The Waiting Room. Opening is Kadavar and All Them Witches. $18/$20, 8:30 start time.

Finally, it’s another Sunday Social at O’Leaver’s for what’s really a mini-music-and-booze festival. Helping Mike Saklar’s Sun-less Trio celebrate their record release are The Lupines, Sidewalkers, Relax, it’s Science, Lincoln Dickson (solo), Lodgings (Post Verse, Nanahara, UUVVWWZ) and Cricket Kirk (solo). They’re serving food starting at 2 p.m. and the bands get rolling at 5 p.m. All for $5. 

That’s all I got. If I missed 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Bloodcow at Reverb Lounge, March 7, 2015. The band plays tonight at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Is it me or has the number of touring indie bands coming through Omaha dropped over the past year? Just take a look at the calendars of the primary clubs around town and you’ll notice that their schedules are dominated by hip-hop, pop, jam bands and off-night fillers (like trivia nights). Twas a time when you could count on at least one amazing touring indie band per week playing somewhere around town. Is indie dying? Maybe, but only in Omaha.

There’s more indie bands putting out quality music today than ever before. In fact, I’d venture to say 2015 has been one of the better years in recent memory for quality indie rock releases. So why does it seem like we’re seeing fewer of these bands playing in Omaha? Or, more precisely: Are there fewer indie bands touring, or are fewer indie bands touring through Omaha?

It could be a situation where fewer bands these days can afford huge tours that take them cross-country. And bands that can tour may be picking their gigs more carefully. Instead of playing in smaller markets like Omaha, they’re putting their efforts into playing festivals (like Maha, which is bigger than ever) and hoping fans travel to see them.

Or maybe Slowdown and 1% are refocusing their booking toward more popular genres. Let’s face it, indie is a narrow niche that seems to be shrinking all the time.

If this were a few years ago, I’d be more miffed about the lack of shows. But these days because of work, etc., I rarely go to rock shows during the week. I’m satisfied if we get one or two quality touring indie bands in town per month. This month it’s Sufjan Stevens at The Orpheum Oct. 28 and Waxahatchee at TWR Oct. 20. Next month it’s Low at Reverb (Nov. 12). That leaves the weekends for locals, and O’Leaver’s.

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Speaking of fabulous O’Leaver’s, they’ve got a big local show tonight when the mighty Bloodcow takes the stage. Joining them are Nanahara and Hand Painted Police Car. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.