by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Some call it a trip into the supernatural, others say it’s divine intervention… I merely know it as my annual predictions column!  It is here that I look into my magical Fender Squire Strat and see the future of Omaha’s — and the nation’s — indie music scenes. Ah, but before we get to 2024, let’s see how I did with my predictions for 2023: 

2023 Prediction: For a majority of young indie music acts, recording and releasing entire albums is costly and almost always a money loser. Beginning this year, we’ll begin to see a new focus on bands (and labels) promoting individual tracks rather than full albums.

Reality: Billboard would have you believe that albums are stronger than ever, based on acts like Zach Bryan and Taylor Swift. Fine. But for indie artists, things haven’t changed. Furthermore, the rise in vinyl sales (up 51% in 2021) has more to do with collecting than music listening. Music data company Luminate reported that 50% of LP buyers don’t have a turntable. 

2023 Prediction: With inflation through the roof and the erosion of album revenues, touring also has become a money-losing proposition for new bands. Watch as more artists cancel tours stating the current tour model is not sustainable.

Reality: Animal Collective was among those who cancelled a tour this past year, calling touring “an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable.” The answer, for huge artists, is to simply ratchet up ticket prices. It’s sad when the Wall Street Journal publishes articles with tips on ways to afford concert tickets, including getting a second job or opening high-yield savings accounts. 

2023 Prediction: Big music festivals and national indie tours will be dominated almost solely by legacy bands in ’23 — acts whose heydays were one, two, even three decades ago. 

Reality: Huge fests, like Pitchforkfest, were still headlined by modern acts like The Smile, Bon Iver and Big Thief, who also headlined this year’s Maha Music Festival. That said, so far bookings at Omaha’s  newest large venues – Steelhouse, The Admiral and The Astro — have been dominated by legacy acts. 

2023 Prediction: Also in the bummer category, despite the vinyl explosion, downtown Omaha will not be able to sustain so many record stores. Watch as one of them closes its doors in ’23.

Reality: Ending a tradition that began in 1982, Drastic Plastic’s Vinyl Lounge, located above The Monster Club in the Old Market, closed shop in February. 

2023 Prediction: In a shrewd money-making move, a number of large local stages once known for hosting indie rock shows will begin booking full weekends of cover bands, Ranch Bowl-style.

Reality: Cover acts and tribute bands continued to be popular bookings on stages that used to be dedicated to indie rock shows. In fact, as the year came to a close, The Slowdown’s calendar was almost solely dedicated a Beatles tribute act. 

2023 Prediction: Omaha Performing Arts’ new Steelhouse music venue will open in May. Booked by Live Nation, it won’t be afraid to take chances (partially because it’s a funded nonprofit) and will pump new life into Omaha’s waning indie music scene.

Reality: So far, Steelhouse’s bookings have been anything but risky, focusing mostly on legacy projects and targeting sell-out crowds rather than taking chances booking large touring indie performers.

2023 Prediction: The Maha Music Festival will make a huge announcement after it enjoys yet another successful year in 2023.

Reality: Months after its (mostly) successful 2023 festival, Maha announced a move from Stinson Park at Aksarben Village to the new Riverfront Park in downtown Omaha for its 2024 two-day festival. 

2023 Prediction: Meanwhile, Outlandia Festival will be bigger and better in Year 2, adding on-site camping and a broader array of artists, including new breakthrough indie acts.

Reality: Outlandia had another successful year, and indeed added camping to its festival offerings. And while their headliners were older acts (Lord Huron, Modest Mouse, Jimmy Eat World) they also booked cutting-edge indie acts Horsegirl and folk monster Gregory Alan Isakov. 

2023 Prediction: Does Omaha have room for a third music festival? You better believe it. Watch for the announcement.

Reality: Does Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival, launched downtown last year, count?  

2023 Prediction: The band with the longest-running original lineup, U2, will finally come to an end.

Reality: U2 enjoyed a lengthy residency at Las Vegas’ eye-popping Sphere at The Venetian Resort. I’d still rather see them play at Red Rocks. 

2023 Prediction: Bands we’ll be talking about this time next year: David Nance, Lewsberg, Phoebe Bridgers (again), The Faint, Courtney Barnett, The Smiths, Parquet Courts, Hand Habits, Orville Peck, Matt Whipkey, Cactus Nerve Thang, Icky Blossoms and Car Seat Headrest.

Reality: Almost all enjoyed new albums and tours in 2023, with the exception of The Smiths (though Morrissey and Johnny Marr remained very active) and Cactus Nerve Thang (Let’s do it in 2024!).

2023 Prediction: A huge movie crew will arrive in River City in ’23 and begin filming a Netflix/Amazon/Hulu docu-drama series about the music scene during the early 2000s. 

Reality: Not this year, but it’s only a matter of time.

Final score: 9 out of 12 – impressive (if I do say so myself). So what about 2024? Hold onto your hats…

2024 Prediction: Spurred on by the successes of unions and other organized workforce movements, musicians – both indie and otherwise – will address how criminally low streaming revenues has made musician’s lives unsustainable. Next year musicians will finally organize to force streamers to pay up, but success will depend on the most successful performers willingness to take a financial hit. 

Prediction:  Musicians also will take on a unionized approach toward live music, resulting in better income streams for touring indie artists and those who support them. However, it’ll also mean even higher ticket prices for the rest of us. Are you willing to pay top dollar for the music you love?

Prediction: That’s not all. Musicians will come up with innovative ways to package merch to increase revenue. Leveraging the collectors’ market, bands (and labels ) will start packaging T-shirts and other non-music-related items with their vinyl releases. Are trading cards in their future?

Prediction: Its location won’t be the only thing different about the 2024 Maha Music Festival. To draw larger audiences to the larger Riverfront concert space, Maha will begin to more aggressively stray from the indie-focused line-ups that characterized past festivals. Also look for a revised dedication toward local music and the city’s music history.

Prediction: Not to be outdone by Maha, Outlandia will continue to become bigger and better, expanding to a three-day festival – Friday-Saturday-Sunday.

Prediction: With all these new music venues, the expansion of local festivals, and the continued growth of entertainment districts, businesses will be desperate for advertising outlets with the loss of The Reader (and the inevitable shuttering of the Omaha World-Herald). A new publication will emerge in ’24 focused on art, entertainment and dining, which will even include a (very limited) print edition. 

Prediction: Entering their first full year of operation, The Astro Theater will battle head-to-head with Steelhouse Omaha for the exact same music-loving audience. It’s the monstrous Live Nation (who books Steelhouse) versus the combined might of One Percent and Mammoth Productions (who book The Astro). Because this town ain’t big enough for the two of them.

Prediction: As if we didn’t already have enough music venues, next year watch for an announcement of the creation of a brand new high-dollar music venue to be located in the heart of Omaha, catering to a youth market.  

Prediction: Despite the closing of Omaha’s most prestigious jazz club — The Jewell — having gone almost unnoticed last year, an entrepreneur will team with an out-of-town company to open a new jazz-focused music venue that will act as an extension of Kansas City’s successful jazz scene. Omaha will finally have its first modern-day, successful jazz club.

Prediction: Is there a merger in Saddle Creek Records’ future?

Prediction:  Following the current trend, the number of local indie-rock bands will sadly continue to decline. Watch as metal and hardcore bands fill the void thanks to support from new all-ages clubs like The Blind Spot in Omaha and The Swamp in Lincoln and rise in bookings of national touring punk/metal bands. Omaha’s future sounds loud… and dissonant. 

Prediction: It’s not all bad news for local indie: The result both of indie music’s national dominance by women singer/songwriters and years of hard work by the Omaha Girls Rock organization, watch as a number of new female singer/songwriters emerge next year from our scene to receive national attention. It’s about time. 

Prediction: Other performers we’ll be talking about this time next year:  Low, David Nance, HAIM, Spoon, Alvvays, Desaparecidos, The Faint, Wet Leg, Talking Heads, Waxahatchee, Vampire Weekend, Neva Dinova, The Strokes, Interpol and Cactus Nerve Thang (again). 

Prediction: We’ll find out whatever happened to Eric Clapton.

Prediction: A local music journalist will finally begin writing his long-awaited history of the Omaha music scene circa 1993-present. Ah, but who will be the publisher?…

Prediction: Conor Obest won’t appear on Saturday Night Live but will appear on another prime-time TV show — masked or unmasked….

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So here it is again, the Lazy-i Best of 2023 compilation CD. I’ve been putting this comp together since 1994, originally on cassette.  It’s a collection of favorite tracks I’ve come across during my work as a critic-at-large for Lazy-i.com and the aforementioned, now-defunct, Reader. The CD is mailed to friends and associates as a sort of year-end holiday card that’s also an audio time capsule (and collector’s item!).  

Got a CD player? This year, I’m sending a liminted number of copies to anyone who asks, while supplies last (and there ain’t many). Just send me your mailing address via email to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. 

Here’s the track list: 

• Genesis Owusu, “Leaving the Light” from the album STRUGGLER (AWAL)
• Sextile, “Contortion” from the album Push (Sacred Bones)
• noname, “Namesake” from the album Sundial (self-released)
• Slowdive, “Kisses,” from the album Everything is Alive (Dead Oceans)
• M83, “Amnesia,” from the album Fantasy (Mute)
• Yo La Tengo, “Aselestine” from the album This Stupid World(Matador)
• Hotline TNT, “I Thought You’d Change” from the album Cartwheel (Third Man)
• boygenius, “Cool About It,” from the album The Record(Interscope)
• Blondshell, “Joiner” from the album Blondshell (Partisan)
• Lloyd Cole, “Warm by the Fire,” from the album On Pain (Edel Music)
• Neva Dinova, “Outside,” single (Saddle Creek)
• Slow Pulp, “Broadview” from the album Yard (ANTI-)
• Palehound, “Eye on the Bat” from the album Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
• Pardoner, “Get Inside!” from the album Peace Loving People(Bar/None)
• Lewsberg, “Communion,” single (12XU)
• Water from Your Eyes, “Out There (The Dare Version)” from Crushed by Everyone (Matador)
• Bad Bad Men, “No Thanks” from the album Messed Up(SPEED! Nebraska)
• Model/Actriz, “Mosquito” from the album Dogsbody (True Panther)
• Lana Del Rey, “Let the Light In” from the album Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Interscope)
• Mitch Gettman, “Empire” from the album Tilde (self released)
• Bright Eyes, “Christmas in Prison” single featuring John Prine (Oh Boy)

The playlist also is available in Spotify. Simply click this link or search “Tim McMahan” in Spotify, then select Profiles, then Public Playlists. You’ll find it along with a few from past years.

But wait, there’s more. As I said, I’ve been putting this comp together since ’94, so I figured why not (for Throw Back Thursday’s sake) post the playlist from the Lazy-i Best of 2003 comp CD? That was 20 years ago. It was a different world for sure. Omaha’s indie music scene had just begun to capture national attention, and almost all the bands on this comp played at Sokol Underground.

Here’s the track list:

• Guster — “Keep It Together” from Keep It Together on Warner Bros. 

• The Jayhawks — “Save It for a Rainy Day ” from Rainy Day Music on American Recordings. 

• Yo La Tengo — “Moonrock Mambo” from Summer Sun released by Matador. 

• Criteria — “Play on Words” from En Garde released by Initial. 

• The Rapture — “I Need Your Love” from Echoes released by Strummer / Universal.

• Steely Dan — “Things I Miss the Most” from Everything Must Go on Warner/Reprise. 

• Crooked Fingers — “Big Darkness” from Red Devil Dawn, released on Warm Records.  

• Death in Vegas — “Girls” from the soundtrack to the motion picture Lost in Translation, released on Emperor Norton.  

• Consonant — “Night for Love” from Love and Affliction released on Fenway Records. 

• Guided by Voices — “The Best of Jill Hives ” from Earthquake Glue released by Matador Records. 

• Liam Lynch — “SOS” from Fake Songs, released by S-curve Records. 

• The Kingdom Flying Club — “Artists Are Boring ”  from Non-fiction released by Emergency Umbrella Records. 

• Okkervil River — “Blanket and Crib” from Down the River of Golden Dreams on Jagjaguwar Records. 

• The Postal Service — “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” from Give Up on Sub Pop Records.

• Atom & His Package — “Lying to You” from Attention! Blah Blah Blah released on Hopeless Records.  

• Enon — “The Power of Yawning” from Hocus-Pocus, released by Touch and Go Records. 

• The Shins — “Turn a Square,” from Chutes Too Narrow on Sub Pop Records. 

• Sun Kil Moon — “Lily and Parrots” from Ghosts of the Great Highway, released on Jetset. 

• The Pernice Brothers — “Baby in Two” from Yours, Mine & Ours, on Ashmont Records. 

• The Twilight Singers — “Martin Eden” from Blackberry Belle, released on Badman. 

I stil have a few copies of this one in the basement. The good news is as of today, the playlist also is available in Spotify. Simply click this link or search “Tim McMahan” in Spotify, then select Profiles, then Public Playlists. Take a trip back in time!

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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.

Icky Blossoms at The Waiting Room, Dec. 26. 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

An observation about the crowd at last night’s “day-after-Christmas” concert featuring Icky Blossoms (and friends) that someone else made, which, on hindsight, seems particularly relevant: Other than ourselves and a couple folks who were with us, there were no familiar faces in the sold-out-sized crowd jammed on the floor of The Waiting Room. Demographically, the audience was young for a band that hasn’t released any new music in almost a decade (eight years since Mask, to be exact) and whose early single (the bouncy “Babes”) was released in 2012. Yet despite this, the crowd was mainly filled with anonymous 20-somethings (other than us) there to get their dance on. These Christmas concerts usually feel like millennial wedding receptions populated with the usual group of music-scene hipsters who grew up listening to the same records from the Saddle Creek label (either their own copies or their older brothers’ or sisters’ copies). This, it seemed, would be a good thing, — a reflection that the band’s audience is rotating a new generation of listeners, perhaps driven by recent song placements in video games (see Sunday’s blog entry) or (more unlikely) the after-effect of Icky Blossoms having performed at this summer’s Maha Music Festival. Either way… hope for the future?

We arrived just as PROBLEMS (a.k.a. Darren Keen) was finishing his set and the place was already jam packed. There was Darren on stage behind his synth equipment riding herd over a flock of gyrating dancers. 

David Nance and Pearl Lovejoy Boyd at The Waiting Room, Dec. 26, 2023.

I grabbed my Rolling Rock and we pushed through the crowd toward the front just a David Nance and his band began their set. I’ve always been a Nance fanboy back to his Actor’s Diary (2013, Grapefruit Records) days, having watched him go from a noise collage artist through psych rock, garage rock to what he’s doing now, which resembles something that Robbie Robertson and The Band might have played during their Scorsese-filmed heydays. Nance has a crisp, golden voice with just the right amount of wheeze to give it the soul needed to power these Midwest blues-rock nuggets. 

Top of the list was an uptempo rock number about “taking the covers off” with someone, which was a new one on me, and, a more laid-back-than-usual version of “Credit Line,” a cool ripper with a groovy guitar loop that, in times past, had straight-up rocked. Nance’s overall set was more subdued than any in recent memory, powered by his usual sidemen including drummer Kevin Donahue and guitarist Jim Schroeder, with Pearl Lovejoy Boyd providing tasty harmony vocals. I don’t know who that was on bass, but he was awesome. 

Then on came Icky Blossoms, and by then we had pushed our way through the crowd to that dark divot off the side of the stage by the bathrooms, well out of the way of what I assumed would be a bouncing mob. 

Icky Blossoms sounded as good as always, though I don’t remember seeing them play to such a large crowd. The band played their usual set drawn from their two albums, the highlights (for me, anyway) again being the dance numbers – “Babes” and “Cycle” among them. By the time they got to the night’s big raver, “Sex to the Devil,” they’d asked the lighting guy to turn off the overhead lights, leaving them illuminated only by the under-lit stage lights that strobed in sync with their music. That lighting combined with the bouncing crowd gave the room the same energy I remember from Faint concerts from back in the day. 

Joining the core band of Nik Fackler, Sarah Bohling and Derek Pressnall was bass player Sara Bertuldo (See Through Dresses) and drummer Javid Dabestani – with this solid line-up, new music (reportedly) on the way and what appeared to be a fresh new audience, there’s nothing holding back Icky Blossoms except their own complicated lives. It would be fun to see them re-emerge as a modern-day dance powerhouse…

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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.

Icky Blossoms at this year’s Maha Festival. The band plays at The Waiting Room Dec. 26.

by Tim McMahan,lazy-i.com

Holiday concerts are an Omaha tradition and Tuesday night’s show at The Waiting Room is a hum-dinger: The return of Icky Blossoms. 

Some Icky fans (me included) got ripped off at this year’s Maha Music Festival due to the “weird weather event” that emptied out the Maha compound right before the Icky’s performed. Getting back into Maha turned into a debacle. While waiting in the line, I could hear  Icky Blossoms’ music bouncing off buildings blocks away. By the time I got back in, the set was practically over.

Tomorrow night (Dec. 26) we get another chance to see their full set, and these days, that’s a rare event. The band’s core members have their hands full living life: Sarah Bohling lives in Atlanta where she’s busy with music projects (including band No Head), Derek Pressnall has a family and full-time gig at Secret Penguin, and Nik Fackler and wife, Kat, just had their first child — the lovely Faye Rose — six months ago. That doesn’t leave much time for rock and roll.

Despite that and the fact that they haven’t released new material in years, the band’s music has never been more relevant. This year alone saw two high-profile Icky Blossoms music placements. One was the use of “Sex to the Devil” from their 2012 self-titled debut as the finale song at Versace’s 2023 Spring Summer runway show in Paris. “We didn’t realize Paris Hilton would be walking that finale,” Pressnall said via a conference call with all three Icky’s.

The other was their song “Cycle” from the same album used as the finale for video game Grand Theft Auto 5 – Cayo Perico Heist. No doubt as a result, that song now has just under 1.7 million Spotify spins.  Could there be a better time for new Icky Blossoms music and a reunion tour? 

In fact, the band is working on new music. “We have a whole process for writing and recording,” Fackler said.

“We could put out a record, but touring, especially right now, seems… there’s a lot of moving parts – jobs, babies, families and where we live,” Bohling said. 

“We’re going to take a modern approach to it,” Fackler added. “Rather than one big tour, we’re looking at festivals or shorter stints on the road.”

They said you won’t hear any of that new Icky music tomorrow night, but you will be treated to an all-new digital light show created especially for the event.

The amazing David Nance and his band Mowed Sound also are on the bill, as is PROBLEMS (a.k.a. Darren Keen), who will open the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.

The concert is followed with an “official after party” at Pageturners Lounge featuring an Icky Blossoms DJ set along with DJ Tyrone Storm! No cover, starts at 11 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

By all accounts, 2023 should have been a turning-point year for the Omaha music scene – two new, grand and glorious 3,000-plus capacity music venues opened. Now no one can say Omaha doesn’t have large-ish, high-quality state-of-the-art music venues to attract the best and brightest touring bands. 

And yet, here we are, still getting bypassed by the best and brightest who can’t seem to find Omaha on a map as they plot their tours. 

Steelhouse Omaha opened in May – a modern metal box of a venue located downtown with all the charm of an airplane hanger, designed (supposedly) for standing-audience performances of more than 3,000 (though the venue also books seated shows). Its chief competition – the 3,000-plus capacity Astro Theater in La Vista that opened earlier this month — boasts an adjoining 5,000-plus capacity amphitheater that opened in September. 

The booking fire-power behind Steelhouse comes courtesy of those greedy bastards at Live Nation, while longtime local heroes One Percent Productions and their partner, KC’s Mammoth Productions, book the Astro complex. Exciting times? Well…. maybe. 

Since both opened, neither has booked a performer that could be considered cutting-edge, modern or progressive, and probably rarely will, because of the perception that those kinds of bands don’t do well in this market. Instead, prepare for a parade of legacy acts whose heyday was 30 (or more) years ago (Rick Springfield, anybody?) along with a wagon-train of country performers (Yaw! Git!) and goon rock/metal/tattoo-discount bands. It’s all about booking sure-thing sell-outs (even though Steelhouse is operated by a non-profit organization dedicated to the arts).

It’s not the promoters’ fault. I came to the sad conclusion that indie music – that style of music that made Omaha a nationally recognized entity in the ‘00s years – has quietly gone out of fashion here and gone back underground. Country acts have gained popularity (as far as booking is concerned) — Omaha has always had its share of shit-kicker bars and C&W radio stations.

But in addition, metal & punk have really become a dominant Omaha thing, with punk and metal shows being held almost weekly. Frankly, it’s a long time in the making. The River, 89.7 FM, has made metal/punk music their staple for years. National promoters Mammoth Productions has booked large metal shows for decades, and the mighty Black Heart Booking has really stepped up in its punk/metal productions. Add to that two new all-ages spaces focused on metal/punk — The Swamp in Lincoln and The Blind Spot in Omaha. Both are “text-for-the-address” DIY venues and already have become game changers.

Omaha still gets a respectable number of touring indie shows, thanks to One Percent Productions (The Waiting Room, Reverb Lounge) and The Slowdown (still booked by Knitting Factory, as far as I know), but it’s not like the old days, and very likely will never be again. 

But here’s the deal – despite Omaha’s lag of interest in indie, the genre remains as popular than ever outside our state. On the coasts and in big market cities, Indie bands are bigger than ever and continue to produce great music, whether or not we have a chance to hear it here live (or on the radio). 

THAT BEING THE CASE… while I had no trouble putting together this year’s Lazy-i Best of 2023 compilation CD (details below), after listening to hundreds of new releases, I still struggled to come up with 10 favorite albums from 2023. Below are the albums I consistently reached for and returned to when listening to new music this past year. As you can see, there are only eight (in no particular order):

• Sextile – Push (Sacred Bones)
• Slowdive – Everything is Alive (Dead Oceans)
• boygenius – The Record (Interscope)
• Blondshell – self titled (Partisan)
• Lewsberg – Out and About (12XU)
• Mitch Gettman – Tilde (self-release)
• Hotline TNT – Cartwheel (Third Man)
• Pardoner – Peace Loving People (Bar/None)

Just as interesting are the albums that didn’t make the list. Sufjan Stevens is a perennial favorite, but his latest, Javelin, was another collection of weepers inspired by yet another personal tragedy. I can only take so much of his despair. Mitski, Ratboys, Wednesday, Slow Pulp and Indigo De Souza all released notable individual tracks, but couldn’t carry an entire album. Water from Your Eyes and Actor/Actriz, who topped my live show list (more on that later), weren’t nearly as interesting in the studio. 

No doubt about it, vinyl continues to be wildly popular among collectors, but I can’t help but wonder if we’re seeing the decline of the “album” as an art form. How important are albums to a youth generation that listens to the majority their music via streaming, playlists and Tik Tok? Attention-span erosion not only is destroying long-form journalism, it’s killing long-form music formats. It sounds depressing, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing.

What is depressing is the continued decline of the media that covers our city’s arts culture. The Reader, Omaha’s only arts and entertainment alternative weekly (that became a monthly), ended its 30-year run with its September issue. I personally miss it and the deadlines it forced upon me, but I’m not certain anyone else misses it. 

So who’s left to cover Omaha’s creative endeavors? The Omaha World-Herald is all but gone. In fact, other than, say, Omaha Magazine, I can’t think of any other print publication with an arts voice. Which leaves us, unfortunately, with that echo-chamber we call social media, and folks, that ain’t gonna cut it. The irony, as I’ve pointed out, is that Omaha has more music venues, more art spaces, more restaurants and theaters than ever before. 

Speaking of live performances, despite a lack of touring indie shows coming through town, I attended well over 50 rock shows last year, which ain’t bad (but nothing like the old days). Below are my favorites:

• Goatfest 2023 – Those Far Out Arrows, Bad Bad Men at Scriptown Brewing, March 11 — loud, hard garage rock paired perfectly with Scriptown’s delectable homemade brew. And those actual live goats only added to the atmosphere.
  
• Water from Your Eyes at The Slowdown, April 8 — Opening for a flat performance by headliner Snail Mail, Rachel Brown spoke or sang lyrics in beat with the dissonance over harsh, brittle, noise symphonies provided by guitarist Nate Amos’ cut-jab guitar riffs and acidic synth tones.

• Fleet Foxes at Steelhouse, July 2 — Along with The Killers kick-off, this was the only show I witnessed at this new venue, which by itself was the star of the shows. 

• Blondshell, Hello Mary at 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis, July 11 — My only “travel show” of 2023 was memorable if only for experiencing the shithole that is 7th St. Entry. While we came to see Blondshell, Hello Mary was the show-stopper.

• Maha Music Festival at Stinson Park, July 30 — It was the last year for the annual festival at this location and maybe its best line-up in past eight years, highlighted by riveting sets from Big Thief, Icky Blossoms, The Beths, Turnstile and BIB. Next year Maha moves to the riverfront…

• Petfest 2023 outside Petshop Gallery, July 20 — The all-day festival continues to be the best all-local concert held each year. Highlights included sets by Thirst Things First, Cat Piss and Head of Femur.

• Mitch Gettman at The Slowdown, Sept. 16 — Gettman and his band performed the best songs from his double-album, Tilde, that showcased the singer/songwriter’s range and talent. 

• Lewsberg at Grapefruit Records, Oct. 8 — The Old Market record store unveiled a new stage and new set-up for its live in-store performances. The Rotterdam four-piece took full advantage, playing a transcendent set that sounded like Lou Reed fronting The Feelies.

• Model/Actriz at Reverb Lounge, Oct. 9 – All-encompassing, frontman Cole Haden’s in-your-face performance (literally) bordered on disturbing (He’s not coming for me next, is he?) made the spectacle what it was. This was my favorite show of the year.

• Sextile at The Waiting Room, Oct. 19 — At their best, even the most dead pile of human flesh couldn’t help but move to Sextile’s coal-black rhythms, but with a crowd of only around 150, the show would have been even better at a club the size of Reverb.

• Hotline TNT at Reverb, Nov. 22 — Very much a Sugar/Bob Mould/Teenage Fanclub vibe – pure ’90s post-punk that was even better live than on their much-lauded, overblown debut album. 

• Neva Dinova at Reverb, Dec. 14 — Playing as a power trio (with special guest Mike Saklar playing guitar on a handful of numbers), Jake Bellows went beyond the usual ballideering for a Live Rust-style rock show that indeed rocked.

Finally, there’s this year’s Lazy-i Best of 2023 compilation CD! I’ve been putting this comp together since 1994, originally on cassette.  It’s a collection of favorite tracks I’ve come across during my work as a critic-at-large for Lazy-i.com and the aforementioned, now-defunct, Reader. The CD is mailed to friends and associates as a sort of year-end holiday card that’s also an audio time capsule (and collector’s item!).  

In years’ past, I’ve given copies away in a contest. This year, I’m sending copies to anyone who asks while supplies last (and there ain’t many). Just send me your mailing address via email to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. 

Here’s the track list: 

• Genesis Owusu, “Leaving the Light” from the album STRUGGLER (AWAL)
• Sextile, “Contortion” from the album Push (Sacred Bones)
• noname, “Namesake” from the album Sundial (self-released)
• Slowdive, “Kisses,” from the album Everything is Alive (Dead Oceans)
• M83, “Amnesia,” from the album Fantasy (Mute)
• Yo La Tengo, “Aselestine” from the album This Stupid World (Matador)
• Hotline TNT, “I Thought You’d Change” from the album Cartwheel (Third Man)
• boygenius, “Cool About It,” from the album The Record (Interscope)
• Blondshell, “Joiner” from the album Blondshell (Partisan)
• Lloyd Cole, “Warm by the Fire,” from the album On Pain (Edel Music)
• Neva Dinova, “Outside,” single (Saddle Creek)
• Slow Pulp, “Broadview” from the album Yard (ANTI-)
• Palehound, “Eye on the Bat” from the album Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
• Pardoner, “Get Inside!” from the album Peace Loving People (Bar/None)
• Lewsberg, “Communion,” single (12XU)
• Water from Your Eyes, “Out There (The Dare Version)” from Crushed by Everyone (Matador)
• Bad Bad Men, “No Thanks” from the album Messed Up (SPEED! Nebraska)
• Model/Actriz, “Mosquito” from the album Dogsbody (True Panther)
• Lana Del Rey, “Let the Light In” from the album Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Interscope)
• Mitch Gettman, “Empire” from the album Tilde (self released)
• Bright Eyes, “Christmas in Prison” single featuring John Prine (Oh Boy)

The playlist also is available in Spotify. Simply click this link or search “Tim McMahan” in Spotify, then select Profiles, then Public Playlists. You’ll find it along with a few from past years.

Next week – PREDICTIONS!!!

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It looks to be a very quiet week in terms of rock shows.  I’ll be posting the Lazy-i Year in Review later this week and the predictions for 2024 the following week, so look for them. In year’s past, they would have been published in The Reader, but, alas, The Reader is no more. A small group of former Reader writers/editors got together last Saturday night at The Admiral to send it off in style. What, if anything, will take its place in terms of arts and entertainment coverage for the Omaha area? 

From the in-box…

• – Omahan Matthew Sweet (or at least I think he still lives here, he’s actually a Lincoln native who spent years in the East Coast but somehow ended up back in Omaha a few years ago), announced his first live concert dates in four years with a mini tour of the Midwest in February 2024, that includes Feb. 17 at The Waiting Room. The dates seem to support the release of a live album recorded at a 1993 concert at Chicago’s Grant’s Park. Strangely, the press release doesn’t say when that album will be released.  Tickets on sale now.

• – Former Saddle Creek Records act Big Thief announced last week that they’re rereleasing their 2016 debut Masterpiece on 4AD Records in a remastered format. The album was a ground-breaker for the band and a real feather in Saddle Creek’s cap when it came out, but it appears the album’s rights have reverted back to the band and they’ve chosen to rerelease it at their new home. In fact, if you go to the Saddle Creek website you’ll notice the album is no longer available, but the follow-up – 2017’s Capacity — still is, along with a couple Big Thief singles and T-shirts. 

That’s it for now. 

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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.

Neva Dinova at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Fans of Jake Bellows came out in droves last night at Reverb Lounge where Jake, Roger Lewis and Megan Siebe performed as Neva Dinova. It wasn’t a sellout but (I was told) dang near one, with a couple hundred people on hand to welcome their wayward son back to an Omaha stage. 

Bellows, who looks identical to the guy I interviewed in his basement practice space 22 years ago, ripped into an hour-plus set of old favorites (“Dances Fantastic,” “Brooklyn” among them) and new rockers. That’s right, I said rock songs, as the new tunes Jake and Co. unveiled (mostly) ripped at the same pace and power of the band’s recent single (which was also performed last night). 

I stood next to a long-time Neva fan throughout the set and would often turn to him after songs, both of us saying, “That’s another new one.” Turns out the band will be in town for an extended period as they record a new album, no doubt capturing on in the studio the songs we heard last night. 

Jake Bellows holding court at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

They weren’t all rockers. It wouldn’t be a Neva Dinova/Jake Bellows concert without its share of slow-motion dirges that glow dimly like light through a NyQuil bottle… up until that point in every one when Bellows ripped into one of his Gilmour-esque guitar solos.

Early in the set, the band brought even more fire power on stage by asking Sun-Less Trio frontman/guitarist Mike Saklar to join them for five or six numbers, including some of those Neva chestnuts. Saklar’s ax work added just the right touch of extra spice to the musical stew. 

Doom Flower at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 14, 2023.

It wasn’t until I got home and did some research that I discovered the frontwoman of opening band, Doom Flower, was none other than Jess Price of the band Campdogzz, who releases music on Cursive’s 15 Passenger label. Unlike that band’s full-throttle rock, Doom Flower was going for a shimmery, Mazzy Star vibe – mid-tempo songs bordering on slowcore accented with trip-hop beats, a lead guitar tone that sounded like synths, and Price’s withdrawn, indecipherable, mumbled vocals. Gorgeous in its own way if only for the vibe, though I did wonder what Price was mewing about…

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It’s another weekend of local shows, which is what we get this time of year.

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Las Cruxes headlines a show that includes locals Frankie Chairo and No Sé, a band that has a potent shoegaze sound – no idea who they are or where they’re from, but check out their two tracks on Spotify. $10, 8:30. 

Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s the big sendoff for The Reader at The Admiral Theater. Omaha’s arts and entertainment weekly turned monthly quit publishing earlier this year and the world hasn’t been the same since (for me, anyway). The invitation says there will be a roast for those responsible, which no doubt will focus on founder/publisher John Heaston. That alone is worth the price of admission (free!), but there also will be music from Stylo, Hector Anchondo, Noizewave and Mandown (it’s like a latter-day Ranch Bowl reunion). The fun starts at 7 p.m. Like I said, it’s free, with any donations going to a charity. Stop by and say goodbye to an Omaha institution!

Also Saturday night, Pageturners in Dundee is hosting a night of local singer/songwriters with Tom Bartolomei, Sean Pratt and Mike Schlesinger. This one is free, though there’s a $10 suggested donation. Starts at 8 p.m. 

Sunday night it’s back to Pageturners for a late afternoon musical treat provided by McCarthy Trenching. Starts at 5 p.m. and, same as before, free with suggested donation.

Also Sunday night, Nebraska singer/songwriter Andrea von Kampen provides a night of music at The Waiting Room. Von Kampen was a top-10 finalist in the 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest, which likely helped land her a record deal with Fantasy Records. She’s from Ann Arbor, but went to high school in Seward and received her degree in music at Concordia University. $20, 7 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight’s Neva Dinova show at Reverb Lounge is sort of a holiday show, to me, anyway. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen good ol’ Jake Bellows after he escaped to the sunny climes of Los Angeles. And now he’s back, this time as Neva Dinova in the form of a power trio with the incomparable Roger Lewis on drums and searingly talented Megan Siebe on bass. 

I tried to reach out to Jake for a brief interview in support of this show, but he’s been pretty busy with the tour, which began Dec. 2 in St. Louis and has seen him zig-zag up and down the East Coast before heading to the nation’s breadbasket. If I had been able to get in touch with him I would have asked why he’s touring as Neva Dinova instead of simply as “Jake Bellows,” especially when only he and Roger are the only members of the original band in this configuration. My guess is he would have told me because he loves to perform songs from the Neva Dinova catalogue.

He probably also would have mentioned that all four of Neva Dinova’s studio albums are available again on Eco-mix vinyl via Saddle Creek Records and will be for sale at tonight’s show (the albums’ actual release date is Jan. 14).

He’d probably also mention that he’s been releasing new music as Neva Dinova and is in the process of recording their 4th LP of all original material, which is headed our way next year, along with more touring.  

Among that new material is this is the band’s single, “Outside,” released Nov. 16. Produced by Mike Mogis, engineered by Ian Aeillo and Ryan Harvey, mixed by Ian and mastered by Rick Carson, this track had me rediscovering Neva Dinova all over again. Here’s why:

When I think of Neva, 2008’s You May Already Be Dreaming always comes to mind, with standout tracks “Supercomputer” and “Tryptophan” and “She’s a Ghost.” The album epitomizes their sound — a slow-burn band that played (mostly) mid-tempo tracks, either with an acoustic lilt or dense with guitars (they crowded the stage with guitars back then). Jake’s smooth, almost somnambulant vocals had a way of turning everything into a slacker lullaby. Neva always put me in an afternoon mood.

Not so with “Outside.” The track roars open with the coolest guitar line since the metal side of Rust Never Sleeps, the rhythm section pulses forward while Jake sings about being “on the outside looking in” (when, in fact, everyone knows Jake couldn’t be more “inside” – he’s like a friendly cult leader who everyone wants to be around because he’s so dang smart, thoughtful and funny). This one rocks, which had me looking back at the Neva catalog for more. 

Needless to say, I’ve already purchased my ticket to tonight’s Neva Dinova show at Reverb Lounge. Joining Jake and Co. is local hip-hop artist Marcey Yates and Doom Flower. The fun starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, and considering the size of Reverb, could sell out. 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lodgings plays tonight at The Sydney in Benson.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Last Friday (maybe for Bandcamp Friday?) David Nance released his rendition of The Cure’s seminal 1989 album Disintegration, which he called Shameless Kiss, and which I’m listening to as I type this. As one local music aficionado and singer described it, it sounds like David Nance playing Disintegration. I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind it, and I’ll try to find out what it is before Nance’s upcoming gig with Icky Blossoms Dec. 26 at The Waiting Room… Until then, here’s a highlight:

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Busy Friday, quiet rest of the weekend. 

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Lodgings opens for Violenteer and Sun-Less Trio at The Sydney in Benson. It’s been too long since I’ve seen Lodgings, a band that includes Bryce Hotz on guitar/vocals, Eric Ernst on drums, Michael Laughlin on bass and the illustrious Steve Micek on guitar – or at least that’s who played on their 2019 album, Water Works, which was recorded and mixed by studio legend Steve Albini. I’m not sure who’s in the band these days. Let’s find out tonight! $10, 9 p.m. 

Also tonight, Omaha’s No. 1 alt country / country band, Clarence Tilton, headlines at The Waiting Room for a bill that also includes Watson & Co. and The Electroliners. Cowboy hat, boots, you know the drill. $10, 8 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yesterday Bright Eyes released their version of John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison,” a song Prine originally released on a 1993 Christmas EP. The waltz features Conor singing with a middle interlude where Prine talks about his Christmas’s past. 

Says Oberst: “It is strange to get a chance to share a track with a hero of mine who has passed on. Normally not something I would do. I don’t like holograms. But I have so much love and affection for John as a person and his music.”

All proceeds generated from the release will go toward four major beneficiaries of John Prine’s charity, The Hello In There Foundation.

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Not much happening show-wise this month, though there has been a slew of spring tour announcements – from Slowdive, Echo and the Bunnymen and Adam Ant  – none involving Omaha. Cool indie bands continue to route around us despite all these fancy new concert facilities.

Hey, at least we got Neva Dinova Dec. 14, and Icky Blossoms Dec. 26…

And tonight, you have Lincoln folk trio The Wildwoods at Reverb Lounge. Their most recent album is Foxfield Saint John, self-released this past February. Opening is Minneapolis duo Good Morning Bedlam. $15, 8 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.