by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Based on the analytics, the most-read new content on Lazy-i is live reviews (while vintage interviews from the last decade probably attracts the most readers). Live reviews give people a glimpse of what happened during a night at a club — if they were there, too, they can compare mental notes; if they weren’t there, they can catch up on what they missed. It also gives a band’s followers or those just getting familiar with a band a sort of score card. If written with enough detail, live reviews can have a gossipy feel to them — fun!

Live reviews also are the easiest content to write. All I have to do is sit down and recall the evening, glancing at whatever notes I jotted down on my iPhone or pictures taken from the floor. So it pains me to no end that I missed Friday night’s sold-out Cursive show at The Waiting Room. Joel from 1% was kind enough to place me on the list and I was all set to go.

But at around 8 p.m. I began to get cold feet. A number of people from my office have their entire families down with COVID. About half the people I know have had it, and the numbers — though finally on the decline — are still in the hazardous range, with hospitalizations at an all-time high. I sat on my couch Friday night with my uncomfortable N95 mask on and asked myself if I wanted to be in a sold-out room wearing this for three hours, struggling to drink a beer, likely packed up front of a huge crowd or standing all the way back by the bar, and it just didn’t add up.

This was the first time since COVID began that I skipped a concert I had planned to attend, and it was a bummer, but with everything going on, I can’t afford to get COVID and don’t want to.

So, thanks to Joel for the list and apologies for not going. The numbers are improving every day and there will be more shows, including more Cursive shows, to attend. But dang, I really miss seeing Vitreous Humor. That opportunity will likely never happen again in Omaha…

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Speaking of COVID, my column in this month’s issue of The Reader is focused on COVID conspiracies and other lies that are ruining our lives. Read it here.

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Speaking of shows and COVID, tonight’s Black Angels show at The Slowdown has been postponed.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.