by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was a comfortable crowd at Saturday night’s Criteria “holiday” show. I was expecting a sell out crush when I arrived at 10 right in time for their set, but was surprised at the draw, which was probably around 200, maybe half-full. 

On stage, the ageless Stephen Pedersen and his crew belted through the usual set of favorites from the band’s Saddle Creek years and beyond, with the same vigor as when I saw them two years ago at the same club — or for that matter, 10 years ago at that same club. Pedersen, a consummate showman, continues to hit those epic high notes, but will only find them harder to climb as time marches on, unless he’s afflicted with the same age-defying genetics as world’s sexiest man Paul Rudd… a possibility, though I’m no scientist. 

It is these show that keep our scene alive, like a continuous thread that runs through the years. For the most part, the faces in the crowd remain the same, though they’re a bit more haggard. A few new, younger ones were also mixed in, no doubt the progeny of those who came before. I almost missed this show myself, having received a Moderna booster earlier in the day and only just beginning to feel its effects that night. I’m happy I made it.

It was a long holiday weekend that began with seeing Mere Shadows and Stigmata Martyr at Reverb Lounge Wednesday night. Mere Shadows provided surprisingly awesome grinding punk rock played with a speed and intensity perfect for breakneck, angry late-night driving on Dodge Street. Big quick riffs and tight rhythms were the fuel. My only critique involves the lack of variety — either change it up or keep the sets short.

Stigmata Martyr was a four-piece Bauhaus tribute band anchored by Randy Cotton and Mike Saklar, former members of ’90s legendary Omaha punk bands Ravine and Ritual Device, and always a pleasure to see and hear live. In the Peter Murphy role was Benn Sieff of Bennie and the Gents fame sounding spot on — you could do no better. But in truth I was there to see the Cotton/Saklar combo, as I’ve never been a big Bauhaus fan. I stuck around for the obvious climax, which was, of course, their rendition of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” Very nice.

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So, if you didn’t get out this weekend to see some live stuff, you may be out of luck. A quick glance at the 1% and Slowdown calendars shows the weeks ahead are rather lacking. In fact, I don’t see anything of interest indie-wise until See Through Dresses returns to Reverb Dec. 19.

Ah, but little bird tells me December could see the return of something we’ve all been waiting for. Stay tuned…

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here’s a Saturday-morning random discussion: Will all the new live music venues — Astro, Admiral, Steelhouse — reduce NOmaha Syndrome? 

A friend brought up the question. He asked if those three larger venues currently being constructed will change Omaha’s reputation as a fly-over city for touring indie bands. We’re talking about:

— the remodeled Sokol Auditorium, renamed The Admiral, with its 1,400 capacity, slated to open in February.
— the Steelhouse Omaha project by Omaha Performing Arts, with a stand-up capacity of 1,500 to 3,000, scheduled for 2023, rumored to be booked by Live Nation.
— the Astro in La Vista, a massive new amphitheater with a capacity of 5,000 outside and 2,500 inside, slated to open in 2023.

That’s a lot of new stages. But will they make a difference to the bands that have been passing Omaha by? Depends on which bands you’re talking about.

Check out the acts that have announced tours in the past couple weeks, all of which won’t be coming through Omaha: Big Thief, Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee, Strand of Oaks, Nation of Language, Mitski, Pavement, The War on Drugs, Perfume Genius, Hand Habits, The Oh Sees…

None on that list would sell out the smallest of those three new venues, though Barnett and War on Drugs might sell out Slowdown.

Big Thief, who haven’t come through Omaha since they played at The Lookout Lounge in April 2016, is asking $34-$39 for its closest show at the 2,500-capacity Riviera Theatre in Chicago. I doubt Big Thief could sell out 700-capacity Slowdown with a $40 ticket, but that’s what it might take to get them here again. I’m not sure there’s enough people in Omaha who know or like Big Thief. 

Hand Habits played at Slowdown Jr. before the lockdown in April 2019. That show was a $10 ticket that also included Tomberlin, and it drew around 60 people. The band’s closest approach to Omaha is the 550-capacity Fine Line in Minneapolis, with tickets priced at $30-$45.  No doubt when they were booking their tour, their finger slid right past Omaha as a possible tour stop. 

For fans of quality indie music, the problem is there just ain’t enough of us, and what few there are aren’t willing to pay what other cities are paying to see the same bands. Hard to believe in a metro of 800k, but this is what happens when you don’t have local radio or any media covering these bands. 

So who will be playing at these new venues? Time will tell, but bet on a lot of mainstream acts, metal bands, country acts, anything that will get butts in seats, and why not? You can’t blame the promoters for wanting to make back their investment in what will be three amazing venues.

And why dwell on the negative? We Just had Spoon and Mannequin Pussy, right? And in the coming months at Slowdown you have Black Angels, Sleigh Bells, Faye Webster, Lala Lala and Fuzz, while 1% is bringing in Diet Cig, Bonnie Prince Billy, Parquet Courts, Mdou Moctar, Azure Ray, Gary Numan, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Sasami, Mogwai, Destroyer, Beach Bunny, ADULT, Built to Spill, The Antlers, and Dinosaur Jr…. We’re actually doing pretty well…

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Speaking of shows… tonight at The Waiting Room it’s kinda/sorta the annual holiday show featuring Criteria. In years’ past this happened around Christmas, so we’re getting a jump on things (1% has yet to announce a big Christmas show this year….). Opening is Big Nope — Nate Van Fleet’s band (and we all know Nate’s high-tailing it to LA in the new year), and Little Brazil. Great show for just $10. Starts at 8 p.m. and this is a No Vax No Entry gig, so bring your evidence…

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Welp, we’re headed into Thanksgiving week.

Two shows of note:

Bauhaus tribute band Stigmata Martyr is playing at Reverb Lounge Wednesday night with Mere Shadows. This is a No Vax No Entry show, so bring your stuff. $10, 9 p.m.

Also Wednesday night Dave Goldberg a.k.a. Solid Goldberg, is spinning his personal vintage vinyl collect at Scriptown Brewing in the Blackstone District. Scriptown, for the first time, will be open until 1 a.m. Better be careful what you’re trying out here, Scriptown, it could become a regular thing…

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A few new surprise releases were announced last week.

Lightning Stills released a new single, “Pack of Johnnys.” It features Tom May on leads, and the rest of the boys are all there, Dan, Mike and Darren.

Uh Oh also released a new single last week, called “In a Crowded Room (in D).” This one isn’t in Bandcamp yet, so you’ll have to swing over to Spotify to check out out.

And that new live album from Desaparecidos that Denver Dalley mentioned this summer (here) finally has a release date. Live at Shea Stadium is due April 1 via Freeman Street and Shea Stadium Records. The album was recorded back in 2015 at Brooklyn DIY space Shea Stadium. Check out the first track below, “MariKKKopa” and order the vinyl here.

That’s it for now. Big show coming this weekend. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving.

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Matt Wilson, who we all remember from the ‘90s band Trip Shakespeare, is headlining tonight at Reverb Lounge as “Matt Wilson and his Orchestra.” I think these guys played at the late, great Hi-Fi House a few years ago. If you’re a fan of Trip Shakespeare or even old enough to remember that band, you’re probably going to love this show. Captain’s Platter opens at 9. $15.

Also tonight, Slowdown Jr. is hosting a punk show with Mike Vallely & the Complete Disaster. Joining them are Omaha’s own RAF (RAF’s Dereck Higgins has posted on Facebook that this will “likely” be the last chance to see RAF play live), Tiananmen Squares and Acolyte. $17, 8 p.m.

Saturday night is the big Silversun Pickups show at The Slowdown. This one has been sold out for quite a while. I always thought of these guys as low-grade Smashing Pumpkins, but what do I know? Zella Day opens at 8 p.m. This is a No Vax No Entry show, so bring your evidence.

Finally Sunday is the return of BoDeans to The Waiting Room. I interviewed these guys when they were on a return-to-the-road tour way back in 2004. From that article:

(Sam Llanas, original half of BoDeans) said the aging of their core audience is one of biggest changes he’s seen over the past 20 years. “Everyone’s older now. They’re not kids anymore, they’re in their 40s and it’s not easy for them to come to shows,” he said. “It’s not the same as when we were younger and everyone wanted to party all night.” So, those fans are now in their late 50s and early 60s? Sounds about right. $30, 8 p.m.

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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I recently received greetings from the heart of a California desert wherein lives former Omahan and Talking Mountain frontman Jason Steady. He wrote to say “hi” and to pass along that he built the props for the video below, directed by Shins drummer Jon Sortland, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Shins album Oh, Inverted World. Jason even ended up in the video — he’s the guy buying the giant version of the album — as does The Faint’s Todd Fink, who is the astronaut on Mars (which was actually shot in their front yard). 

“We got permission from The Station in Joshua Tree to build a giant Shins record and put it in the hands of Big Josh, their 20-foot tall fiberglass cowboy,” Steady said. Keep an eye out for a few Easter eggs throughout…

Dig it below. Ah, Omaha does indeed miss these dudes…

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You could tell Matt Whipkey was proud of the band he assembled for last Friday night’s album release show at The Jewell, and he should be.

Standing beside him on the crooked stage were two of the city’s best guitarists — Korey Anderson and Corey Weber — his longtime sideman/keyboardist Scott Gaeta, percussionist/vibrophone player Scott “Zip” Zimmerman, who for decades sat behind the kit but for Friday was replaced by whizkid drummer Nate Van Fleet (who’s on a personal farewell tour before he moves to Los Angeles early next year), and flying in all the way from Denver was none other than Bobby Carrig, who also played alongside Whipkey for decades.

Whipkey never had it so good, and I think he knew it, because also supplying sonic mojo was the room itself. The Jewell has a reputation for being one of the better sounding rooms in Omaha, designed for live jazz shows. And sound good it did. This was the first time I’ve seen Whipkey live where I didn’t have to wear earplugs, the sound was so balanced and clean.

Matt brought his A game, performing all the songs off his new album, Hard (2021, Unusual) to a seated crowd who gnawed on $28 plates of rubber chicken from their candle-lit tables. Sort of like seeing a band at a Holiday Inn lounge, but with perfect acoustics. Not exactly a rock club vibe, but Whipkey knew that going in.

Highlights for me were when he let the band lean back and do their thing, like at the end of Hard standout number “Big Noise” that saw Whipkey trading solos with the KCoreys. The other golden moments came during the “greatest hits” part of the set, where he rolled out tasty versions of 2008 Whipkey Three track “Separation” and the acoustic guitar-fueled title track from his 2015 album Underwater.

This was my first time at The Jewell, and for the most part, it was a positive experience, though I recommend eating at one of the many Capital District restaurants before arriving, as the overpriced food was pretty awful. But who eats at a jazz club, anyway? The room would be a great place to host small, intimate singer/songwriter shows as well as jazz. Rock shows aren’t out of the question, though you’re pretty much confined to your table, and that ain’t very rock ‘n’ roll, is it?

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Busy week for shows.

Tomorrow night ‘80s alternative band The Fixx plays at The Waiting Room. These guys have been touring for decades on the strength of two albums from the early ‘80s whose hits still get airplay on classic rock stations. They haven’t put out an album since a 2014 live album. Joining them is ‘90s alt rockers Fastball. $35, 8 p.m.

Tuesday night, Flaccid Mojo (consisting of two members of DFA Records artist Black Dice (the two that don’t sing)) swing by Reverb Lounge for a set of experimental beat-heavy distortion synth noise. Opening is Problems a.k.a. Darren Keen. $12, 8 p.m.

Tennis return to The Slowdown Wednesday night. Molly Burch opens. This is a main room show and it’s No Vax No Entry, so bring your stuff. $20, 8 p.m.

And then along comes the 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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Red hot news before we get to the calendar, and it’s news of an unfortunate nature (for Omaha, anyway)…

This weekend’s shows are among the last times you’ll be able to see one of the area’s best drummers perform live. Nate Van Fleet, best known as the drummer for indie rock band See Through Dresses, is moving to Los Angeles after the first of the year. Nate confirmed the news last week: “I’m looking forward to meeting some new faces and making some new musical experiences. Hoping to be back in Omaha as often as possible, though,” he said.

Nate’s filled his calendar with a number of shows before he leaves, including two big ones this weekend with Matt Whipkey and See Through Dresses. But on top of that, Nate’s other band, Big Nope, will open for Criteria and Little Brazil at The Waiting Room Nov. 27 in what may be a tri-fecta for Van Fleet fans. Finally, Nate will be playing as part of Bug Heaven Nov. 28 at The Sydney.

Since he first emerged as a member of STD, Van Fleet has been been recognized as one of the city’s most versatile drummers, becoming the go-to guy for the area’s best rock bands. In fact, that Nov. 27 show could be very special, as Van Fleet drummed for Criteria and Little Brazil. Will he be on stage for all three sets? I don’t know for sure because I haven’t confirmed the bands’ line-ups, but I would not be surprised.

No doubt Van Fleet will become a sensation in La La Land. It’s just a matter of connections and getting seen by the right people. With all the other Omahans who have fled to the West Coast in the past few years — and his unmistakable talent — he’ll have no problems.

Congratulations Nate, and whoa to all of us back in Omaha, as the city’s Great Talent Migration continues…

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So let’s start there. Tonight at The Jewell in the Capitol District Matt Whipkey is playing two shows with a massive band that includes Van Fleet, guitarists Korey Anderson and Corey Weber, keyboardist Scott Gaeta, bassist Glen Smith and percussionist Scott “Zip” Zimmerman. The event is the release of his new album, Hard (2021, Unusual), in vinyl format (which Whipkey will have on hand for sale). You read about the album here. Tickets to both the 6:30 and 8:30 shows are still available for $15.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) The Lemonheads return to The Waiting Room with Heyrocco. See Through Dresses opens this one at 8 p.m. Is the first STD show since the lock down (I think). Tickets are $30, show starts at 8 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Jeremy Mercy and the Rapture Orphans headline at The Sydney in Benson. Mercy has new music out, and what I heard of it is very good. Joining them is The Rare Candies. No price listed for this one but it’s probably around $10. Starts at 9.

Finally, BFF is hosting an event called Magic 8 Ball After Party (I don’t get the reference). That said, live performances include Cat Piss, Blood Cow and DJ Kobrakyle. The show is free if you’re a member of BFF (join!) and $10 for everyone else. Starts at 9.

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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First time back to The Waiting Room since the Before Times and not much has changed. I had no idea Soccer Mommy was as popular as she apparently is, based on the size of the crowd Saturday night, which looked like a sell-out. TWR doesn’t appear to be metering crowd size due to COVID-19, and they’re not obligated to.

And while we were all warned they would be checking COVID-19 vax status, no one checked mine on the way in. That said, everyone in the crowd was wearing a mask except when they were drinking, at the request of the artist. It seemed oddly comforting to be masked in the middle of the crush-sized crowd.

We dropped in while Alexalone was in the middle of his set. He — Alex Peterson — was anything but alone surrounded by a sizable band who navigated through his murky, plodding shoegaze rock that at times sort of reminded me of Bedhead, especially in his dry vocals. The contrast between the quiet numbers and when he punched it up with his band was severe in a good way. An interesting choice for an opener.

Soccer Mommy falls into the club of women singer/songwriters who are tearing up indie these days, falling nicely somewhere between Phoebe Bridgers and Snail Mail, though front woman Sophie Allison has more in common with Liz Phair than either of those two, balancing a sound that hints at Phair’s early sonic choices. Songs like “Royal Screw Up,” and “Circle the Drain” from her latest album recall Exile in all their alienated glory.

The band sounded great; almost too much so as Allison was consistently buried in the mix, but maybe that was the plan or maybe I just lost track as the band played one mid-temp song after another after another…

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On Mondays I’m going to try to take a look at what’s coming up the rest of the week, just to set a course, so to speak. We’re finally getting to a point post-COVID where shows are again being booked during the week, at least at the 1% and Slowdown venues.

For example, that rescheduled Post Animal show is tonight at Slowdown Jr. This is the band with the Stranger Things connection I wrote about here. Garst opens. $20, 8 p.m.

This Thursday Big Thief member Buck Meek headlines at The Waiting Room with Kidi Band. $12, 8 p.m. Surprised to see this booked at TWR, but they’ve already got Dustin Bushon a.k.a. FXTHR booked at Reverb on Thursday night, preforming as Historical Romance. That one’s $10, 8 p.m.

And then it’s the weekend, but I’ll get to that later…

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Sam Crisler at The Reader wrote a massive story on Pagan Athletes, who celebrate the release of their debut LP tonight at OutrSpaces. The drum/keyboard duo of Nathan and Griffin Wolf are the sons of Cellophane Ceiling frontman and Main Vein impresario John Wolf. Sam’s story goes deep in the history, and into the making of the album and the band’s sound, which I would describe as psychedelic-punk-prog-sonic-rollercoaster. Read it here.

OutrSpaces is located at 1258 So. 13th Street. Playing with PA are Verb the Noun, Ben Eisenberger w/chamber group, and Kyle Jessen. No price listed, but it starts at 8 p.m. 

Also tonight, The Sydney in Benson celebrates Benson First Friday with a show headlined by Universe Contest. Also on the bill are Better Friends and All Young Girls Are Machine Guns. $10, 10 p.m. 

Tomorrow night it’s back to Benson for Soccer Mommy at The Waiting Room. Nashville native Sophie Allison is the Mommy and she’s on the road supporting her sophomore release, Color Theory (2020, Loma Vista). Opening is Polyvinyl artist Alexalone. $20, 8 p.m. 

Also Saturday night, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me (Fearless) headlines at The Slowdown with San Diego’s Ignant Benches. $30, 8 p.m.

That’s all I got other than to say that it’s a Bandcamp Friday again, so if you’re going to buy some digital downloads, today’s the day to do it as Bandcamp (and most labels) will be passing along its fees to the artists. 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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So, The Brothers is gone. I didn’t make it out to the farewell shows last weekend. I didn’t get tickets before the sell outs, and while Trey and Lallaya graciously offered to put me on the list, The Brothers was never the kind of place to have a list, which is one of the reasons I liked the place. 

My final thoughts: What’s next for the Lalleys? We’ll have to wait and see, but they’re way too young to retire. Here’s hoping it’s something music-related, but they deserve to do as much fishing as they want.

And what will happen to The Brothers’ building? No doubt it’ll go to the highest bidder (though I’m hearing GreenSlate isn’t in the mix).

Check out the video tribute by M34N STR33T, below…

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My feature column on Matt Whipkey and his new album, Hard, went up on The Reader website this morning. You can read it here. Matt talks about what did and didn’t go into his “divorce album,” and lists some of his favorite break-up records. My favorite, Beck’s Sea Change from 2005, didn’t make his cut. See what did. And go out and buy tickets to his Nov. 12 album release show at The Jewell. Matt has vinyl in hand that will be sold at the show.

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Last week the folks at the Maha Festival announced that long-time Executive Director Lauren Martin stepped down at the end of October. Lauren’s been involved in Maha since it launched in 2009 and has been the ED since 2015. She’s a big reason why Maha is one of the best-run festivals in the country.

I asked why she’s leaving, and Maha Marketing & Comms Manager Rachel Grace said, “She is seeking opportunities that allow her to prioritize her family/personal goals while serving the community.”

Grace now leads Maha along with Operations Manager Emily Cox. No word on 2022 but there will be a festival next year. When and where has yet to be announced.

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One Percent today announced Destroyer is booked at The Waiting Room April 28, 2022. Tickets at $22 go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

One last note: I just discovered this story that appeared online at The Reader Oct. 20. In it, reporter Sam Crisler talks to a number of venues in town about COVID-19 protocols, including CHI Center and One Percent Productions.

From the article:

“We’re trying to get back to where we have bigger crowds, but at the same time, the touring bands that can draw the bigger crowds just aren’t back on the road right now,” (1%’s Marc) Leibowitz said. He estimates around half of the artists that would typically draw sizable crowds to his venues have chosen to stay home so far.

This is beginning to turn around, judging by the dozens of emails I get every day from larger bands announcing tours.

Also from the article:

Leibowitz said he thinks nationwide standards for concertgoers need to be put in place. The variability in COVID-19 requirements from venue to venue and state to state is discouraging artists from touring in the first place, he said.

“If there was an understanding with people that if you want to see music, you have to do X and Y, then they would be better off,” Leibowitz said. “I think it would make less tours cancel.”

I couldn’t agree more. Even in Omaha there is no COVID-related standard for live shows. The restrictions appear to be driven by the artists themselves — touring acts that insist on proof of vaccination are getting their wish (Destroyer, for example, is a “no vax no entry” show). The same restriction doesn’t appear to exists for local artists’ shows, however, but it probably could if locals insisted on the vax-proof restriction….

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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 © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.