Return to New York… and Central Park.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Well, it’s time for my annual trip to NYC — U.S. Open, Broadway, Yankees, you get the drift. So Lazy-i will be on a short hiatus until sometime next week.

What will I miss whilst I’m away?

— Well, tonight (Thursday, Aug. 29), Hovvdy plays at Reverb Lounge. I’m hurtin’ a little to be missing this one. This is as close as it gets in this day and age to the slow-core bands I grew up loving like Bedhead and Red House Painters. This is a “do not miss” production. The amazing Anna McClellan opens along with Lomelda. $14, 8 p.m.

— Friday night, Wovenhand (Sargent House Records), led by former 16 Horsepower frontman David Eugene Edwards, plays at Reverb with Lucy & Charlie. $18, 8 p.m.

— Satchel Grande brings the party to The Waiting Room Saturday night. Juke Butter featuring Allison Nash opens at 9. $8.

— Finally, Tuesday night (Sept. 3) Columbus, Ohio low-fi punkers Kneeling in Piss plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Hussies open at 9 p.m. $5.

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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

David Bazan as Pedro the Lion, performing at Sokol Underground July 6, 2000. Bazan plays a solo living room show tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As August comes to an end, and I get ready to leave on my annual trip to Manhattan, let me share the list of music “picks” that I provided The Reader for their September issue. John Heaston, The Reader’s major domo, asked for some direction from my rather one-sided perspective. Someone at the paper will flesh these out with descriptions, etc.

Anyway, these are the shows that I’ll either be attending, writing about or dreaming about. There’s a lot going on. Plan your calendars accordingly, and pick up the September issue of The Reader for more data:

The Appleseed Cast w/Muscle Worship and Oquoa at Reverb, Sept. 4, 8 p.m. $15.

2nd Annual Shadow Ridge Music Festival featuring Violent Femmes, Soul Asylum, Matthew Sweet, The Millions and more, Sept. 6, 4 to 11 p.m. at Shadow Ridge Country Club. Tix are $45 – $90.

Mannequin Pussy with Destroy Boys and Ellis at The Slowdown, Sept. 9, 8 p.m. $12 Adv/$15 DOS

Sheer Mag with Tweens, Dross and Bib at The Slowdown, Sept. 10, 8 p.m. $13 Adv/$15 DOS

Kristen Hersh Electric Trio with Fred Abong at The Slowdown, Sept. 12, 8 p.m. $15 Adv/ $18 DOS

Matt Wilson and his Orchestra at The Sydney, Sept. 14, 9 p.m. $15.

Interpol at the Holland Performing Arts Center, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. $35-$47.

Pinegrove at The Waiting Room, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. $21 Adv/$25 DOS

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears at O’Leaver’s, Sept. 17, 9 p.m. Tix are $15.

Lincoln Calling 2019 Sept. 18-22 throughout downtown Lincoln. Tix are $25 single day pass $40 three-day pass.

O’Leaversfest featuring Cursive, Meat Wave, Those Far Out Arrows, No Thanks and more, Sept. 20-22 at O’Leaver’s. Tix are $10 for Cursive, $8 for Meat Weave, $7 for Those Far Out Arrows.

The Melvins with Redd Kross at The Waiting Room, Sept. 23, 8 p.m. $20.

Fruit Bats with Sun June at The Slowdown, Sept. 23, 8 p.m. $17 Adv/$20 DOS

The Mynabirds at Reverb Lounge, Sept. 25, 8 p.m. $13 Adv/$15 DOS

Mike Watt & the Missingmen with David Nance Group at Reverb, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. $15.

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Matt Whipkey weighs in on the American gun wars (my term, not his) in his latest YouTube lyric release. “Gunfire, USA.” I insist nothing will ever happen with gun laws (and have been saying it for years). If they didn’t learn from Newtown, they never will. Matt is less of a pessimist. Check out the track below.

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Tonight London First-wave U.K. punk icons The Vibrators headline at The Brothers Lounge. Joining them are San Diego punk trio Some Kind of Nightmare and Omaha’s own Tiananman Squares. $10, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, another in a series of living room concerts, this time with Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan. The secret Dundee location of the show will be revealed after you buy your ticket (Don’t worry, something tells me it’s a nice place). Bazan is a can’t miss performer. $25, 8 p.m. Tickets here.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here are a few news bits on a quiet Tuesday…

Janet Weiss, the former drummer to Sleater-Kinney as well as a handful of other notable bands, was in a car accident in Portland Aug. 10. The damage was two broken legs and a broken collarbone. Docs say she’ll be OK, but she’ll be in a wheelchair for three months while mending. Her sister, Julie, set up a gofundme page to help raise money to cover medical expenses and other costs while she’s on the mend. You can donate right here.

I know Weiss isn’t a local, but I’ve loved all the projects she’s been involved in, not the least of which includes Bright Eyes.

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A hot new track by a hot new act has been brought to my attention. The act is named Benny Leather and includes members from Omaha and Belgium. Your guess is as good as mine who that Omaha member is (actually, it probably isn’t, since I know but I ain’t telling). Look for the full album release Oct. 25, and then all will be revealed…

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Oquoa, Timesquares (2019, self-release)

Omaha indie band Oquoa will release its new album, Timesquares, Sept. 22. The album what produced by the band and engineered by Matt Carroll of See Through Dresses. The band will tour with Cursive throughout September. BTW, the album release show Sept. 22 will be at O’Leaver’s as part of O’Leaversfest Day 3 BBQ.

And I’m told that show will be a “going away party” for one of the band members who is moving to Seattle…

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Speaking of Cursive…

Punknews.org published their list of the top 100 albums of 2000-2009, and making the cut was Cursive’s The Ugly Organ. Released by Saddle Creek Records in 2003, the album came in at No. 14. “I can’t think of an album aside from The Ugly Organ that actually gets self reflexive and explores the effect that emo songs have on the people they’re written about, let alone their effect on the person writing them,” said PunkNews. “It’s that self-reflection, which runs through the entire album, that makes The Ugly Organ a standout in Cursive’s already strong catalogue.”

In case you were wondering, The Lawrence Arms’ Oh! Calcutta was No. 1.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Clarence Tilton at The Waiting Room, Dec. 23, 2018. The band celebrates the release of its new CD tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Two big album release shows this weekend and a handful of other things going on musicwise…

Tonight at Reverb Lounge Clarence Tilton celebrates the release of Start Already Lost (Sower Records). The band always gets bunched in with alt country bands by people like me because of the omnipresent twang that bounces throughout their tunes. You can’t deny the urge to do a two-step when you hear songs like “First One Home,” off the new album.

But it may be more accurate to compare them to power-pop bands like Alex Chilton, The dB’s, Big Star and The Soft Boys on tracks like “High Water” and opening track “No One.” But at the same time, you wouldn’t be off base comparing them to, say, The Silos or The Jayhawks, especially on outlaw countrified songs like “B.A.W.” and slow-dancer “Tears Land.” Either way, it’s good company to be in, and on the new album (as well as their debut) it’s apt. Fact is, the songs off Start Already… aren’t much of a departure from their last couple releases. It’s like getting the next chapter of a novel you can’t put down. Minne Lusa opens the show at 9 p.m. $10.

Then tomorrow night at Slowdown, Jr., it’s Uh Oh’s turn.

Their new one, Stay Close, is a collection of old-school indie anthems that recalls acts like The Promise Ring, Sunday’s Best and Knapsack — i.e., acts that were bunched into the emo category in the ’90s. That said, I wouldn’t consider Uh Oh an emo band but more in line with power-pop indie acts like Little Brazil or Lincoln’s Domestica. At the core is jangling, soaring guitars, bombastic drums and Joe Champion’s nerdy vocals singing lovable loser songs rooted deeply in the Midwestern soil. I think I told Joe album capper “We’ll Laugh Again” was my favorite because I’m a sucker for epic closers, but actually it’s the shuffle-beat rocker “Hang On” that will make it onto my annual comp CD if only for its sing-along chorus and Champion’s message of hope for all of us fellow travelers stumbling around in the dark. Stay Close is a familiar light to help lead the way.

Anyway, Uh Oh will be celebrating the release of that album Saturday night at Slowdown Jr. with Histrionic, Eric in Outerspace and Second String. 8:30, $7.

Also happening Saturday, Simon Joyner kicks off his national tour with a house show (at his house, no less). Joining Simon and The Ghosts are Jim Schroeder and David Nance. The show starts at 8 p.m. To find out the address, you’ll need to reach out to Joyner via Facebook and ask! Entrance is a donation ($5-$10 or whatever).

Also Saturday night, The Sydney has Pacific Northwest grunge masters Reignwolf with King Nun. $20, 9 p.m.

Finally, it’s with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Jason Steady Saturday night at The Brothers Lounge. Jason is headed to the California desert to commune with some cacti. You can bid him adieu at this performance, which also includes sets by M34N STR33T and Haunted Gauntlet. Cover is $5, start time is 10 p.m., tears are free.

And 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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Oh Sees at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 17, 2019.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I went in knowing nothing about Lizzo except for her songs on the radio and Spotify and YouTube. And I loved them with all their flame and sass and unquenchable hooks. When I went to see her on Day Two of the 2019 Maha Music Festival in Stinson Park at Aksarben Village, I assumed she’d be on stage with a full-on raging band in tow.

So when she took the stage in that neon-flash body suit surrounded by her dancers, holding a microphone… with no band, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. “Is she just going to sing along to pre-recorded tracks all night? What a drag.” She had energy and drive and proselytized between songs like the finest down-home preacher, but without a band backing her, it was just dance moves and karaoke.

Lizzo at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 17, 2019.

It is here I should point out one very important fact: The crowd did not give two shits that Lizzo didn’t have a band. They loved every second of it, all 10,000 of them (or whatever the true number was). They were there to party to Lizzo songs, with or without a band.

I made it through three numbers, then split. But to be truthful, I never hang around for the Maha Saturday night headliner’s full set. Not for Weezer, not for Death Cab, not for the Flaming Lips. And not for Lizzo.

Maybe I was disappointed because just a few hours earlier I’d witnessed an amazing full band performance, but before I get to that…. My one regret about this year’s Maha was missing Beach Bunny, an up-and-coming indie band of the K Records variety (not unlike Snail Mail) who played at 4 p.m. After my late night at O’Leaver’s, I couldn’t get motivated to get my ass there in time, especially with Matt Maeson and Duckwrth following them, neither of which are (as Dave Sink used to say) my cup of tea.

I didn’t get to Maha until 7:30, just before Oh Sees took “the little stage.” I’ve seen Thee Oh Sees (as they used to be known) a couple times in Austin at South by Southwest and have never been less than floored. Despite their constant touring, the band always has avoided Omaha for reasons only frontman John Dwyer knows. Now here they were, standing a couple feet in front of me as I balanced precariously on the edge of the sod bank leading up to the little stage.

In cutoff shorts and T-shirt, Dwyer looked like he just crawled out from beneath a hotrod after finishing an oil job, his Maha badge tucked halfway down his back pocket while he tuned his clear plexiglass-body steel-neck electric guitar. Off to the side, two drummers pounded on snares during the pre-set soundcheck. Around the check went, to the bass and keys and then Dwyer said “We’ll be back in 15,” but instead the emcee introduced the band and he said fuck it, let’s go.

The genre has been called psych rock or garage rock. I’ve even heard it described as noise rock. It’s actually a throwback brand of melodic punk born out of the West Coast and built on a subliminal layer of surf rock that recalls Dick Dale in his finest days. Dwyer’s guitar is the engine that roars alongside Tim Hellman’s throbbing, rolling bass. Behind him, Tomas Dolas’ organ and synths glowed angrily echoing Dwyer’s own mellotron/synth noises played with one hand while the other picked out solos along the neck of that steel-and-plastic monstrosity. All the while Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon, the side-by-side drummers, kept the psychedelic locomotive chugging along.

The capper — Dwyer’s high falsetto vocals, an ironic counter to an unholy din.

It was loud. I stood right in front of those speakers, thankful for my earplugs, wondering how those kids right next to me could stand it. I can’t tell you the set list because I don’t know most of the song names. I recognized “C” off 2018’s Smote Reverser; “Toe Cutter Thumb Buster” off 2013’s Floating Coffin, and “The Dream” off 2011’s Carrion Crawler / The Dream. There were also a few long ones, real slow burners that went on and on.

A small “pit” — if you can call it that — formed off front of stage left, maybe 30 dudes bouncing into each other more out of brotherhood than violence, while a group of girls stood to my right doing a sort of snake dance.

It was a spectacular set, closed out with “three short ones” Dwyer said from stage. I think they probably went over their allotted time. They could have gone all night if it were up to me. I know the stage arrangements are what they are, but it seemed downright disrespectful that they’d been relegated to the small stage. On the other hand, I never would have been able to get as close as I did had they been on the main stage.

With the last notes Dwyer leaned into the microphone and said, “Thanks. Enjoy your headliners.” Take it for what it’s worth.

Matt and Kim at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 17, 2019.

It didn’t take long between sets for Matt and Kim to do their thing on the big stage. It was essentially the same shtick they did at Maha in 2013. I described that show this way: “The keyboard-and-drums duo played cute, shiney indie pop dance tunes and spent most of the time between songs yelling profanities at the audience. Every other word out of drummer Kim Schifino began with an F or MF. I guess they needed something to ‘rough up’ their cutesy veneer and all those colored balloons just wasn’t cutting it.”

The only thing different this time was the gigantic beach balls and a unicorn balloon. M&K are basically stand-up comics that perform forgettable pop songs and covers and sampled hip-hop classics. I would say “harmless fun” except Schifino hurt herself during the set, bad enough (according to the Omaha World-Herald’s Kevin Coffey) that she ended up in the hospital. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery.

After that, it was Lizzo time for 10,000, minus one. If I had to rank my favorite acts for the entire weekend I’d put Oh Sees on top, followed closely by Courtney Barnett, but it’s Lizzo that people were talking about the next day.

For more perspective on Maha, you’ll have to wait until the column comes out in a couple weeks in The Reader (at which time this will all be a faded memory). But I will give you this brief taste of my thesis: Maha is going to have to make some tough choices for year 12. Here’s hoping they make the right ones.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Courtney Barnett at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 16, 2019.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This is part one of a recap/review of the performances at this year’s Maha Music Festival, held at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village, Omaha, Nebraska, Aug. 16 and 17, 2019. In addition, a second “review” will be published in the September issue of The Reader that talks more about the experience and other issues surrounding the festival, as well as some (I hope) amusing speculation about the 2020 MMF.

This is far from comprehensive. I watched less than half the bands this year. I paid for my VIP ticket to Friday night’s show and had a media pass for Saturday. While this was, in my opinion, the best collection of acts for a Maha Festival, it also had a lot of bands and performers who simply didn’t interest me, or who I never heard of. But isn’t that the way of all music festivals? There was a time when I would have felt obligated to watch everything placed on stage. Those days are long gone.

Snail Mail at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 16, 2019.

Anyway, we didn’t arrive Friday night until after Snail Mail began their set on the “little stage” — the stage has a name, but let’s face it, there’s a big stage and a little stage at Maha, and if you’re relegated to the little stage, it means something. Someone made the decision to place you there rather than the big stage.

And while the little stage is by all means functional, it isn’t nearly as nice as the big stage. The lighting is poor, the sound is… different, the viewing experience is awkward, especially for fans of the band who want to get up close and personal. In that way, it’s actually better than the large stage because you can (almost) walk right up to the edge, though you better have a good center of gravity because you’ll be standing on the up-rise of a rather steep hill.

Snail Mail’s fans were balanced on that hill, up close as the band played through songs from their latest album. I like Snail Mail and think think Lush, their 2018 Matador release, is right up there with the best of the bedroom indie rock genre that’s crowded with similar singer/songwriters, mostly women.

Frontwoman Lindsey Jordan can hang with the best of them, especially when backed by her band. That said, she spent the last 15 minutes of her set doing solo electric renditions of new material that didn’t do it any favors, especially when experienced from across the field. No doubt it felt more intimate if you were standing along the edge of the little stage, but by then I’d already scooted back to the VIP confines and wondered why she had dispatched her band, not hearing that she was filling time with the new material — a festival probably isn’t the best place for that sort of thing.

That was it for the little stage Friday night. The next two bands were big stage events. Courtney Barnett should have been the top headliner Friday night. Who knows how those decisions are made. I guess she was billed as a co-headliner. The last time I saw her live was at an industry-type gig at South By Southwest, playing again as a trio but with a much more subdued (i.e., boring) approach. She was on fire Friday night.

I hardly recognized her — she looked about 20 pounds lighter, with a new hair cut, but the same amazing voice and guitar prowess. She tore through a true festival set, performing all my favorites (“Avant Gardener,” “Depreston,” “An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)” “History Eraser”) as well as a ton of more recent songs.

Barnett’s strengths are: 1) her songwriting, 2) her guitar playing, 3) her voice, and finally 4) her live performance, but she upped the performance aspect a couple slots Friday night. There was nothing fancy staging-wise, no interesting lighting gimmicks, just her and the band crushing her songs.

Jenny Lewis at the Maha Music Festival, Aug. 16, 2019.

It was quite a contrast to Jenny Lewis’ set. Lewis entered in a spectacular gold lamé dress, sat down behind a hand-painted piano surrounded by her band, and launched into songs off her latest, rather droll new album, On the Line (2019, Warner Bros). For that first song, “Heads Gonna Roll,” there was nothing on her vocals coming off the soundboard, just her out there alone, sounding thin as if not having warmed up, especially on the creaky high notes.

Her voice got into a groove and the sound crew adjusted as the night wore on. I kept waiting for the hits, but never got them, instead we got more songs off the new album. This was a festival, so you’d expect to hear the beloved numbers, like “Rise Up with Fists” or maybe take advantage of the fact that you’re in Omaha and sing “Execution of All Things” with its classic Omaha reference. Instead, we got her typical touring set, and a flat one at that.

It felt old compared to Barnett and Snail Mail. I feel lucky having seen Lewis when she played at the downtown Scottish Rite Lodge with the Watson Twins touring Rabbit Fur Coat back in 2006. At her peak. Where Barnett is today and where Snail Mail may be in a few years. Lewis’ new music is about looking back with regret, while Barnett’s music is about living in the moment and everything that goes with it.

Jenny did throw us a bone at the end with an impromptu version of “With Arms Outstretched” accompanied by the Omaha Girls Rock crew, standing in the dark lit by the audience’s outstretched smartphones. It was a highlight that ended awkwardly when the audience realized it was actually the end of the set. Is she done? Yeah, she’s done.

Tomorrow: Oh Sees, Matt & Kim and Lizzo…

My Friday night did not end at Maha. I made what would become a tactical error as far as the weekend was concerned. I drove to O’Leaver’s to catch a set by BareBear. These days I never stay out past midnight. I would regret it the next morning.

BareBear at O’Leaver’s, Aug. 16, 2019.

BareBear came on at around 12:30 and played their entire new album front to back. The band hadn’t played live in about two years, and the only place it showed was in frontman Rob Walters’ vocals. Let’s be honest, they were… rough. But what Walters lacked in tonal control he made up for in chutzpah and some mighty fine bass playing.

And the rest of the band was absolutely on point. This was one of my favorite guitar performances by Nik Fackler, who just slayed on his rhythms and leads. Drummer Matt Focht proved again why he’s among the best stickmen to get behind a drum set in Nebraska. And then there was Jacob “Cubby” Phillips, a guy who looks young enough to be Walters’ son. The term “virtuoso” comes to mind as does “wunderkind.” Phillips, whose background I’m told is in the jazz world, made playing in Barebear look like child’s play — just amazing guitar tone with a seemingly effortless style.

So what if Walters’ vocals barely resembled what’s heard on their new album? The set was fun. And for fans of Paul Stanley-flavored glam rock, you need to check out this surprisingly good album – The Party’s Over.

I ended up getting to bed at around 2:30 — a mistake that I would pay for most of the following day.

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Tonight at Slowdown Jr…. Damien Jurado’s Rehearsals for Departure (1999, Sub Pop) is one of my all-time favorite albums from the ’90s. He’s released around 16 albums since then, including his latest, In the Shape of a Storm (2019, Mama Bird Recording Co.). Corrina Repp, who played on another favorite of mine, Viva Voce’s 2009 album Rose City (Barsuk), opens at 8 p.m. $18.

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Courtney Barnett at the SXSW Convention Center, March 20, 2015. She plays tonight at the Maha Music Festival.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s Maha Music Festival Weekend. The festival dominates the Omaha indie music landscape — i.e., it’s about the only thing happening today and tomorrow.

I have little to add to what you already know about Maha. It’s schedule and all the details are online at the Maha website.

I’ve purchased VIP tickets for tonight’s festivities — my wife and I are big Courtney Barnett and Jenny Lewis fans. We’ll be arriving in time to see Snail Mail, who according to the schedule, goes on at 7:15.

Also tonight… Barebear is the project of Omaha’s No. 1 man about town, bassist/vocalist Rob Walters. Walters has a long history and connection to Saddle Creek Records. He’s surrounded himself by an all-star band that includes guitarist Nik Fackler (Icky Blossoms, InDreama), drummer Matt Focht (Hartford/Focht, Head of Femur, Bright Eyes) and Jacob “Cubby” Phillips (jazz master, Miwi La Lupa). The band celebrates the release of their debut album, The Party’s Over, at fabulous O’Leaver’s.

The album is surprisingly good. I figured it might just be a buddy act, but the tracks rock. Walters at times sounds like he’s channeling Paul Stanley on songs with cool, heavy riffs. Check it out (but skip the first track).

BareBear doesn’t come on until midnight, presumably because they’ll have spent the night partying with Jenny Lewis at Maha. I wouldn’t be surprised if she shows up at O’Leaver’s. (By the way, in years past there has always been a secret after-party type performance from Maha artists around town (usually at O’Leaver’s), and there might be one this year, but I haven’t heard about it). This show is free. DJ Dorsia opens.

Tomorrow night is Maha’s main event — Lizzo. Just like last year’s “Maha Saturday” could have been considered a big Weezer concert, this year’s has kind of turned into a big Lizzo concert. One wonders how many people will be there only to see Lizzo. For me, the day’s other highlight is the Oh Sees, who go on at 7:45, followed by Matt and Kim and then Lizzo. The rest of the day’s line-up is locals and a few under the radar acts that even I’m not familiar with (they’re certainly not played on Sirius XMU or KEXP). Well, Maha’s supposed to also be about discovery, right?

Both tonight and tomorrow, you can follow my Maha exploits via Twitter  or via Instagram.

Also Saturday night, indie band The Regulation plays a free show at O’Leaver’s. Late start time of 11 p.m.

And 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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Pinback returns to The Waiting Room tonight as part of this year’s Maha Festival.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

They’re calling it the “Maha Middle Show” — tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Pinback, the duo of Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow surrounded by a cast of instrumentalists. They’ve been kicking around as a unit since the late ’90s, Smith formerly of Three Mile Pilot, Crow formerly of Heavy Vegetable and Thingy, according to the bio.

I assume they’re working on new material, as their last album was 2017’s Some Offcell Voices (Temporary Residence). They’ve come through Omaha before, the last time I think was in 2014 at The Waiting Room with Tera Melos opening. Tonight, Tera Melos’ Nick Reinhart opens the show along with our own Bach Mai. $15, 8 p.m.

I like that Maha is adding this show to the festival, though I wish they could figure out how to more closely align it to the overall experience — somehow link it to the package, maybe include it as part of a weekend wristband purchase?

BTW, it’s raining now, but the latest forecast is looking  more promising for the next two evenings. Can Maha skirt the weather gods?

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

See Through Dresses at Maha Music Festival in 2016. The band is playing at one of tonight’s Maha kickoff events, at OutrSpaces.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The folks who put on the Maha Music Festival are always trying something new, and this year is no exception. Tonight they’re kicking off the 11th annual festivities with a series of events taking place along the So. 13th Street corridor — a.k.a. Little Bohemia.

Rachel Grace, Maha’s marketing and communications manager, said this location was chosen because of the effort to expand Maha events to other areas of town. “In addition to Aksarben Village, Maha is also taking place at MCC’s Fort Omaha campus and The Waiting Room in Benson,” she said. “In addition, the high concentration of new and exciting area businesses and nonprofits makes Little Bohemia a great place for Opening Night.”

Among the events is a performance by See Through Dresses and And How at OutrSpaces, 1258 So. 13th St. starting at 8 p.m. This one costs $10 at the door.

The rest of the stuff is free, including a performance by Uh Oh at NOA Brides, 1419 So. 13th St., starting at 8 p.m.; and a performance by Bokr Tov at the Grain & Mortar Open House, 1414 So. 13th St., starting at 7 p.m.

More info and a full event schedule for tonight is available either at the Maha site, or on their Facebook event invitation.

So far, everything is clicking for Maha. There’s only one thing that could throw a wrench in this year’s festivities, and it involves the forecast…

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Simon Joyner’s next album, Pocket Moon, comes out Oct. 23 on Grapefruit Records.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we enter full-blown Maha Music Festival coverage, a head’s up that Omaha singer/songwriter/folk-master Simon Joyner announced Saturday that he’s got a new album coming out on Grapefruit Records.

Pocket Moon is available for preorder from grapefruitrecordclub.com and is being co-released in UK/Europe by BB*Island and in Australia/New Zealand by Homeless Records. Recorded this past February in Phoenix, backing Joyner on this LP is an all-star band that includes Michael Krassner, Max Knouse, Joshua Hill, Bennett Sarager, Robin Vining and Ryan Jewell.

More I cannot tell you except the record officially hits the shelves Oct. 24. Will we get a hometown album release show for this one?

Lloyd Cole, Guesswork (2019, Ear Music)

BTW, are oil portrait covers the “new thing”? I ask because here’s the cover of the new Lloyd Cole album, Guesswork, that’s currently playing on my turntable…

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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 © 2019 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.