by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We’ve entered the lull season for shows. I see only 12 touring indie shows coming through town between now and next summer. All are listed below. 

Strangely (or maybe not so strangely), two of the city’s biggest, newest music venues in their inaugural years have no touring indie shows booked at all.  The Astro has an excuse. Despite a scheduled opening date of Sept. 7, the venue has yet to host any shows due to “construction delays.” Their next scheduled show was Ruben and Clay — which, because of all the other cancellations, postponements or moves to other venues, would have been the first show for the The Astro. But that’s been postponed, too. The next opportunity to see the inside of this multi-million-dollar facility will be Emo Orchestra Nov. 5 (that is, if you’re into Emo Orchestra). The Astro only has five shows booked through May 15.

Meanwhile, the multi-million-dollar Steelhouse Omaha has a total of 18 shows on its calendar. The breakdown by genre: 4 comedians; 4 country; 3 alt rock, and a hodgepodge of gospel, rave, EDM, “family,” smooth jazz, R&B and tribute/cover bands. No indie, but is anyone surprised?

Sure, it’s the down season, but it’s also the inaugural year for this $100 million-plus venue. Or is there another reason their bookings have been so geriatric and disappointing?

Anyway, below is the current list of indie shows booked at The Slowdown and 1% properties through May 30 of next year. Hopefully, more will be booked. If not, it’s going to be a long winter:

• – Great Lake Swimmers, Nov. 2 at Slowdown
• – Slothrust, Nov. 17 at Reverb
• – Speedy Ortiz, Nov. 17, The Slowdown
• – Atmosphere, Nov. 21 at The Admiral
• – Hotline TNT, Nov. 22 at Reverb Lounge
• – Neva Dinova, Dec. 14 at Reverb
• – Laura Jane Grace, Jan. 2 at The Slowdown
• – Squirrel Flower Jan. 21 at Reverb
• – Yo La Tengo, Feb. 19 at The Waiting Room
• – Katy Kirby, Feb. 29 at Reverb
• – Ty Segall, May 7 at The Waiting Room.
• – Wednesday, May 30, The Slowdown

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.